College Bowl Betting: Jan 1-6
College football betting action heats up this week as the bowl schedule starts to offer up big matchups.
They include the Wisconsin Badgers taking on the Stanford Cardinal in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day in the first meeting between the schools since 2000.
Stanford is the 6.5-point favorite on the college football betting lines at 5Dimes for their Rose Bowl matchup against Wisconsin on Tuesday, and they've been the more lucrative wagering option so far this season.
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The Cardinal went 11-2 SU and paid off on the odds at 8-5 ATS leading up to the Rose Bowl, while the Badgers were 8-5 SU and 6-7 ATS on the year.
When these two schools met on New Year's Day back in 2000 the Badgers were 11-point underdogs but managed to pull out a 17-9 victory in the contest.
The Rose Bowl highlights the college football schedule for Tuesday, but a second BCS matchup has Northern Illinois taking on Florida State in the Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium.
The Seminoles are big 13-point favorites for that matchup, but while they went 11-2 SU during the season they disappointed at 4-9 ATS. The mid-major Huskies were 12-1 SU this year and they covered the posted spread in nine of those matchups.
The other four games on the schedule for New Year's Day are Mississippi State vs. Northwestern (-1) in the Gator Bowl at Everbank Field, Purdue vs. Oklahoma State (-17) in the Heart of Dallas Bowl at the Cotton Bowl, South Carolina (-5.5) vs. Michigan in the Outback Bowl at Raymond James Stadium, and Georgia (-8.5) vs. Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl at the Florida Citrus Bowl; the Cornhuskers went just 6-6-1 ATS this season, while the Bulldogs were just slightly better at 7-6 versus the posted lines.
On Wednesday it's Louisville vs. Florida in the Sugar Bowl at the Louisiana Superdome, with the Gators a big 13.5-point favorite on the college football betting odds (check out current lines at 5Dimes).
Florida went 11-1 SU and 7-5 ATS on the season, while Louisville was 10-2 SU and 5-7 ATS – which included a 1-0 ATS record in their lone game as a 'dog.
Oregon then takes on Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium on Thursday night, with the Ducks pegged as a 9-point betting favorite.
Kansas State was one of the best wagers in college football this season at 10-2 ATS (11-1 SU), and they covered the spread in both games in which they were listed as the underdog. Oregon went 11-1 SU and 7-5 ATS over their dozen contests this season.
The Cotton Bowl between Texas A&M and Oklahoma on Friday night at Cowboys Stadium then highlights the days leading up to next week's national championship matchup, with Johnny Manziel and company a 3-point favorite on the college football odds at 5Dimes.
On Saturday it's the BBVA Compass Bowl at Legion Field between Pittsburgh and Mississippi (-3.5), while Sunday's bowl slate offers up the GoDaddy.com Bowl at Ladd-Peebles Stadium with Kent State meeting Arkansas State (-4) in that one.