Loyal Readers, I hope you have been enjoying your holidays and are enjoying a restful Saturday after whatever your pandemic Christmas looked like. We have three games to enjoy on the penultimate college football Saturday in this crazy 2020 season and GAMBLOR demands picks.
As I’ve been playing Santa and helping my hellspawn children set up all their toys, I haven’t been able to tabulate the previous bowl results. Based on how it started (and past bowl success rates), I’m assuming they range between slightly decent to “I hope you faded me and got a nice Christmas bonus.”
I’ll have a post Tuesday morning which will include the rest of the non-New Year’s Six bowls. Those big-time games, including Notre Dame’s semifinal tilt with Alabama will be made live, Tuesday night around 10 PM CST / 11 PM EST, on our Twitch channel, with the podcast dropping the following morning.
#HAILGAMBLOR
Saturday, December 26
Lending Tree Bowl, 3:30 EST, ESPN
Western Kentucky vs Georgia State (-3.5) (Total: 49.5)
Winner: Georgia State
Spread: Georgia State -3.5
Total: Over 49.5
Principle play here: WKU is under .500 and in a bowl. Actually, principle probably isn’t the right word. More like, I know nothing about these teams and that makes the most sense.
As far as the total, I’m going over because it seems like practically every game has been.
LOGIC!
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl, 3:30 PM EST, ESPN
#19 Louisiana (-12.5) vs UTSA (Total: 55)
Winner: Louisiana
Spread: UTSA +12.5
Total: Over 55
What better way to thank all first responders and front line workers than having a bowl game in Dallas, were the COVID case and death rate continues to climb, and in which the public can be in the stadium!
My cabin fever anger aside, Louisiana has had a hell of a season, but if you haven’t caught UTSA at all this year, you are missing out. The Roadrunners are 7-4 with a solid offense that can put up points.
The way I see it, both these teams are having good years and are ready to end with a bang. I’ll happily take the points in what I figure will be a fun, point-happy fake Cotton Bowl.
FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl, 7:30 PM EST, ESPN
Liberty vs #12 Costal Carolina (-7) (Total: 59.5)
Winner: Costal
Spread: Costal -7
Total: Over 59.5
In all honesty, logic should lean towards this game being a potential shootout, and therefore you should take the points, right?
Normally, yes! However, I’m not betting against Coastal this year, especially after they had an incredible put-up-or-shut-up effort against BYU.
There have been few games I’ve actually been looking forward to this bowl season and this is one of them. What a great way to end the day.
Texan by birth, Irish by choice.
Born and raised in the great state of Texas, Tex is a first-generation Domer and a former student manager. After graduation, he left the cold winters of South Bend behind and returned back to his home state with a computer engineering degree in tow. Missing the daily grind of working football practices and talking football with fellow Irish fans every day, he took to blogging, a path which eventually led him to Her Loyal Sons. Continuously diving into stats and game film, Tex strives to break down every aspect of Fighting Irish football--even though it's determined to kill him.
- HLS Recap: 2020 Season Finale - January 18, 2021
- HLS Picks: 2020 Championship Edition - January 11, 2021
- HLS Recap: Talkin’ ‘Bout The Narrative™ - January 3, 2021
