Here's a look at the spreads and totals for today's College Football Bowl Games, along with my custom projections and handicaps. Below, you can find my best bets for Monday’s New Year’s Day games.
Get instant alerts when a line reaches your target via the BettingPros App >>
Here's a look at the spreads and totals for today's College Football Bowl Games, along with my custom projections and handicaps. Below, you can find my best bets for Monday’s New Year’s Day games.
Get instant alerts when a line reaches your target via the BettingPros App >>
ReliaQuest Bowl | Tampa, FL
Monday, January 1 | 12:00p | ESPN2
Total: 57.0 | ATL: LSU -7.7 | ATT: 62.0
LSU Tigers
Heisman Trophy-winning QB Jayden Daniels declared for the NFL Draft and opted-out of this game on Dec. 18. Expected but nonetheless devastating. If we can slap lipstick on the pig, it's that LSU QB2 Garrett Nussmeier has pedigree, experience, and a good arm. The offense be overhauled - Nussmeier's legs are a negative, not the veritable weapon that Daniels' are. Daniels' game soared to new heights this fall because he learned - at long last - to only use those legs when he couldn't identify a target he liked. Nussmeier is a cooked goose in those scenarios.
Nussmeier, it also must be said, is a legitimate downgrade in the pocket. Over his career, Nussmeier has logged an 8/6 TD/INT rate on 56.3% completions and a 7.6 YPA. If you're looking for reasons to believe, here's one: LSU's portal signing of Vanderbilt QB AJ Swann is a flashing neon sign that they're handing the 2024 job to Nussmeier barring a Summer 2024 flat-face, indicative of at least a healthy dollop of internal belief in the kid's viability. For this game and beyond.
But will Nussmeier be working with the same elite targets Daniels benefitted from?
Other opt-out news: There remains several potential opt-outs on LSU's roster. Namely, Daniels' partners-in-crime. Biletnikoff Award Finalist WR Malik Nabers (86 recs/1,546 yards) and fellow stud WR Brian Thomas Jr. (60 recs/1,079 yards) are both expected to declare for the draft, but are each listed as playing on the team's depth chart.
DT Maason Smith (532 snaps/74.8 pass rush grade), another NFL Draft hopeful, is listed as a starter on the bowl depth chart and expected to play.
Injury news: DT Mekhi Wingo (344 snaps/79.2 overall grade) sustained what was thought to be a potentially season-ending injury in Week 8 — however, he has been practicing and expects to play in the bowl. CB Duce Chestnut (81 snaps), CB Denver Harris (217 snaps) and CB Zy Alexander (418 snaps) will all miss the game. CB Sage Ryan (620 snaps), CB Javien Toviano and CB Ashton Stamps have been taking first-team reps at corner. Ryan had initially entered the portal, but reversed course in the days leading up to Christmas, announcing he’d return to LSU next season. RB John Emery is listed as being "out" for this game according to LSU's pre-bowl depth chart release. Starting RB Logan Diggs will lead a backfield committee that will include Kaleb Jackson, Noah Cain and Josh Williams. OL Zalance Heard did not travel with the team and is out.
Coaching News: HC Brian Kelly is 6-9 ATS in bowl games. OC Mike Denbrock left to take the OC position at Notre Dame. QBs coach Joe Sloan and WRs coach Cortez Hankton will be splitting OC duties and calling plays.
Wisconsin Badgers
RB Allen, C Bortolini, and CB Maitre are confirmed out for this game.
Due to RB1 Allen's defection and RB2 Chez Mellusi’s injury, RB3 Jackson Acker (198 snaps) will lead the backfield with RB4 Cade Yacamelli working in. Yacamelli got more playing time down the stretch due to Wisconsin's injuries at the position, with 22 of his 33 touches coming in November. The 6-foot, 213-pounder was recruited to Wisconsin as a receiver.
C Bortolini took all but six of Wisconsin’s offensive snaps this year at center. Cincinnati transfer Jake Renfro, who missed last season with a knee injury, hasn’t played yet in 2023 while recovering from a foot injury in camp. But he is reportedly healthy enough to potentially draw the start in this game.
CB Jason Maitre was a starter who announced a similar opt-out of this game to start his NFL Draft prep. Maitre didn’t have the best season, allowing a 70.6% reception percentage while coughing up a team-high 402 receiving yards on targets.
