Saturday is a big day of the College Football Bowl season. It’s the single biggest day of Bowl season with eight games on tap. The Go Bowling Military Bowl starts this off at 11:00 AM ET on Saturday with games staggered throughout the day. The Kinder’s Texas Bowl wraps things up with a 9:15 PM ET kick. Let’s take a look at the day and make our College Football Bowl picks, and best bets for Saturday, December 27th.
The Go Bowling Military Bowl is up first. Kickoff at 11:00 ET on ESPN will feature the Pittsburgh Panthers and East Carolina Pirates. Pittsburgh will be without running back Desmond Reid, linebackers Kyle Louis and Rasheem Biles, and right tackle Ryan Baer. East Carolina’s quarterback Katin Houser has entered the transfer portal and won’t play for the Pirates. The Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl kicks off at 12:00 ET on ABC. Penn State will take on Clemson in a bowl of two disappointing teams from 2025. Penn State has a long list of opt-outs after the firing of James Franklin, and many of their players are declaring for the NFL Draft.
The next window opens with the Wasabi Fenway Bowl, which has a kickoff set for 2:15 ET as UConn takes on Army on ESPN. UConn will be without its quarterback Joe Fagnano, who has entered the transfer portal. The Pop-Tarts Bowl will kick off at 3:30 ET on ABC from Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. It features #22-ranked Georgia Tech and #12 BYU. The Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl Presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop will kick off at 4:30 ET on The CW. Miami (OH) and Fresno State are the teams for this one. Miami (OH) will be without star wide receiver Kam Perry in this one.
Isleta New Mexico Bowl has kickoff set for 5:45 ET. North Texas and San Diego State will match up in this game. North Texas appears to be keeping its quarterback, Drew Mestemaker, for this one, but their head coach, Eric Morris, has already left town. The TaxSlayer Gator Bowl from EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, will kick off at 7:30 ET on ABC. Virginia will take on Missouri, which is rumored to have possibly 11 opt-outs,s including quarterback Beau Pribula. Virginia looks to be without about six of their players. The Kinder’s Texas Bowl wraps up the night with a 9:15 ET kickoff on ESPN. LSU and Houston square off in this game. LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, who missed the last three games, will not be available in this one.
College Football Bowl Best Bets: Saturday, December 27th
Clemson -2 (-122)
Clemson has a 14-game postseason win streak going on right now. Dabo Sweeney takes things seriously until the final whistle. Penn State already rallied and won games for Terry Smith and got him a job on the Matt Campbell staff. Now, a lot of their stars have opted out and are on the move. Dabo wins Bowl Games, so give me Dabo to win by at least two.
San Diego State +6 (-102)
North Texas has never been much of a “get up for the Bowl game school.” The Mean Green are 2-11 in the history of their 13 Bowl game appearances. Now their coach, Eric Morris, has left for Oklahoma State. The team seems to have lucked out, with Drew Mestemaker showing up at the New Mexico Bowl press conference after rumors he wouldn’t be playing. Even though the Aztecs will be without their starting quarterback, Bert Emmanuel Jr brings a dual-threat ability that will help San Diego State control the clock and dominate on the ground.
