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The 2019 college football bowl season officially gets under way early Friday to kickoff 40 bowl games over the next three weeks capped off by the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship on January 13th at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. Beginning mid-day Friday with the Bahamas Bowl (ESPN) in Nassau, Bahamas, a pair of 7-5 teams in the Buffalo Bulls and Charlotte 49ers will go at it to get us started. Late Friday evening, the Kent State Golden Flashes, who snuck into bowling with a record of 6-6, will take on the 7-5 Utah State Aggies in Frisco, Texas in the Frisco Bowl (ESPN2). Let’s take a deeper look at the first two bowls of the season and see where we can spot an edge.
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Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl – Nassau, Bahamas
Buffalo Bulls vs. Charlotte 49ers (+6.5, O/U 51.5), 2:00 PM EST (via PointsBet)
In what will be Buffalo’s fourth bowl game appearance, most recently appearing in last season’s Dollar General Bowl against Troy, the Bulls are still searching for their first bowl win in program history. After getting off to a 2-4 start this season, the Bulls won five of their last seven to claim bowl eligibility for the second consecutive season. Buffalo’s defense has been the story for them this season, allowing just 293.1 yards per game to rank 7th in the FBS while allowing just 4.85 yards per play. On the offensive side of the ball, sophomore running back Jaret Patterson has led the way for a top 10 Bulls rushing attack who averaged 254.2 yards per game over the course of the regular season. Through 12 games, Patterson has accounted for 1,626 rushing yards to go along with 17 touchdowns while averaging 5.8 yards per attempt.
Led by first-year head coach Will Healy, the 49ers will be making their first postseason appearance in school history Friday night. With non-conference games this season against the likes of Appalachian State and Clemson (both who won their conference), the 49ers rattled off a 5-3 Conference USA record to make program history as they head to the Bahamas with the hope of making more. As could be expected with a program of their size and talent with moderate success, Charlotte ranks almost dead in the middle of most major offensive and defensive categories. One area that the 49ers might have an advantage in this one is momentum. To close out the regular season, the 49ers won five straight including road contests against UTEP and Old Dominion. With all the pressure on Buffalo to get to get their first bowl in program history, I like the 49ers to hang around in a tight one.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl – Frisco, TX
Utah State Aggies vs. Kent State Golden Flash (+6.5, O/U 67.5), 7:30 PM EST (via PointsBet)
Making their eighth bowl appearance in the past nine seasons, the Aggies have experience on their side against a Golden Flashes team who will be bowling for the first time since 2013. For the Aggies, junior quarterback Jordan Love will be making his last start for the program as he will enter the 2020 NFL draft. In head coach Gary Anderson’s first season at the helm in Logan, Love regressed significantly throwing for 17 touchdowns and 16 interceptions compared to a 3,567 yard and 32 touchdown season last year with then-head coach Matt Wells. For Kent State, second-year head coach Sean Lewis has shown significant strides in year two, winning his last three games to secure an opportunity to secure a bowl spot. While the Golden Flashes have been a good story down the stretch of this season, I see them in a class below a Utah State team with superior talent at nearly all the skill positions.
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TJ Perun is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from TJ, check out his archive and follow him @JohnnyCovers.