Despite the disappointment of the Big Ten championship game, coach Ryan Day and his team can draw upon their playoff success from last season and begin the quest to repeat. Two plays later, Morton finds Jalin Conyers cutting across the middle on third down for a 17-yard touchdown that gives the Red Raiders a 7-0 lead. Alejandro Mata comes in and hits a 25-yard field goal to cut his team’s deficit in half, 13-10, with 30 seconds left in the half. The Buffs appeared poised to score a go-ahead touchdown, with Shedeur Sanders driving his team down the field, helped in part by a successful scramble on a fourth-and-6 from the Colorado quarterback. Texas Tech was only able to gain seven yards on the next three plays and had to settle for a 53-yard field goal attempt from Gino Garcia, which had the leg, but went wide right at the last minute. After receiving the opening kickoff of the second half, the Buffs march up the field, going 75 yards on nine plays.
But Ohio State will spoil the party in a game that will be a slightly higher-scoring version of what we saw at Lucas Oil Stadium. Shield your eyes, Paul Finebaum and Peter Burns, it’s an all-Big Ten national title game, featuring a rematch of the conference championship in Indianapolis. I’m not expecting many points but Ohio State finds a few more, as kicker Jayden Fielding redeems himself after the Big Ten title game miss. Ohio State and Georgia delivered a classic in the 2022 national semifinal, a game the Buckeyes largely controlled before falling in Atlanta. Quarterback Gunner Stockton was making his first career start in place of the injured Beck and should be much more comfortable this time around.
College Football Playoff, bowl game odds, money line, spreads and totals
Both teams finished strong, though, as Clemson swept its final four games, and Penn State claimed its final three under interim coach Terry Smith, who will remain on staff with new coach Matt Campbell. East Carolina had a nice season under coach Blake Harrell, sustaining its only losses against bowl teams (NC State, BYU, Tulane, UTSA). Despite falling short in the Mountain West championship game, UNLV can cap a strong first season under coach Dan Mullen with its 11th win, matching last year’s Rebels and the 1984 squad for the most in team history. Western Kentucky has steady leadership with Tyson Helton, who is 4-2 in bowls and has won eight or more games in each of the past five seasons. Kennesaw State has been really good in close games and has a playmaker in quarterback Amari Odom, but WMU’s defense will carry the day. Both teams have played a lot of one-score games, but Missouri State’s passing game will be the difference.
- The team opt-outs opened an opportunity for Rice, which will complete its first season under coach Scott Abell and seek the team’s first bowl victory since 2014.
- Colorado’s only first downs in the game came on its first series.
- Colorado coach Deion Sanders has been open about his health issues since having his cancerous bladder removed in May.
- But they can also lean on their defense to fluster Beck and the Hurricanes a bit.
- Without further ado, from Bowl Predictions HQ in downtown Indianapolis, here are the breakdowns and picks for every college football postseason game.
Capital One Bowl Mania
Tulane defended North Texas extremely well in the American Conference championship game, forcing five turnovers and holding the Mean Green to seven points until the final minute of the third quarter. Golding is a popular replacement, but he has never led this team and will be facing a future SEC competitor in Sumrall. A first-round rematch of a game Ole Miss won by 35 points back on Sept. 20 is less than ideal, but the changed circumstances around both programs add some intrigue.
Staub has completed 18 of 32 passes for 191 yards and one touchdown with one interception. The loss drops Colorado to 1-2 and adds uncertainty to the quarterback position, where Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter started the first two games for the Buffaloes. He recovered with two touchdown drives on his final two series before halftime, cutting Houston’s lead to 16-14. Staub, a redshirt sophomore, completed 19 of 35 passes for 204 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Wake isn’t afraid to grind out wins with its defense and run game, led by Demond Claiborne. Navy doesn’t take these games lightly, having won six of its past seven bowl games, including last year’s Armed Forces Bowl.
Houston pushes lead to 33-14
I’m going with South Florida in a somewhat lower-scoring game. South Florida has the talent edge here after spending a good chunk of the season in the AP Top 25. Quarterback Demond Williams Jr. connects for two second-half touchdown passes as Washington pulls away late.
Arden Walker forced fumble, Shilo Sanders TD clinch win for Colorado
Paul Finebaum explains why Indiana isn’t the College Football Playoff favorite despite its win over Ohio State.
Prices were accurate at the time of publication but may change. Our team of savvy editors independently handpicks all recommendations. Connors spent the previous three seasons at Rice and was described earlier this week by Deion Sanders as a running back “who can flat-out hit it.” Running back Dallan Hayden could make his season debut if he comes back from a hand injury. Wide receiver Omarion Miller is expected to be out a second consecutive game with a hamstring injury. It’s also a key test for Colorado at the most important position on the field.
How to watch Colorado vs Houston
North Texas lost out on a CFP berth after falling to Tulane in the AAC title game. But Fresno State is pretty stingy on defense and has some stars, such as cornerback Simeon Harris and lineman Finn Claypool. As a child of the ’90s who considers “The Chronic” one of the best-produced albums ever, I’m not picking against a team called the Bulldogs in the Snoop Dogg Bowl. Star linebacker Jack Kelly and his teammates get it done. BYU has a pretty significant advantage on defense, though.
