Top College Football Bowl Picks for Saturday

College football bowl season kicked off with two exciting games yesterday, which whetted our appetites for the jampacked six-game slate of games today. Check out our college football picks for Saturday.

Two of the six games to kick off today involve conference champions. The Sun Belt champion Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns and Mountain West champion Utah State Aggies play in the New Orleans Bowl and Jimmy Kimmel L.A. Bowl, respectively. Four of the six games have point spreads of seven points or less, which should make for another thrilling day of competitive games.

Here are my picks and predictions for Saturday’s college football bowl games (odds via DraftKings; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

Saturday’s College Football Bowl Schedule

Boca Raton Bowl: Western Kentucky vs. Appalachian State, 11 a.m. ET, ESPN
New Mexico Bowl: UTEP vs. Fresno State, 2:15 p.m. ET, ESPN
Independence Bowl: UAB vs. BYU, 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC
LendingTree Bowl: Eastern Michigan vs. Liberty, 5:45 p.m. ET, ESPN
L.A. Bowl: Utah State vs. Oregon State, 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC
New Orleans Bowl: Louisiana vs. Marshall, 9:15 p.m. ET, ESPN

Saturday’s Top College Football Bowl Picks

Appalachian State -3 (-105) ★★★
Fresno State -11.5 (-110) ★★★
UAB-BYU Under 54.5 (-105) ★★★★
Eastern Michigan-Liberty Over 58.5 (-110) ★★★
Oregon State -7 (-120) ★★★★

SEE ALSO: College Football Bowl’d Predictions

Saturday’s Top College Football Bowl Predictions

Appalachian State -3 (-105)

Western Kentucky quarterback Bailey Zappe is the nation's leading passer, facing an Appalachian State team that won 10 games and is making its sixth consecutive bowl appearance since becoming FBS-eligible. While the focus in this game will center around Zappe's pursuit of Joe Burrow's single-season touchdown record, one should not forget how potent Appalachian State's offense is. The Mountaineers averaged 34.2 points per game, which ranks 24th in the country. In addition, they are the more complete team with a stingy defense and the ability to pressure the quarterback.

We're backing the Mountaineers in our college football picks.

Fresno State -11.5 (-110)

Fresno State is the second-biggest favorite (behind Alabama) of all the bowl games, and with good reason. The Bulldogs are looking for their third 10-win season in the last five years. They did lose head coach Kalen DeBoer and running backs coach Lee Marks will serve as interim coach. However, UTEP has scored more than 25 points in just one of their last six games and does not have the offensive firepower to keep up with Bulldogs quarterback Jake Haener, who threw for the ninth-most yards (3,810) and 11th-most touchdowns (32) this season.

UAB-BYU Under 54.5 (-105)

While many Group of Five or independent schools are mocked for their easy schedules at times, there is no criticizing BYU's challenging schedule this year. The Cougars played five Pac-12 schools, two of which were ranked at the time, and beat them all. In addition, they also made a trip to Waco to face Big 12 champion Baylor.

That tough scheduling will make a game against UAB feel like a walk in the park, and we expect their stout defense to dominate as a result. In addition, UAB can expect a heavy dose of BYU running back Tyler Allgeier, who ran for more than 1,400 yards this season. With Allgeier sustaining drives and grinding clock, this game should come to a standstill in the second half, especially if the Cougars mount a big lead.

Eastern Michigan-Liberty Over 58.5 (-110)

If you have not seen Liberty quarterback Malik Willis play, he is must-watch television, as his game is very similar to Lamar Jackson's. Willis is a likely first-round pick and will have one last opportunity of game action to improve his draft stock.

Eastern Michigan is not known for a stout defense, as its 334 points allowed ranks 82nd in FBS. However, the Eagles have averaged 33 PPG over their last five games and will likely call a more aggressive game knowing they will need points to keep up with the Flames.

The Over is 3-1-1 in Liberty's last five games as favorites and is 5-2-1 in Eastern Michigan's last eight non-conference games. With Liberty a solid bet to score 40 points by themselves, this game should soar over the projected total.

Oregon State -7 (-120)

Momentum is clearly with Utah State in this game, as the Aggies won seven of their final eight games. However, one should not overlook the battle-tested Oregon State Beavers out of the Pac-12. They went 7-5 straight up and against the spread this season and were 3-1 ATS in games where they were favored by at least a touchdown. Oregon State is looking for its first bowl win under head coach Jonathan Smith, which would be a nice consolation prize after narrowly missing out on a chance to play in the conference championship game.

The Beavers had the conference's best running back in B.J. Baylor, who led the Pac-12 with 1,259 rushing yards and was tied for fourth with 13 touchdowns. Oregon State's success is heavily tied to Baylor's effectiveness, as they went 5-1 SU in the six games he rushed for at least 100 yards.

Utah State is a bit overvalued as they exposed an undermanned San Diego State team in the Mountain West Championship game. In addition, Oregon State is the more physical team on both lines of scrimmage, which should lead to a double-digit Beavers win.

SEE ALSO: All picks and odds. Be sure to check out SportsbookReview.com’s community forums and betting tools.

College football picks made on 12/16/2021 at 1:03 p.m. ET.

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