Let’s send out 2025 on a positive note! There are four traditional College Football Bowl Games on New Year’s Eve before the second round of the College Football Playoffs kicks off. Let’s take a look at those four games and make our College Football Bowl best bets for New Year’s Eve.
College Football Bowl Best Bets: Wednesday, December 31st
The Reliaquest Bowl will get things started with a 12:00 ET kickoff from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida. In one of the most exciting matchups this Bowl season, the Iowa Hawkeyes will take on the Vanderbilt Commodores. Both teams are largely intact, and Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia wants one more go with the boys before he pursues an NFL career.
The Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl is set for a 2:00 ET kickoff. It’s a battle of devils as the Arizona State Sun Devils and Duke Blue Devils take to Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas. Jeff Sims will start at quarterback for the Sun Devils, but Kenny Dillingham said freshman Cam Dyer will also get snaps. Duke quarterback Darian Mensah has announced he’ll return to the team in 2026 and play in this game.
The Cheez-It Citrus Bowl is a blue-blood battle featuring Michigan’s Wolverines and the Longhorns of Texas. Kickoff from Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, is set for 3:00 ET. Quarterbacks Bryce Underwood and Arch Manning will both be playing in a showdown of young star quarterbacks. Biff Poggi is the interim coach for Michigan.
The non-playoff Bowl Games wrap up with a 3:30 ET kickoff as the Nebraska Cornhuskers do battle with the Utah Utes in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl from Allegiant Stadium. The Cornhuskers will be without their stud running back Emmet Johnson, who is off to the NFL. Utah will be without head coach Kyle Whittingham, who left for Michigan.
Texas -6.5 (-122)
This Michigan program has been through a lot over the last month. Incoming coach Kyle Whittingham has convinced Bryce Underwood to stay, but plenty of players have hit the transfer portal. This is a great chance for Arch Manning to shine, and I’ll take the proven team that isn’t in a million pieces right now.
Utah -14 (-110)
Utah is the easy play for me here in the Las Vegas Bowl. Even with Kyle Whittingham gone to be the head at Michigan after 21 seasons as the Utes’ head coach. This team won’t miss a beat. Matt Rhule and Nebraska have struggled against good teams, and that’s what Utah is. Without Emmet Johnson, a majority of their production it’ll be a tough day for the Cornhuskers.
