MONEY BETS PICKS: For Bowl Games Played on 1/2/2023

$100 Illinois +2.5 vs Mississippi St - It’s really difficult to figure this game. Missing players, coaches & what have you. At QB there are still transfer DeVito for the Illini vs Rogers for MSU. Both quite capable but with limited supporting casts. I’m going with the underdog points in this dead heat. A FG wins this.

$500 USC -2.5 vs Tulane - This bed would have been a lot bigger if the Trojans hadn’t lost 2 OL, WR & LB, all starters, to the NFL draft. This 41 Pt offense will probably not put up that kind of number with a reshuffled line. The Green Wave got 6 sacks vs UCF in their champ game while Trojan QB Caleb Williams was sacked 7 times with an intact line. Tulane will live and die on its pass rush. It’s all up to Williams to stay focused and fade out of the pocket when harassed. Scrambling needs to be productive & the receivers need to catch the football.

$500 Purdue +14.5 Former Louisville QB star Brian Brohm is the temp Boiler HC as brother Jeff, also a former Cards QB, has left for his Almere mater HC job to much fanfare. Half the coaching staff left for U of L (Brian Brohm will be HC too). Most starters are available. For LSU 3 starting DL & a WR have declared & are out. Hmmm. That’s a big whole. Little pass El rush means Purdue is throwing 50-60 times. Enough to cover this big spread.

$1000 Utah -1.5 vs Penn St . Last year’s Rose Bowl got Ute QB Cameron Rising knocked out in the 4th Q. They lost by a FG.
Penn State lost just 2 games, Ohio State & Michigan. QB Sean Clifford is a solid leader but nobody tackles like Utah. Not a close game in my book.