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.
Bowl game odds are released when the matchups are set but you can put a futures bet down in advance on who you think the National Champion will be. See the current real-time odds at NJ online sportsbooks for this year’s National Champ in the second tab below.
In the first tab you can see the current point spreads, moneylines and totals odds for all 2020 Bowl games. Use the drop-down menu to toggle between odds boards. Click on any odds to jump right to the sportsbook, claim your free bets or bonus and lock in your bowl bet.
There are 43 games in this 2020-2021 bowl season. Bettors will have wagering options for two+ weeks, so there is no shortage of opportunity.
However, the lineup of games this year is still quite hazy. The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown off plans for everyone, including in college football. So, we will be updating this table as more information comes to us.
Nevertheless, here is the schedule and matchups for 2020:
Date | Bowl | Time (ET) | TV | Conference Matchup |
---|---|---|---|---|
December 19, 2020 | Tropical Smoothie Café Frisco | 7:00 PM | ESPN | American/C-USA/MAC/MWC |
December 21, 2020 | Myrtle Beach | 2:30 PM | ESPN | American/MAC/Sun Belt |
December 22, 2020 | Famous Idaho Potato | 3:30 PM | ESPN | MAC vs. MWC |
December 22, 2020 | Boca Raton | 7:00 PM | ESPN | American/C-USA/MAC |
December 23, 2020 | R+L Carriers New Orleans | 3:30 PM | ESPN | C-USA vs. Sun Belt |
December 23, 2020 | Montgomery | 7:00 PM | ESPN | At Large vs. At Large |
December 24, 2020 | New Mexico | 3:30 PM | ESPN | American/C-USA/MWC |
December 25, 2020 | Camellia | 2:30 PM | ESPN | MAC vs. Sun Belt |
December 26, 2020 | Cure Bowl | 12:00 PM | ESPN | American/MAC/Sun Belt |
December 26, 2020 | Gasparilla | 12:00 PM | ABC | American/ACC/SEC |
December 26, 2020 | LendingTree | 3:30 PM | ESPN | MAC vs. Sun Belt |
December 26, 2020 | Radiance Technologies Independence | 7:00 PM | ESPN | Army vs. Pac-12 |
December 26, 2020 | Guaranteed Rate | 10:15 PM | ESPN | Big 12 vs. Big Ten |
December 26, 2020 | SERVPRO First Responder | 3:30 PM | ABC | American/ACC/Big 12 |
December 28, 2020 | Military | 2:30 PM | ESPN | ACC vs. American |
December 29, 2020 | Cheez-It | 5:30 PM | ESPN | ACC vs. Big 12 |
December 29, 2020 | Valero Alamo | 9:00 PM | ESPN | Big 12 vs. Pac-12 |
December 30, 2020 | Duke's Mayo | 12:00 PM | ESPN | ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big Ten |
December 30, 2020 | Transperfect Music City | 3:30 PM | ESPN | Big Ten vs. SEC |
December 30, 2020 | Goodyear Cotton | 7:15 PM | ESPN | At-large vs. At-large |
December 31, 2020 | Lockheed Martin Armed Forces | 12:00 PM | ESPN | American/Army/C-USA |
December 31, 2020 | Autozone Liberty | 4:00 PM | ESPN | Big 12 vs. SEC |
December 31, 2020 | Arizona | 4:00 PM | CBSSN | MAC vs. MWC |
December 31, 2020 | Texas | 8:00 PM | ESPN | Big 12 vs. SEC |
January 1, 2021 | TicketSmarter Birmingham | 12:00 PM | ESPN2 | ACC/American/SEC |
January 1, 2021 | Chick Fil-A Peach | 12:30 PM | ESPN | At-large vs. At-large |
January 1, 2021 | Vrbo Citrus | 1 :00 PM | ABC | Big Ten vs. SEC |
January 1, 2021 | Rose | 5:00 PM | ESPN | Semifinal Game |
January 1, 2021 | Allstate Sugar | 8:45 PM | ESPN | Semifinal Game |
January 2, 2020 | TaxSlayer Gator | 12:00 PM | ESPN | ACC vs. SEC |
January 2, 2021 | Outback | 12:30 PM | ABC | Big Ten vs. SEC |
January 2, 2021 | Playstation Fiesta | 4:00 PM | ESPN | At-large vs. At-large |
January 2, 2021 | Capital One Orange | 8:00 PM | ESPN | ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big Ten/SEC |
January 11, 2021 | CFP National Championship | 8:00 PM | ESPN | Semifinal Winners |
Cancelled | Bahamas | TBA | ESPN | C-USA vs. MAC |
Cancelled | Celebration | TBA | ABC | MEAC vs. SWAC |
Cancelled | Fenway | TBA | ESPN | ACC/Notre Dame vs. American |
Cancelled | LA | TBA | ESPN | Pac-12 vs. MWC |
Cancelled | Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas | TBA | ESPN | Pac-12 vs. SEC |
Cancelled | New Era Pinstripe | TBA | ESPN | ACC vs. Big Ten |
Cancelled | Quick Lane | TBA | ESPN | Big Ten vs. MAC |
Cancelled | Redbox | TBA | FOX/FS1 | Big Ten vs. Pac-12 |
Cancelled | SDCCU Holiday | TBA | FOX/FS1 | ACC vs. Pac-12 |
Cancelled | Sofi Hawai'i | TBA | ESPN | MWC vs. AAC/C-USA |
Cancelled | Tony the Tiger Sun | TBA | CBS | ACC vs. Pac-12 |
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:
Make sure to tune in to all the great action. And don’t forget to place your bets.
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).
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 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 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.
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 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 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.
There are several online and land-based sportsbooks in New Jersey. All of them will have wagering options on various NCAA football bowl games. The current list of online sportsbooks includes:
Retail sportsbooks include:
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.