Bowl season continues on Friday, Dec. 27 with a massive five-game slate.
The action starts at noon ET with a matchup between the Oklahoma Sooners and Navy Midshipmen in the Armed Forces Bowl, and it concludes with a late-night. battle between the Texas A&M Aggies and USC Trojans in the Las Vegas Bowl at 10:30 p.m. ET.
With so much action to choose from, our college football writers came through with three best bets for Friday's NCAAF bowl games.
Continue reading for all three of our college football best bets and NCAAF bowl picks for Friday — and be sure to check back tomorrow for even more college football betting coverage.
College Football Best Bets
The team logos in the table below represent each of the matchups that our college football betting staff is targeting from today's slate of games. Click on the team logos for any of the matchups below to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 12 p.m. | |
  | 7 p.m. | |
  | 8 p.m. | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our NCAAF Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | ||
Oklahoma vs. Navy Best Bet
By Joshua Nunn
Navy is playing in its first bowl game in five seasons, and this will be a thrilling matchup in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.
With all of the circumstances surrounding the landscape of college football bowl season and the opt-outs, transfer portal and players forgoing their bowl participation in favor of making their next move, it's refreshing to see Navy not have to juggle any of those distractions.
Navy hit a rough patch during the second half of the season while battling stiff competition and an injury to quarterback Blake Horvath, who was a full-go in the win over Army to close the season.
Navy ran for 271 yards and 5.9 yards per carry in that matchup while completely shutting down the Army offensive attack.
This Navy defense should be able to neutralize an Oklahoma offense that will be without its starting quarterback, a couple of starters on the offensive line and potentially its top six wide receivers.
Overall, the Sooners are down to 56 scholarship players available in this matchup.
Navy will bring a different style to this bowl game that's unfamiliar to Oklahoma, and I believe the Midshipmen's rushing attack will find success against a depleted Sooner defense.
The Mids ranked second nationally in preventing Havoc and 16th in Offensive Finishing Drives. Look for long, methodical drives that end with with multiple opportunities to cash in.
Defensively, Navy ranks 19th nationally in Success Rate, and the coverage unit should be able to hold up here against inexperienced Oklahoma receivers.
There will be a ton of fresh faces lining up for Oklahoma, and it's hard to simulate game reps. The inexperience could create situations where we see coverage sacks and stalled drives for OU.
This roster is too depleted to assume it's going to line up and go toe-to-toe with a team free of distractions and highly motivated to show up. Grab those points with Navy.
Pick: Navy +2.5 (Play to PK)
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Texas Tech vs. Arkansas Best Bet
Starting quarterback Behren Morton won't be playing for the Red Raiders, but Tech still retained far more of its roster for this game than Arkansas has.
The Razorbacks have had tons of key players enter the transfer portal, including three starting offensive linemen, starting wide receiver Isaiah Sategna, starting safety TJ Metcalf and a slew of other contributors.
Joey McGuire is 2-0 in bowl games thus far during his time in Lubbock, and Tech ended its regular season with two impressive showings at home.
Backup quarterback Will Hammond looked capable when he spelled Morton earlier in the year on the road at TCU, and he now has had three weeks of bowl practices to prepare for this one.
Additionally, it sounds like star running back Tahj Brooks will lace 'em up one final time for this game, which will give Hammond the ultimate security blanket in this matchup.
Ultimately, Texas Tech should be the more motivated team in this game, and it has far more personnel available.
Give me the Red Raiders to pick up the win in Memphis and finish the year 9-4.
Pick: Texas Tech ML -120
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Syracuse vs. Washington State Best Bet
By Joshua Nunn
Washington State has been decimated by transfer portal decisions and opt-outs, along with a large chunk of its coaching staff leaving for other positions. This team has been left with numerous holes to fill offensively and defensively, and it's hard to see a clear path to this team competing well in this bowl game.
Backup quarterback Zevi Eckhaus transferred in from Bryant University this year and was expected to push John Mateer for the starting job but played just eight snaps all season.
Mateer led the team in rushing and passing and accounted for 44 touchdowns on the season. His absence will be a massive loss for Washington State.
I love the attitude from Syracuse head coach Fran Brown, who rallied his guys together in back-to-back home victories to close the season.
Cuse has made mention of taking this bowl game seriously, and having minimal-to-no opt-outs shows that.
Quarterback Kyle McCord will play in this one and should have a field day against a decimated Wazzu secondary that will essentially be deploying a second-team unit.
With multiple starters out on the defensive line and in the back seven, I can't see a path to Washington State creating enough pressure to rattle McCord or get the Cuse offense off schedule here.
The Orange ranked 11th nationally in Offensive Finishing Drives and 22nd in EPA Per Play, and I would expect a solid showing from this group once again.
Syracuse has plenty of offensive weapons, including tight end Oronde Gadsden II and wide receiver Jackson Meeks, and these targets should have success in creating separation and extending drives with chunk plays downfield.
The run game should also chip in when needed on third-and-short.
I'm extremely concerned with how Wazzu ended the season, suffering three straight losses to inferior opponents. It's hard to imagine where its mindset is at in this game.
I would expect the players that show up to play hard, but the talent disparity should take over in the second half as Syracuse pulls away.
Pick: Syracuse -17 (Play to -20)