Injury news: WR Bryson Green (547 snaps) and CB Alexander Smith (382 snaps) haven't played since Week 11 against Northwestern. Both are practicing though and listed on the team's projected depth chart. RB2 Chez Mellusi (112 snaps) is out for the year with a broken ankle.
Coaching News: In HC Luke Fickell's six career bowl games, five have gone under the total. Fickell is 3-3 SU and 2-4 ATS in those games.
The Handicap
Wisconsin OC Phil Longo's long history of explosive offenses had a hiccup this season. Wisconsin ranks No. 128 in marginal explosiveness. The power-run pieces recruited by the previous staff were clearly not fits for his system. And not enough adjustments were made on the fly.
But if Longo and his attack ever had an opportunity for a get-right game, it would be against LSU's rancid defense with more than one month to prepare. That is the scenario we have here.
Sure, Wisconsin doesn't have RB Braelon Allen. But LSU coughed up 31 points to Arkansas, 35 points to Florida, and 30 points to Texas A&M. Wisconsin doesn't even need explosive plays to score points, here.
If you're Longo, do you want to attack LSU's No. 93 success rate run defense? Or its No. 112 success rate pass defense? The Badgers play far faster than your older brother's Wisconsin, with the No. 25 adjusted pace. I'd anticipate them playing even faster on Monday to get as many plays as they can against LSU's defense.
On the other side, LSU's offense downgrades from QB Daniels to QB Nussmeier, a significant downgrade, and one that significantly changes the offense. LSU had better stay on schedule, because Wisconsin ranks No. 15 in pass down sack rate and Nussmeier is a statue in the pocket.
As I type this sentence, both of LSU's elite wide receivers plan to play in this game. I've seen too many projected top-50 picks opt-out the morning of the game or in the first-half of the game to feel comfortable they're going to go all four quarters.
But either way, without Daniels, Wisconsin's No. 6 SP+ defense heads into this game as the best unit on either side. This will be the first time all season that LSU's offense doesn't have the trump card over its opponent. And not for nothing? Wisconsin has the enormous special teams edge as well.
I think the Badgers are a live 'dog in this spot.
The pick: Wisconsin +10
Fiesta Bowl | Glendale, AZ
Monday, January 1 | 1:00p | ESPN
Total: 67.5 | ATL: Oregon -12.6 | ATT: 69.3
Oregon Ducks
Star WR Troy Franklin is a potential R1 NFL Draft selection who is choosing to eschew playing in the contest to begin NFL Combine training. Veteran Alabama transfer Treshon Holden (407 snaps/66.6 overall grade) will draw the start, but rising five-star freshman WR Jurrion Dickey will see plenty of action as well.
C1 Powers-Johnson won the Rimington Trophy - nation's top center - in 2023. PFF grading ranked him No. 1 among all FBS centers in pass-blocking grade (91.3), run-blocking grade (85.2), and overall grade (84.6). ESPN's Mel Kiper ranks him No. 3 among draft-eligible centers. Powers-Johnson was a key contributor to an Oregon offensive line that was a finalist for the Joe Moore Award, and will be replaced by promising freshman C Iapani Laloulu who recorded 348 snaps with a rock solid 80.2 pass block grade.
Jackson was Oregon's CB1, a 2023 First-Team All-Pac-12 honoree by both the coaches and AP. Jackson did this - piling up seven breakups and three INT this season - despite playing through a shoulder injury most of the campaign. He missed the Washington State win in mid-October, but returned to start the last six games with a brace on his shoulder. He left multiple games down the stretch after aggravating the issue, making his decision not to play in this game a no-brainer. CB Dontae Manning (339 snaps/57.9 defensive grade) will step in to start in Jackson's place.
Other opt-out news: Ducks HC Dan Lanning says QB1 Bo Nix and RB1 Bucky Irving will play in this game, a huge development for Oregon.
The Ducks are still awaiting declaration/opt-out clarifications from a laundry list of draft-eligible starters including RT Ajani Cornelius (834 snaps), DL Brandon Dorlus (564 snaps), EDGE Jordan Burch (418 snaps), and DB Tysheem Johnson (748 snaps).
Injury news: EDGE Jordan Burch, a potential opt-out, left the Pac-12 title game early with a knee injury. This injury could hamper his status even if he ultimately decides to participate in the game. Burch has given no indication that he will opt out. WR/KR Gary Bryant Jr. (511 snaps) missed the loss to Washington in the Pac-12 title game, but has been deemed probable for the bowl game. Bryant would become a major contributor if Franklin and/or Johnson ultimately decide to opt-out.
