College Bowl Game Betting Guide
College football bowl games coincide with one of the most feverish times for NJ sports betting.
This year’s edition might be exceptional due to the spread of legal sports betting across the country. For people who would like to wager on these traditional clashes, here is a quick guide of the ins and outs of college bowl game betting.
Best NJ sportsbooks for college bowl betting
Where to bet on college football bowl games in New Jersey
There are several online and land-based sportsbooks in New Jersey. Al of them will have wagering options on various NCAA football bowl games.
The current list of online sportsbooks includes:
- DraftKings Sportsbook
- BetStars NJ
- FanDuel Sportsbook
- SugarHouse Sportsbook
- 888 Sport NJ
- Caesars sportsbook
- playMGM Sportsbook
- William Hill NJ
- Resorts sportsbook
- Golden Nugget sports
- BetAmerica Sportsbook
- PointsBet NJ
- Borgata Sports
- TheScore Bet
- Bet365 NJ
- Hard Rock online
- Unibet Sportsbook
Retail sportsbooks include:
- William Hill Sportsbook at Monmouth Park
- FanDuel Sportsbook at the Meadowlands
- Borgata Race & Sports Bar/Moneyline Bar & Book
- The Book at Harrah’s
- The Sportsbook at Golden Nugget
- DraftKings Sportsbook at Resorts AC
- The Book at Bally’s
- William Hill Sportsbook at Ocean Casino
- William Hill Sportsbook at Tropicana
- The Sportsbook at Hard Rock
New Jersey regulations prohibit wagers on games that either take place in New Jersey or involve New Jersey teams. However, there are no scheduled bowls in state.
College football bowl game schedule
There are 41 games in this 2019-2020 bowl season. Bettors will have wagering options for two+ weeks, so there is no shortage of opportunity. Here is the schedule and matchups for 2019:
| Date | Bowl | Time (ET) | TV | Matchup |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 20 | Bahamas | 2 p.m. | ESPN | C-USA vs. MAC |
| December 20 | Frisco | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN2 | AAC vs. Sun Belt |
| December 21 | Celebration | Noon | ABC | MEAC vs. SWAC |
| December 21 | New Mexico | 2 p.m. | ESPN | C-USA vs. Mountain West |
| December 21 | Cure | 2:30 p.m. | CBSSN | AAC vs. Sun Belt |
| December 21 | Boca Raton | 3:30 p.m. | ABC | MAC vs. AAC |
| December 21 | Camellia | 5:30 p.m. | ESPN | MAC vs. Sun Belt |
| December 21 | Las Vegas | 7:30 p.m. | ABC | Pac-12 vs. Mountain West |
| December 21 | New Orleans | 9 p.m. | ESPN | C-USA vs. AAC |
| December 23 | Gasparilla | 2:30 p.m. | ESPN | C-USA vs. ACC/AAC |
| December 24 | Hawaii | 8 p.m. | ESPN | BYU vs. AAC |
| December 26 | Independence | 4 p.m. | ESPN | SEC vs. ACC/Notre Dame |
| December 26 | Quick Lane | 8 p.m. | ESPN | Big Ten vs. ACC/Notre Dame |
| December 27 | Military | Noon | ESPN | American vs. ACC/Notre Dame |
| December 27 | Pinstripe | 3:20 p.m. | ESPN | Big Ten vs. ACC/Notre Dame |
| December 27 | Texas | 6:45 p.m. | ESPN | Big 12 vs. SEC |
| December 27 | Holiday | 8 p.m. | FS1 | Big Ten vs. Pac-12 |
| December 27 | Cheez-It | 10:15 p.m. | ESPN | Big 12 vs. Pac-12 |
| December 28 | Camping World | Noon | ABC | Big 12 vs. ACC/Notre Dame |
| December 28 | Cotton | Noon | ESPN | At-large vs. At-large |
| December 28 | Fiesta (semifinal) | 4 p.m. or 8 p.m. | ESPN | TBA vs. TBA |
| December 28 | Peach (semifinal) | 4 p.m. or 8 p.m. | ESPN | TBA vs. TBA |
| December 30 | First Responder | 12:30 p.m. | ESPN | Big Ten vs. C-USA/ACC |
| December 30 | Music City | 4 p.m. | ESPN | SEC vs. ACC/Big Ten/Notre Dame |
| December 30 | Redbox | 4 p.m. | Fox | Big Ten vs. Pac-12 |
| December 30 | Orange | 8 p.m. | ESPN | ACC vs. Big Ten/SEC/Notre Dame |
| December 31 | Belk | Noon | ESPN | SEC vs. ACC/Notre Dame |
| December 31 | Sun | 2 p.m. | CBS | Pac-12 vs. ACC/Notre Dame |
| December 31 | Liberty | 3:45 p.m. | ESPN | Big 12 vs. SEC |
| December 31 | Arizona | 4:30 p.m. | CBSSN | Mountain West vs. Sun Belt |
| December 31 | Alamo | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN | Big 12 vs. Pac-12 |
| January 1 | Citrus | 1 p.m. | ABC | Big Ten vs. SEC |
| January 1 | Outback | 1 p.m. | ESPN | Big Ten vs. SEC |
| January 1 | Rose | 5 p.m. | ESPN | Big Ten vs. Pac-12 |
| January 1 | Sugar | 8:45 p.m. | ESPN | Big 12 vs. SEC |
| January 2 | Gator | 7 p.m. | ESPN | SEC vs. ACC/Big Ten/Notre Dame |
