College Football Friday Best Bets for Armed Forces Bowl & Holiday Bowl Incl. Oklahoma vs Navy & Syracuse vs Washington State

Bowl season is really starting to heat up, as we will be treated to 5 interesting college football matchups on Friday, December 27th. Starting at noon ET with Oklahoma vs Navy in Fort Worth, college football will control the sports realm for the day, with the nightcap between Texas A&M and USC kicking off from Las Vegas at 10:30pm ET. After navigating the transfer portal updates and the opt-out announcements, I found a couple angles that I really like on Friday’s card and will break down both of those positions for you. Let’s get to the picks, and don’t forget to check Pickswise daily for college football predictions on all of the bowl and playoff games this postseason. 

College football Friday bowl best bets

Armed Forces Bowl: Navy Midshipmen +3 over Oklahoma Sooners (-120)

Odds courtesy of Fanatics Sportsbook at the time of publishing. 

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Oklahoma and Navy’s transfer portal experiences couldn’t be more different. The Sooners will be without starting quarterback Jackson Arnold, starting running back Jovantae Barnes and as many as 6 or 7 pass-catchers that accounted for nearly half of the team’s receiving touchdowns. That’s only the offensive side of the ball. The defense will be without its 2 leaders in Billy Bowman and Danny Stutsman and 2 of its top 3 cornerbacks in Kani Walker and Dezjhon Malone. Meanwhile, Navy doesn’t have a single opt-out or transfer portal entry. 

Given the disparity in the transfer portal, I have to give Navy an edge in this matchup. The Midshipmen are at full-strength and should benefit from a shorter layoff than the Sooners, being that they just played against Army on December 14th. The Sooners haven’t played since November 30th, and the mass exodus concerns me from a preparation and motivation standpoint. You could argue the peak of Oklahoma’s season was beating Alabama in Week 13, which ended up being 1 of its 2 SEC wins. With a mobile freshman quarterback in Michael Hawkins at the helm lacking experienced pass-catchers around him, Oklahoma’s offense figures to be built around the run in this game –  which is nothing new for a service academy football team heavily entrenched in its ground game like Navy. 

The Midshipmen come into this bowl game with quite a bit of momentum, having won 2 straight as underdogs against ECU and Army. I admittedly I missed the best number in the market last week, but I still find Navy worth betting while catching any amount of points. It might be an ugly, low-scoring game, but I think that actually benefits the Midshipmen given their ability to shorten games and limit opposing possessions – especially given the absence of a few of Oklahoma’s defensive leaders. Playable to +1.

Holiday Bowl: Syracuse Orange -9.5 first half over Washington State Cougars (-120)

Odds courtesy of Bet365 at the time of publishing. 

This is another game where I’ve already missed the best of the number because of the massive disparity in transfer portal entries, opt-outs and coaching carousel. Washington State will have leading receiver Kyle Williams, but will be without as many as 11 starters – including quarterback John Mateer, running back Wayshawn Parker, 2nd-leading wide receiver Kris Hutson, right tackle Fa’alili Fa’amoe and multiple defensive starters. The Cougars will also be without a chunk of their staff, as their head coach and multiple assistants moved on to new programs. Meanwhile, Syracuse’s staff remains intact, and the Orange will be without just 1 starter at the time I write this on Thursday evening. 

Syracuse’s offense can explode for points in a moment’s notice. The Orange have scored at least 31 points in 5 straight, ending the season on a 3-game winning streak that was capped off with a 21-point comeback win over Miami – a win that knocked the Hurricanes out of the ACC title game and the College Football Playoff. Given the massive turnover that Washington State faces on the field and on the sideline, Syracuse should be primed to start fast against the Cougars. The Orange have scored at least 14 first-half points in 4 consecutive games, and while that might be enough to cover this number in this particular game, they should be good for at least another score against this decimated defense. The motivation to put this game out of reach early should be there for Syracuse, as the Orange are in position to win 10 games for the first time since 2018 and just the 2nd time since 2001. Even at full strength, the Cougars were 90th nationally in opposing scoring and ppa per play allowed outside of garbage time. Now without as many as 6 of their top 8 defenders, I don’t see how they stop a top 35 offense led by Kyle McCord and company. Playable to -11. 

Find our college football best bets for our most confident picks of the postseason, including our full Syracuse vs Washington prediction

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