Backup RB Noah Whittington (64 snaps) was lost for the season to a foot injury in early-October. Seldom-used backup WR Josh Delgado (three receptions since 2020) is OFY with a leg injury.
Coaching News: HC Dan Lanning, who signed a six-year, $45 million contract extension recently, failed to cover in his only previous bowl game. Oregon graduate assistant Cutter Leftwich left to become North Texas' new OL coach. Oregon's offensive line was a finalist for the Joe Moore Award this season.
Liberty Flames
DL Charles hasn't played since mid-November. Second-year starting slot corner Hodge allowed a 58% catch rate with 10 PBU and two interceptions for a scintillating 90.0 cover grade this year. His departure is a notable loss for the Flames who will ask slot CB/safety Brylan Green (531 snaps/84.6 defensive grade) to pick up the slack in Hodge's place.
Injury news: LB Jerome Jolly Jr. (447 snaps) and S A'Khori Jones (269 snaps) were unable to play against Boise State in the Mountain West Conference Championship. Jolly Jr. began the year as a starter, but has since moved to a backup role over the second half of the season, posting a 64.2 PFF defensive grade. Jones is a rotational player who has been hampered by an unacceptable 33% missed tackle rate.
Coaching News: HC Jamey Chadwell went 0-2 ATS in his two bowls as Coastal Carolina's HC.
The Handicap
When I bought my Liberty +17 ticket, it appeared that RB Bucky Irving was opting-out and more Ducks were soon to follow. But Irving had a change of heart and ultimately decided to play.
Star WR Troy Franklin will not play. But Oregon did well in advance of this game of staving off opt-out announcements (which doesn't necessarily mean they won't happen just prior to the game... or a quarter into it, as we've seen this bowl season).
Either way, the market has responded positively to Oregon's good news, pushing this line to Oregon -17.5 as of this typing.
Which is great. More value for you if you ultimately end up agreeing with my handicap.
Which is this: Oregon ain't keeping Liberty off the scoreboard.
And look, the Ducks are going set the scoreboard aflame. Liberty has no chance of stopping them.
But Liberty's No. 2 success rate run attack is going to consistently chip away at Oregon's mediocre run defense. Jamey Chadwell's offenses run on everybody. Just watch.
I happen to think Liberty is going to put up a real fight here. I don't think this is going to be the cakewalk for Oregon that others do. But even if I'm wrong, this is simply too many points to give an underdog with an offense this strong against a non-elite defense.
The best bet in this game - you already know where I'm going with this - is the over. This game could be played anywhere and fly over this title. The fact that it's being played at the Fiesta Bowl - which regularly gives us wild shootouts - is extra insurance on a strong bet to begin with.
The pick: Liberty +17 | Over 67.5
Citrus Bowl | Orlando, FL
Monday, January 1 | 1:00p | ABC
Total: 36.5 | ATL: Tennessee -8.2 | ATT: 33.4
Tennessee Volunteers
QB1 Milton announced on Dec. 27 that he would skip this game to begin preparing for the NFL draft. ESPN's Mel Kiper ranks Milton as the No. 10 QB in the 2024 NFL Draft class. The sixth-year senior threw for 2,813 yards with a 20/5 TD/INT ratio this fall.
The Vols will turn to five-star freshman QB2 Nico Iamaleava. Per 247Sports' recruiting rankings, only Texas QB Arch Manning was rated higher in the 2023 recruiting class. In four mop-up appearances during the regular season, Iamaleava completed 16-of-26 attempts for 163 yards and a TD. He has a stiff first test. Iowa's defense has held opponents to fewer than 400 yards in 27-consecutive games. Look for Heupel to try to get Iamaleava comfortable with with a steady diet of screens to the speedy WR Squirrel White.
RB Wright, a former Feldman Freak Lister, opted-out of this game to begin his NFL Draft preparations. Wright broke out with 1,013 yards in 2023. He had an elite 91.0 PFF grade during the regular season.
RBs Jabari Small also declared for the NFL Draft. He lagged behind at a devilish 66.6.
That leaves Dylan Sampson as the last man standing in the former three-man rotation for snaps in the bowl game. Sampson had an 81.8 PFF grade during the regular season. We’re also going to see a lot more of true freshman Cam Seldon, who’s going to be elevated to RB2 duties in this game.
Running back is the problematic opt-out situation on the offense. Secondary is the problematic opt-out situation on the other side — seven defensive backs are in the portal, and an eighth is OFY with injury.
