College Football Black Friday Parlay (2019)
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As football fans across the country wake up on Friday morning and flock to sports bars (or sportsbooks) while their significant others shop, there’s no shortage of college football action to keep us busy. With 15 games starting as early as 12:00 pm EST, many teams are fighting for either bowl eligibility or bowl positioning as December is just days away. This is also the week in college football where in-state rivals go head-to-head, where even if there’s nothing to play for this season, long-term recruiting benefits are at stake to go along with school pride and bragging rights. With three games at hand featuring ranked teams, let’s take a deeper look to see how big we can cash-in for our holiday season bankrolls.
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Texas Tech Red Raiders @ Texas Longhorns – 12:00 pm EST
Texas -10, O/U 63.5 (via PointsBet)
After dropping games in back-to-back weeks against TCU and Kansas State, Matt Wells’s first season in Lubbock will now officially end without a bowl. After a 3-2 start, the Red Raiders dropped five of their last six and struggled to find any kind of consistency on either side of the ball. For the Longhorns, it has once again been an underachieving season for a team with loads of talent that just refuses to get over the hump. Since starting the season 4-1, losses to TCU, Iowa State, and Baylor have sent this team to 6-5 and just inside bowl eligibility. While the last four games in this series have come down to one possession, you have to go back more than five years for the last time this matchup has had this little at stake for the Red Raiders. Even though the season has been a disappointment for the Longhorns, given maybe unrealistic expectations, they are still jockeying for a better bowl, and I expect them to be motivated come Friday in Austin.
Pick 1: Texas -10
Iowa Hawkeyes @ Nebraska Cornhuskers – 2:30 pm EST
Nebraska +5.5, O/U 43.5 (via PointsBet)
Since starting the season 6-2 with tough losses on the road at Michigan and against Penn State, Iowa has seemed to pull back a bit with a loss to Wisconsin and an ATS loss last week against Illinois as 15-point favorites. A shot at the Big Ten title game is officially out of sight, and the Hawkeyes find themselves just playing for better bowl positioning as they arrive at their final game of the season. On the other side, however, Scott Frost’s second season at the helm was once again a disappointment as Nebraska lost four straight down the stretch and now are scrapping for bowl eligibility. You have to go back to 2016 for the last time Nebraska was in a bowl, and a win here would not only secure that but be a big win in terms of recruiting and long-term success for the program. I’ll take the motivational edge here with the Cornhuskers as short home dogs.
Pick 2: Nebraska ML
Cincinnati Bearcats @ Memphis Tigers – 3:30 pm EST
Memphis -11, O/U 57.5 (via PointsBet)
This line originally opened up over the summer with the Tigers as six-point favorites, but their potent offense and better than expected defense have them now double-digit favorites over the Bearcats in the last game of the season. This is a tricky spot for both teams, as they’ll be playing again next week in the AAC Championship game and will be looking to not give away too much on Saturday afternoon. When the line re-opened this week with the Tigers as 10-point favorites, I was inclined to take the Bearcats given neither team has much to play for and both should play relatively conservatively. As it has crept up to 11, this is an automatic play for me in a spot that I expect the Bearcats to be competitive.
Pick 3: Cincinnati +11
TJ Perun is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from TJ, check out his archive and follow him @JohnnyCovers.