| January 2 | Birmingham | 3 p.m. | ESPN | SEC vs. AAC |
| January 3 | Famous Idaho Potato | 3:30 p.m. | ESPN | MAC vs. Mountain West |
| January 4 | Armed Forces | 11:30 a.m. | ESPN | Mountain West vs. Big Ten |
| January 6 | Mobile Alabama | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN | MAC vs. Sun Belt |
| January 13 | National Championship | TBA | ESPN | Semifinal winners |
College bowl game odds 2019
Here’s a sample of the current odds at New Jersey sportsbooks for the New Year’s Six bowl games:
Cotton Bowl odds 2019
Fiesta Bowl odds 2019
Peach Bowl odds 2019
Orange Bowl odds 2019
Rose Bowl odds 2019
Sugar Bowl odds 2019
College football playoff game schedule
A few years back, the NCAA instituted a limited playoff system to determine an outright champion for that year. Four teams that the selection committee judges to be this year’s best will play two semifinals and a final game.
Here is the schedule for the NCAA football playoff games:
Dec. 28, 2019
- College Football Playoff Semifinal
Playstation Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, AZ) - College Football Playoff Semifinal
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (Atlanta, GA)
Jan. 13, 2020
- College Football Playoff National Championship
(Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans)
Make sure to tune in to all the great action. And don’t forget to place your bets.
Ways to bet on college football bowl games
Point spreads
A point spread is a wager on the expected margin of victory in a game. The sportsbook establishes which team will likely win and by how many points.
Then, bettors have two options to wager. They can either predict that the favorite will exceed the given margin of victory, or the underdog will lose by less or win outright (also known as covering).
Moneyline
A moneyline bet is on the outright winner of the contest. The three-digit number next to each team’s name specifies what a winning bet will pay out.
A positive number is an amount that a $100 bet on that team will pay. A negative number is an amount one must bet to receive $100 as their payout.
Totals
Totals bets are better known as wagers on the over/under. The sportsbook establishes its estimate for the anticipated combined total of points the teams will score in a given match.
Players then bet on whether or not the combined total will exceed or fail to reach that mark. Betting that the teams will score more than the over/under is called “taking the over” and the opposite bet is known as “taking the under.”
Futures
Futures bets are wagers on the probability of a long-term event occurring. Many times, these sorts of bets will revolve around eventual champions of a particular sport or league.
These types of bets for college bowl games will likely pertain to the playoff games at the end of the season. Sportsbooks will offer odds for each playoff game team and its likelihood of winning the championship.
Propositions
Proposition bets are wagers on the possibilities of specific events occurring, either within a single game or within an entire season. Prop bets usually focus on specific player goals, rather than team ones.
Any bet about which player will score the first touchdown or whether a player will rush for a certain amount of yards is a prop bet. The possibilities for these types of bets are broader than other bet types and tend to be more granular.
Parlays
Parlays are nothing more than a combination of the above betting types. Players cast bets on more than one event or team at a time.
The catch is that all of the player’s choices must be accurate to pay out. So, parlays tend to be more challenging to win.
Bowl Pick’em contests
Bowl Pick’em contests tend to show up on various popular websites this time of year. ESPN, Yahoo, and other wide-distribution sites often run them for free. Sometimes, the sites will offer huge payouts if anyone can correctly select the entire set of bowl winners.
They can be a fun way to increase involvement in the complete slate of bowl games. There are so many bowl games these days that only the most diehard of fans can remain engaged throughout.
It is possible that DraftKings, FanDuel, or one of the other online sportsbooks in New Jersey will offer a Bowl Pick’em contest. However, it is unclear what the buy-in or prize structure for this kind of contest would be.