Tamarion McDonald was the starting nickel. He logged a solid 76.3 PFF grade this fall. Starting FS Walker had a 70.5 PFF grade. The other five in the portal are backups.
Tennessee’s bowl secondary in the bowl will have two above-average starters in CB Gabe Jeudy-Lally and S Jaylen McCollough. After that, it starts to get hairy in terms of experience, quality, and depth. Youngster CB Rickey Gibson is getting thrust into action across from GJL. If there’s on potential saving grace, it’s that Iowa is one of the FBS’ worst passing teams.
Injury news: Tennessee has an extensive list of players out for the year with injuries. That M*A*S*H* unit includes WR Dont'e Thornton (214 snaps), WR Bru McCoy (231 snaps), LB Arion Carter (128 snaps), LB Keenan Pili (31 snaps), and CB Kamal Hadden (311 snaps). Hadden was the CB1 prior to going down (85.7 PFF grade).
Several other players missed the season finale, including OG Javontez Spraggins (699 snaps), OG Andrej Karic (266 snaps), EDGE Roman Harrison (301 snaps), DL Omarr Norman-Lott (235 snaps), and
Coaching News: HC Josh Heupel is a career 2-3 ATS in bowls.
Iowa Hawkeyes
Labas functioned as QB3 this fall. He went 14-of-24 for 139 yards and a TD in the Music City Bowl against Kentucky last year, but never seriously threatened QB2 Deacon Hill for playing time this fall following QB1 Cade McNamara's season-ending injury. Petras, who was Iowa's starter prior to a season-ending injury in 2022, didn't play this season as he rehabbed. Petras is looking to revitalize his football career at Utah State.
Other opt-out news: A report from The Athletic’s Scott Dochterman on Dec. 18 stated, “No healthy Iowa players are planning to opt out of the Citrus Bowl.”
Injury news: The Hawkeyes were decimated by injuries during the regular season. Lost for the season were numerous key contributors: QB1 Cade McNamara (206 snaps), TE1 Luke Lachey (120 snaps), TE2 Erick All (251 snaps), and star DB/PR Cooper DeJean (709 snaps). Backup CB TJ Hall hasn't played since late-September and is likely OFY. Backup OG Beau Stephens (70 snaps) will miss the bowl game with an injury. RT Gennings Dunker, the two-time reigning champion hay bale tosser at Solon Beef Days, missed the Big 10 title game but will return for the bowl.
Coaching News: HC Kirk Ferentz is 13-6-1 ATS all-time in bowl games. He's 4-0-1 ATS in his last five. This will be the last game for OC Brian Ferentz, who announced in late-October that he would step down following this game.
The Handicap
I was lucky enough to get an Iowa +7.5 ticket before the market steamed this thing down to the number we're currently seeing. I'd still take the Hawkeyes at the current number. Because I think the Hawkeyes are going to win this game.
The Hawkeyes are at full-strength outside of injuries after having no significant opt-outs. The Hawkeyes have an elite defense - No. 2 SP+ - and a very strong special teams, as always. The offense is terrible. But the coaching staff is elite, and one of the very best we have in bowl scenarios.
Tennessee's offense is being run by a true freshman making his first start. A five-star, sure. But he's taking on an utterly elite defense that makes even future NFL quarterbacks look ordinary.
Beyond that, Iamaleava will be working with a decimated RB room following the draft declarations of Wright and Small, and a WR that was previously cut down to size with injuries.
On the other side, Tennessee had a terrifying cluster of defections in the secondary.
The roster the Volunteers are taking into this game doesn't justify this spread.
The pick: Iowa +7.5 | Under 36.5
Rose Bowl (CFP Semi) | Pasadena, CA
Monday, January 1 | 5:00p | ESPN
Total: 44.5 | ATL: Michigan -5.9 | ATT: 51.4
Michigan Wolverines
Injury news: Stud RG Zak Zinter, a unanimous All-American, suffered a season-ending broken tibia and fibia against Ohio State. Zinter (649 reps) was sporting a 76.6 PFF overall grade at the time of his injury. He’s regarded as one of the nation’s best interior offensive linemen.
