New Year’s Six & Playoff Locks

Three spread underdogs, one spread favourite, one straight-up, and one over

Well, it was a rocky start to NCAAF bowl season. To be exact, it was a 0-7 rocky start—including the incredibly bad Old Dominion beat. It’s funny how few recreational gamblers ever lands on the right side of these miraculous outcomes, but I digress. Since that 0-7 start 🥶 (did I mention it’s just as hard to go 0-7 as it is to go 7-0?) I am 14-7 🥵, scratching and crawling my bowl record back to even, 14-14 overall.

Seeing as I’ve hit 14 of my last 21 picks, I recommend you check out the last seven picks of my NCAAF Bowl Season Mega Thread for games yet to be played. But for those waiting for the New Year’s Six and playoff picks, wait no longer. Three spread underdogs, one spread favourite, one straight-up, and one over:

Dec. 29

Goodyear Cotton Bowl—Missouri vs. Ohio State (-3), o/u 48.5

This one just means more to the Missouri Tigers. I would have bet them before transfer portal movement but it helps that head coach Eli Drinkwitz has confirmed everyone on the Missouri side will be available minus a couple of injuries on the defensive side of the ball. The opposite is true in Columbus with several key players jumping ship on coach Cryin’ Ryan Day. Starting QB Kyle McCord has left for Syracuse. Dependable WR Julian Fleming is in the portal and it’s widely speculated that coveted WR1 Marvin Harrison Jr. will opt out in preparation of the draft. At time of writing it’s still unclear if Ohio State’s starting RB, TE, S, DE, and LB will play or opt-out. A Cotton Bowl appearance means something to a program like Missouri, conversely anything but a playoff appearance is a disappointment for OSU. I’m not really sure why this line has moved to +3 for the Tigers, but I’m all over it, Missouri +3.