Caleb Wilfinger
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Following a long and grueling regular season, it’s time for the most wonderful time of the year. Bowl season is here and with it comes plenty of games for college football fans to wager on over the course of the next few weeks. We’ve got games on tap this weekend featuring both Power 5 and Group of 5 teams alike. These games might not be on everyone’s radar, but we can still win on them!
You can read all our college football predictions, but without any further ado, here’s my 3-leg NCAAF parlay with a potential payout of +986 odds. Let’s take a look at each of the legs.
James Madison vs Air Force under 41.5 (-110)
Utah State -1.5 (-110)
Northwestern ML (+198)
NCAAF parlay odds: +986
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at the time of publishing
James Madison vs Air Force under 41.5 (-110)
As you’ll see with most games during bowl season, James Madison had an abundance of players in the transfer portal ahead of the Armed Forces Bowl. At the moment, 10 of the Dukes’ 22 starters are in the transfer portal, while head coach Curt Cignetti won’t be on the sideline. Additionally, the Dukes’ OC, DC, and quarterback coach won’t be on the sideline either. In fact, JMU had to hire 5 temporary coaches for the program’s first ever-bowl game. Therefore, it’s hard to expect the JMU offense to be 100% itself, especially against a tough, physical Air Force defense. After all, the Falcons are a top-10 rush defense in the country and have held opponents to less than 18 points per game this year. Part of the reason why the Air Force defense has been so successful this season is due to the Falcons’ methodical, run-first approach on offense that takes time off the clock and keeps the defense rested.
Air Force ranks 7th in FBS in time of possession, as the Falcons run the ball 86.8% of the time. On the other side, JMU provides a tough matchup for the Air Force offense as well, as the Dukes have limited opponents to just 2.1 yards per rush and create a ton of pressure with an 8.69% sack percentage. Whether it’s the Dukes or Falcons that come out victorious, it’s hard not to expect the Armed Forces Bowl to be a low-scoring, physical battle. Let’s take the under.
Check out our full James Madison vs Air Force predictions
Utah State Aggies -1.5 over Georgia State Panthers (-110)
The headline in this matchup is the transfer portal, as Georgia State will be without some key pieces including its top rusher in Marcus Carroll and top receiver in Robert Lewis, who transferred to SEC programs. Additionally, right tackle Montavious Cunningham and backup running back KZ Adams are also in the portal, along with the likes of starting cornerback Bryquice Brown. In comparison, as of Wednesday night, Utah State has just 1 starter in the portal – safety Devin Dye.
My colleague Sam Avellone laid this out perfectly in his preview of this matchup. Aggies will start their 3rd-string quarterback Levi Williams due to injuries sustained by Cooper Legas and McCae Hillstead. On paper, this is an issue for the offense, but Williams is not your typical 3rd-string quarterback. For one, he started for Wyoming in the 2021 Idaho Potato Bowl, a game in which Wyoming beat Kent State 52-38 thanks to Williams’ 200 yards and 4 scores on on the ground. He had a similar rushing output in his only start this season, when he tallied a whopping 153 yards and 3 scores on 25 carries in a double overtime victory over New Mexico last month. With Williams under center, I expect the Aggies figures to deploy a run-heavy attack against Georgia State with 2 of the 10 best running backs in the Mountain West in Davon Booth and Rahsul Faison. Give me the Aggies to get it done.
Northwestern Wildcats ML over Utah Utes (+198)
One of the better spots on the board this week features a Northwestern team that should be extremely motivated to finish off its remarkable 2023 season with a flourish going up against a Utah team that is just trying to make it out of this season unscathed at this point. The Utes have dealt with remarkably poor injury luck all season long, including not having quarterback Cam Rising available for the entirety of the campaign. Along with Rising’s health, the Utes also suffered a tremendous number of injuries on both sides of the ball, including at running back, wide receiver, tight end, and in their defensive secondary.
Northwestern has exceeded all expectations this season, finishing with a 7-5 record after they were expected to be terrible following the dismissal of Pat Fitzgerald. Not only will they essentially have their full complement of starters on Saturday, but Utah is going to be without a plethora of players due to injury or the transfer portal. It’s clear that one team wants to be there, while the other might just be going through the motions. Motivation aside, the Wildcats should be able to hang in this game on both sides, especially given that Utah’s offense is outside the top 100 in passing success rate, EPA per pass and EPA margin. Let’s take a big swing and back Northwestern to win outright.
Read our full Northwestern vs Utah predictions