Coaching News: HC Jim Harbaugh is 0-6 SU and ATS over his last six bowl games. Harbaugh covered his first three bowl games, all at Stanford. The Wolverines fired LB coach Chris Partridge during the regular season. CB Will Johnson started the final nine games of the season before also sustaining an injury against Ohio State, causing Johnson to miss the B10 Championship game. He earned a very respectable 83.3 PFF cover grade while allowing a 50% catch rate, so the Wolverines would love to have his services for the big tilt against Alabama.
Alabama Crimson Tide
QB Tyler Buchner (39 snaps) is leaving Alabama after the season, but will remain with the Tide for the CFP. In a rare Transfer portal announcement, Buchner announced he will play lacrosse next year. Reportedly, Buchner intends to return to his initial school, Notre Dame, to join the lacrosse team. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that Buchner has not ruled out a return to football in the future. Buchner started the Week 3 game against USF. His struggles that day led the Tide back to QB Jalen Milroe. In an interesting bit of symmetry, Arizona State QB Drew Pyne is also transferring back to Notre Dame - but not to play football. Pyne will finish up his degree as a regular student.
WR Brooks has been in the doghouse for two seasons and hadn't stepped on the field since Week 7. His loss was expected. Alabama will get by with a WR corps led by Jermaine Burton and Isaiah Bond in the CFP.
Injury news: RB1 Jase McClellan (401 snaps) missed the SEC Championship with a foot injury but has been deemed "probable" for this game. He leads the Tide with 825 rushing yards. CB1 Kool-Aid McKinstry (788 snaps) is also probable for the Rose Bowl after he left the SEC title game win over Georgia with a minor concussion.
Coaching News: HC Nick Saban is 12-8 ATS in bowl games and 7-3-1 ATS as an underdog at Alabama. Alabama ST coordinator/OLB coach Coleman Hutzler left to become Mississippi State's new DC.
The Handicap
Styles make fights. And I think Michigan matches up really well with Alabama.
Teams that try to run outside zone on Alabama get erased by Alabama's perimeter speed and ridiculous EDGE talent. But teams that go right at the Tide with power can reliably grind out ground yards. This is exactly who Michigan is.
The Wolverines throw a power run game at you with shifting and varying personnel and out of all kinds of formations. They use motion and unbalanced alignments to help them achieve their real goal, which is no different than a pool shark's: Winning the angle game.
This is a problem for Alabama. Think about this like rock-paper-scissors. Angles supersede speed. They choke out the engine before it starts. Less flow from Alabama to the ball means more freedom for superstar RB Blake Corum in space, more space before first contact, and more momentum into it.
Through the air, it is close to impossible to move the ball on Alabama's two elite outside corners. That's not to say you can't pass on Bama, however. The Tide have two weaknesses: defending the slot (primary nickel Malachi Moore has coughed up a 107.4 passer rating on targets) and the long ball (No. 61 marginal explosiveness).
Michigan slot WR Roman Wilson is about to go ballistic in this matchup. A stud who was underused this fall, Wilson posted an 81.3 PFF grade while catching 11 TD among his 43 receptions. He provides an explosive element with 16.1 YPC.
And while Michigan's passing game wasn't very explosive this season, it never had to be because the team was winning so emphatically. Last year, this offense, with the same cast of characters, asked QB JJ McCarthy to go bombs-away to exploit Ohio State's similar deep-ball weakness... McCarthy averaged 21.9 yards per completion, throwing for three TD in a 45-23 demolition of the No. 2 team in the nation on their home field.
Alabama's path on offense is to try to move the ball on the ground. The Tide don't have an elite running back in the first place, and RB1 McClellan isn't 100-percent. This is going to put a ton of pressure on QB Milroe to create on the ground - both in the power-option game, and via scrambling.
Milroe is then going to be asked to essentially make magic down the field against what has been one of the nation's truly elite pass defenses the past three year's running. It goes without saying that Milroe isn't going to have success against Michigan in the intermediate area.
Michigan has various paths to win this game, Alabama has very few, This line is too short.
The pick: Michigan -1.5
Sugar Bowl (CFP Semi) | New Orleans, LA
Monday, January 1 | 8:45p | ESPN
Total: 63.5 | ATL: Texas -5.5 | ATT: 69.6
Texas Longhorns
QB2 Murphy's defection for the portal leaves true freshman QB3 Arch Manning as QB1 Quinn Ewers' backup for this game. That's probably a wash. Murphy has potential but didn't show much during his 177-rep audition when Ewers went down in the fall.
WR Neyor was a celebrated portal addition two years ago who missed the entire 2022 season with injury and then scarcely saw the field upon his return.
