The guide to gambling on (and caring about) all 40 bowl games



The sponsors have lined up to throw checks into oblivion and student-athletes will soon be swimming in swag.

The sponsors have lined up to throw checks into oblivion and student-athletes will soon be swimming in swag.

Yes, bowl season is back.

The annual slog starts Saturday, with an exclusive collection of 80 schools (out of 127) – including three teams who couldn't crack .500 – filling out the 40 bowls, which have eliminated mediocrity as a prerequisite to play in a postseason that already was often indistinguishable from a pointless season.

The College Football Playoff, as well as a select group of matchups on and around New Year's Day, will provide moments worth watching, but the large majority of games place neutral observers into a position of needing spreads to care about the scores.

Works for me.

Here are some tips to make the many undercard bouts more meaningful:

New Mexico Bowl, Dec. 19: New Mexico (+9) over Arizona
The Wildcats, 1-4 in their past five games, will be as excited for the 11 a.m. local kickoff as they are for the road game.

Las Vegas Bowl, Dec. 19: Byu (+2½) over Utah
Take a picture. There may never be this many Mormons in Sin City again.

Camelia Bowl, Dec. 19: Appalachian State (-7½) over Ohio
Appalachian State is just excited to be in its first bowl, but would it have been too much to figure out some way to make Michigan the opponent? Now that's a result people actually would remember.

Cure Bowl, Dec. 19: San Jose State (-2½) over Georgia State
Word is, Morrissey may buy the bowl's naming rights next year.

New Orleans Bowl, Dec. 19: Arkansas State (+2) over Louisiana Tech
Don't let the bowl name fool you. There is no home-field advantage for Louisiana Tech, which is located farther from New Orleans than the White House is from the Empire State Building. Meanwhile, the Red Wolves have won eight straight games, scoring an average of 48.6 points.

Miami Beach Bowl, Dec. 21: Western Kentucky (-2½) over South Florida
The Hilltoppers have lost once since September – at LSU – and closed the regular season with an average margin of victory of more than 30 points in their final nine wins.

Idaho Potato Bowl, Dec. 22: Akron (+6½) over Utah State
Would you rather spend an extra hour at your job or be forced to use three hours of your personal time to watch this game? I truly am curious.

Boca Raton Bowl, Dec. 22: Toledo (+1½) over Temple
The Owls' season peaked long ago, having lost three of six games since their 7-0 start. After an AAC title game loss, Temple won't find the consolation prize all that appealing.

Pointsettia Bowl, Dec. 23: Northern Illinois (+8) over Boise State
The return of backup quarterback Ryan Graham – replacing third-string true freshman Tommy Fiedler – should revive an offense left for dead in the MAC title game loss to Bowling Green.

Play the OSGA College Bowl Bonanza for Free here.

GoDaddy Bowl, Dec. 23: Georgia Southern (+7½) over Bowling Green
Both teams will be without their head coaches – Dino Babers left Bowling Green for Syracuse; Willie Fritz left Georgia Southern for Tulane – in the GoDaddy of them all. This is what bowl season is all about.

Bahamas Bowl, Dec. 24: Middle Tennessee (+3) over Western Michigan
Last year, Western Kentucky scored 34 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to come within one point of Central Michigan – on a touchdown featuring three laterals, with one second left – but couldn't convert the game-winning two-point attempt. The encore can only disappoint, but the setting will suffice.

Hawaii Bowl, Dec. 24: San Diego State (+1) over Cincinnati
The Aztecs enter with nine straight wins, bringing the nation's 15th-ranked run game and fifth-ranked run defense.

St. Petersburg Bowl, Dec. 26: Marshall (-4) over UConn
The Huskies' .500 record reflects an offense as predictably mundane as most Secret Santa gifts.

Sun Bowl, Dec. 26: Miami (+3) over Washington State
The Cougars' high-powered offense makes a convincing argument, but not so strong as to warrant over 70 percent of the public's action.

Dallas Bowl, Dec. 26: Southern Miss (+9) over Washington
Even against the Pac-12's top defense, the Golden Eagles – tied for the 12th-highest scoring offense in the nation – should break through the back door, having averaged more than 40 points per game.

Pinstripe Bowl, Dec. 26: Duke (+2) over Indiana
This actually may be more interesting than what the Yankees put on the same field next season.

Independence Bowl, Dec. 26: Tulsa (+13) over Virginia Tech
It is Frank Beamer's final game, so naturally sentiment sways towards the outgoing coach. That makes sense, considering no coach ever has lost the final game of his career.

Foster Farms Bowl, Dec. 26: Nebraska (+6½) over Ucla
The Cornhuskers' 5-7 record proves they have no business being here, but their win over Michigan State shows records are irrelevant with this group of underachievers.