Indiana likely without DE Stephen Daley for CFP
But his first season as a head coach hasn’t been one for the record books. Deion Sanders said he wants to settle on one quarterback and not play “musical chairs” in the position. Staub is a redshirt sophomore from Stevenson Ranch, California, who served as backup the past two seasons under Deion Sanders’ quarterback son Shedeur.
Senior quarterback Jacob Clark has been very solid, and the Bears have five players with more than 420 receiving yards. Both defenses are playing very well, as Old Dominion allowed a total of 26 points in its final four games. USF coach Alex Golesh left for Auburn and won’t be coaching the bowl game.
- My lean is New Mexico, but Fleck is excellent in bowls, going 6-0 at Minnesota with a Rate Bowl victory in 2021.
- He started slowly, having led his team to punts on their first four possessions.
- USF coach Alex Golesh left for Auburn and won’t be coaching the bowl game.
- Sumrall’s team will play a bit better this time, but Ole Miss overcomes a slow start to pull away behind Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy.
- The Hoosiers are AP No. 1 for the first time and riding high from their first outright Big Ten title since 1945.
- The quarterfinals end with an SEC rematch in the Big Easy, as coach Kirby Smart tries to avoid a repeat of last season’s Sugar Bowl, when Georgia had just 10 points and 62 rushing yards in a loss to Notre Dame.
Shedeur Sanders rushing TD gives Colorado first lead
Both teams have tremendous talent at wide receiver and playmaking quarterbacks in Marcel Reed (Texas A&M) and Carson Beck (Miami). Ole Miss will play without former coach Lane Kiffin, while new coach Pete Golding will make his debut at the helm in the biggest game in team history. The Buffs are able to pick up a first down, but are held to just eight yards on six plays, with a Mark Vassett 51-yard punt giving Texas Tech the ball at its own 27. After failing to convert on a third-and-9 from the Colorado 38-yard line, Gino Garcia drills a 53-yard field goal for the Red Raiders to push their lead to 10-0 with seven minutes remaining in the first quarter. Colorado now has just 22 yards on nine plays and hasn’t gotten past its own 26-yard line. Colorado as a team has only 26 total yards, to Texas Tech’s 125.
Toledo names Mercer’s Mike Jacobs as next head coach
The good news for Southern Miss is it returns to the postseason for the first time since 2022 after improving from 1-11 last year to seven wins this fall. The Cougars are the better team, as they put a scare into two CFP participants, Ole Miss and James Madison, and a CFP hopeful in Virginia, losing the three road games by a total of eight points. NC State had a tough midseason stretch but won three of its final four games, including an upset of Georgia Tech. Memphis dropped its final three games and four of its final six after entering the AP Top 25 following a 6-0 start. The way these teams ended their regular seasons couldn’t have been more different.
But they can also lean on their defense to fluster Beck and the Hurricanes a bit. The Buckeyes will need to run the ball effectively, especially in short-yardage situations. The quarters kick off with a good one, as Ohio State returns to the building where it won a CFP semifinal matchup in last season’s national title run. Oregon needs no motivation after losing big to Ohio State in last season’s CFP.
Placing too much emphasis on non-CFP bowls can be tricky, but this one feels important for Lincoln Riley and easymarkets broker USC. Expect a lot of scoring in this one, but Tennessee prevails behind quarterback Joey Aguilar. The Vols never really recovered from their early loss to Georgia and have much to sort out on defense, which ranks 91st nationally in points allowed. Kudos to Appalachian State, which said yes when many others did not, and gave Georgia Southern an opponent to close out the season. Coach Tony Elliott must rally his team as a good opportunity awaits to finish things out with a team-record 11th victory. The matchup features a top-five scoring defense in San Diego State (12.6 ppg) against the nation’s top scoring offense in North Texas (44.8 ppg).
Before Friday, Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter had started the first two games for Colorado. He said he hasn’t used it yet but joked about somebody possibly using it in a game and whether a wind gust might knock it down to reveal the occupant on the toilet. He hasn’t driven his team farther than the Houston 47-yard line. Staub got sacked and threw two incompletions and is now 6-for-9 passing for 42 yards. After the first quarter, Colorado coach Deion Sanders told ESPN his defense looked like “hot garbage.”
Quarterback Katin Houser blossomed for ECU with 3,300 passing yards, and will challenge Pitt’s defense. UTSA coach Jeff Traylor, meanwhile, hasn’t looked happy this season, as the Roadrunners haven’t harnessed the momentum from some nice home wins over Tulane and East Carolina. Tough call here, but I’m riding with the Lobos, who win their 10th game for the first time since 1982. Some Big Ten teams wouldn’t get up for a post-Christmas bowl visit to Detroit and a MAC opponent, but not Northwestern. Ohio also had a solid season at 8-4, but the team was rocked by coach Brian Smith being placed on leave Dec. 1 with no details provided.