Other opt-out news: HC Steve Sarkisian made an open offer to all players in the portal that they could remain with the team through the end of the CFP run. WR Casey Cain, iOL Sawyer Gorem-Welch, and S Larry Turner-Gooden took him up on that. The biggest name who did not was QB2 Murphy. Murphy explained that he wanted to stay with the team, but felt that he couldn’t due to the December calendar and his desire to participate in spring ball at his new school and start next season. He transferred to Duke, where classes start a mere two days after the natty.
Injury news: RB1 Jonathon Brooks (450 snaps) tore his ACL in November. He rushed for 1,139 yards and 10 TD on 6.1 YPC prior to going down. RB2 CJ Baxter Jr. averages 4.6 YPC. Baxter breaks tackles at exactly half the rate that Brooks did while averaging a half-yard less before contact per carry. Jaydon Blue, Keilan Robinson, and Savion Red mix-and-match in behind Baxter.
It should also be noted that WR Xavier Worthy was seen on crutches after the Big 12 Championship, but HC Sarkisian expressed confidence that Worthy and CB Ryan Watts (376 snaps) will be full participants against Washington. Sark has said the same about previously banged-up TE JT Sanders and RT Christian Jones.
Coaching News: HC Steve Sarkisian is a career 2-3 ATS in bowls. LB coach Jeff Choate is Nevada's new HC, though he will will stay with Texas through the CFP.
Washington Huskies
Other opt-out news: QB2 Dylan Morris (53 snaps) is in the transfer portal, but he will stay with the team through the CFP to back up QB1 Michael Penix.
Injury news: RB Dillon Johnson said on Dec. 28 that he’s feeling “a lot better” after he played the last three games of the season with a foot injury.
Coaching News: As an underdog, HC Kalen DeBeor is 4-0 SU at Washington and 7-1 ATS career. He won and covered the only bowl game he's ever been HC in - last year's 27-20 win over these same Texas Longhorns in the Alamo Bowl. DB coach Eric Schmidt has taken the DC role at San Diego State, it is believed he’ll coach through the CFP but no official announcement.
The Handicap
It feels like a shootout is coming. Both offenses have clear paths to consistent success.
For Texas, that comes on the ground, mercilessly picking on Washington's horrid run defense (No. 121 success rate). The Huskies' 4-2-5 base moves a safety into the box to help, but it at times can appear helpless against strong rushing attack.
Texas qualifies. Offensive efficiency will flow like water for Texas in this game. Washington's 4-2-5 defense plays it conservative, simply wanting to keep the ball in front of it and take away your explosive plays. But you can gash them all day, and this is what I expect Texas to do.
Washington's yards will all come via the air. They'll be bypassing Texas' elite run defense completely. Despite only Oklahoma State's Ollie Gordon having rushed for more yards than Washington's Dillon Johnson between Week 9 and the end of the regular season (the crazy thing about that is Johnson was hampered with a bum wheel over the final three games). And this is because nobody runs on Texas' elite defensive line. Just like nobody ran on Georgia the past two years.
Instead, Washington will be attacking Texas' susceptible secondary. The Longhorns' defense was No. 97 in pass explosion this fall.
Texas deployed two-deep to take away Washington's deep game when these two teams tangoed in bowl season last year. QB Michael Penix went 1-for-10 on throws 20-plus yards downfield. But Penix went 31-for-43 on the other stuff, and Washington won that game 27-20.
Already weary of its kryptonite, Texas is going to deploy the same defensive strategy in this game. The Longhorns, in so doing, will leave the short and intermediate sectors wide open for business for the Huskies' elite receiving corps.
Penix completion and pass attempt props are an over smash. Jalen McMillan, who had eight receptions last year in this game, is a potential over look in the receptions market. But do keep this piece of context in mind, vis-a-vis Texas' expected plan-of-attack and its predictable manifestation: Penix sprinkled his remaining usage around - six different receivers had between three and five receptions. (RB Johnson, who originally played in the Air Raid for Mike Leach at Mississippi State, is worth a sniff in the receptions market).
Both offenses know, more or less, know how the opposing defense is going to approach them. There isn't going to be much of a feeling-out process here. Particularly with the game being called by two elite offensive chess masters in Kalen DeBoer and Steve Sarkisian.
As for the side, I'm taking the points with Washington. I believe the Huskies' perimeter firepower will rule the day.
The pick: Washington +4.5 | Over 62.5
Make sure to check out our other best bets for Monday:
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