College Football Betting - Early Bowl Games

After another crazy college football regular season the 2011-12 bowl season kicks off this Saturday with a trio of games.

In a battle between East and West the 8-4 Temple Owls take on the 8-4 Wyoming Cowboys in the New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque (2 pm Eastern, ESPN). Then the MAC meets the WAC when the 9-4 Ohio Bobcats go against the 7-5 Utah State Aggies in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise (5:30 pm Eastern, ESPN). And to cap Saturday off the 8-4 Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns tangle with the 8-4 San Diego State Aztecs at the Superdome in the New Orleans Bowl (9 pm Eastern, ESPN).

Wyoming, after finishing 5-2 and in third place in the Mountain West Conference, is in a bowl for the second time in the last three seasons. The Cowboys started this season 3-0, and won three of their last four games. And all four of the teams they lost to also made bowls.

Temple went 5-3 to finish in second place in the MAC East this year, so the Owls are also playing in their second bowl in the last three years. Temple started 5-2 this year, then lost two straight close games on the road. But the Owls bounced back to win their last three. And other than a blowout loss vs. Toledo, Temple's other three defeats came by four, three and four points.

As of Monday PM most online sportsbooks are listing the Owls at -6.5 over Wyoming, with an over/under of 48.

Temple's MAC-mate Ohio won the East Division at 6-2 but blew a 20-0 lead and lost to Northern Illinois in the conference championship game. The Bobcats started 3-0 this year, lost three of four then won five straight before the title game defeat. Nonetheless, Coach Solich's squad is playing in a bowl for the third year in a row.

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Utah State went 5-2 to finish second in the WAC and earn its first bowl bid since 1997. The Aggies started 2-5 this year, losing several close games, but won their last five in a row, by four, one seven, four and three points. Nine of USU's 12 games this season have been decided by one score or less.

The Aggies are listed at -2.5 over Ohio, with an O/U of 58.

Finally, Louisiana-Lafayette was one of the more pleasant surprises in college football this year, going 6-2 in the Sun Belt to finish in third place, earning its first-ever bowl appearance. The Cajuns lost their season opener to Oklahoma State, then won six in a row, a neat accomplishment for a team that went 3-9 last season and changed head coaches. Lafayette got to 8-2 but lost its last two games, at Sun Belt champion Arkansas State and at Arizona.

San Diego State, in its first season under new HC Rocky Long, went 4-3 to finish in fourth place in the Mountain West, and is playing in a bowl for the second straight season. The Aztecs started this year 3-0, then lost three of four, but finished 4-1, losing only to Boise State.

As of Monday evening most online sportsbooks were listing San Diego State at -4.5 over Louisiana-Lafayette, with a total of 59.