Military Bowl, Dec. 28: Navy (-3) over Pittsburgh
Keenan Reynolds will close out his career in style and probably will never be seen on a football field again. It truly is incredible how quickly a college star becomes a historical footnote. Hi, Tebow.

Quick Lane Bowl, Dec. 28: Central Michigan (+5) over Minnesota
Good grades got the five-win Golden Gophers here. Seriously.

Armed Forces Bowl, Dec. 29: Air Force (+7) over California
The band was out on the field the last time Cal was in a game involving as many laterals as it'll see from Air Force's triple option offense.

Russell Athletic Bowl, Dec. 29: North Carolina (+2) over Baylor
If the Bears hadn't had to resort to using quarterbacks plucked from the stands, a playoff appearance might have been possible.

Arizona Bowl, Dec. 29: Nevada (+3) over Colorado State
Two teams from the same conference meet for the first time this season, sharing combined records of 13-11. Thankfully, this wrong was righted.

Texas Bowl, Dec. 29: Lsu (-7) over Texas Tech
Here's your reminder that Leonard Fournette would be holding the Heisman if his supporting cast were somewhat comparable to Derrick Henry's.

Birmingham Bowl, Dec. 30: Memphis (+2½) over Auburn
Sure, Memphis lost its head coach, but exactly how much has it helped Auburn to have Gus Malzahn this season, as the team spiraled from No. 6 in the nation to 6-6?

Belk Bowl, Dec. 30: N.C. State (+5) over Mississippi State
The Bulldogs can return to their regularly scheduled irrelevance after Dak Prescott's final game.

Music City Bowl, Dec. 30: Louisville (PK) over Texas A&M
In another era, Johnny Manziel would be playing his final college game. Instead, the Aggies will be moving on from another two starting quarterbacks after Kyle Allen and freshman backup Kyler Murray announced they would transfer.

Holiday Bowl, Dec. 30: Usc (-3) over Wisconsin
Three times the Badgers played teams with winning records and three times the Badgers lost. That's probably just a coincidence.

Win Cash in the OSGA College Bowl Bonanza

Peach Bowl, Dec. 31: Houston (+7) over Florida State
The Cougars money line (at least +230) is enticing, as is an expanded playoff that gives a non-Power Five team a legitimate chance to compete for a national championship.

Orange Bowl, Dec. 31: Clemson (+3½) over Oklahoma
It's remarkable how quickly the Sooners bandwagon has filled up, considering their top wins aren't as impressive as the undefeated Tigers' top wins – over Notre Dame and Florida State – and came against the backup quarterbacks of TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma State. Plus, you know, they actually lost a game.

Cotton Bowl, Dec. 31: Michigan State (+10) over Alabama
If the Spartans could slow Ohio State on the road, another upset of a heavily favored power isn't all that outlandish. Remember, this time last season, Alabama was already being given the crown before it met an underrated Big Ten champ.

Outback Bowl, Jan. 1: Northwestern (+8) over Tennessee
The Vols are the better team, but are ill-prepared, having gone more than two months without playing a team with a winning record.

Citrus Bowl, Jan. 1: Michigan (-4½) over Florida
Jim Harbaugh and Jim McElwain each could be considered the top coach in the country this season, but Harbaugh has been lucky enough to keep his starting quarterback. That will be the difference in this low-scoring fight.

Fiesta Bowl, Jan. 1: Notre Dame (+6½) over Ohio State
The Buckeyes will be there in body, but they're already running the 40 at the NFL Draft combine in their minds.

Rose Bowl, Jan. 1: Iowa (+6½) over Stanford
So, still no believers in Iowa? Last chance...

Sugar Bowl, Jan. 1: Ole Miss (-7) over Oklahoma State
The Cowboys have been exposed against top teams, losing to Baylor and Oklahoma after a 10-0 start. This time, Oklahoma State won't even have the benefit of home field.

TaxSlayer Bowl, Jan. 2: Georgia (-6½) over Penn State
The Bulldogs totally made the right move giving Mark Richt more than $4 million to leave. I mean, he only averaged 9.7 wins over the past 15 years.

Liberty Bowl, Jan. 2: Arkansas (-11) over Kansas State
If college football had common sense, the semifinals would be in this spot on Jan. 2, rather than competing against the biggest social night of the year.

Alamo Bowl, Jan. 2: Tcu (PK) over Oregon
Two of the nation's top offenses will run away with the award for the most entertaining non-playoff bowl game.

Cactus Bowl, Jan. 2: West Virginia (-1) over Arizona State
Let me know who wins.

Best bets: Duke, North Carolina, Memphis, N.C. State, Usc, Houston

2015 record: 100-106-3; Best Bets: 22-19-1

Last season: 139-122-2

This is a reprint from nypost.com. to view the original, click here.


Sign-up for the OSGA Newsletter!

Every week get news and updates, exclusive offers and betting tips delivered right to you email inbox.