Michigan and TCU square off on New Year’s Eve for the Fiesta Bowl, and here we look ahead to the fixture with our free NCAAF betting picks.
Arizona is the venue, and on New Year’s Eve, the Fiesta Bowl will be decided between Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Wolverines and Sonny Dykes’ TCU Horned Frogs. In the regular season, Michigan topped the B10 East, and TCU was 1st in the Big 12 table.
Michigan is the favorites with the best NCAAF Vegas odds makers. They are the unbeaten side, and they will be expecting to keep their 0 record when the two sides meet in a few days time.
Onto the betting, and on the moneyline Michigan is -285 with BetOnline and -290 with BetUS. The same sportsbooks have TCU at +240 to pull off a shock win.
The handicap line sees TCU with a +7.5 points start. All the sportsbooks at the time of writing have both teams at -110 to win in this market.
Finally, BetOnline has the total points mark at 58, with BetUS choosing 58.5. Again, both sides of the bet are priced up at -110 with both sportsbooks.
Michigan heads to the Fiesta Bowl with a 13-0 record. They are ranked number 2 in the NCAA and are the favorites to win this matchup with all the best college football betting sites.
In their final outing before this match, they defeated the Purdue Boilermakers 43-22. This win came after a great 45-23 victory away at Ohio State the previous week, which to date is the only defeat suffered by the Buckeyes this season.
Was this result the highlight of Michigan’s season so far? Quite possibly. And coming after Jim Harbaugh’s side labored to a 19-17 win over Illinois the previous week, it was an outstanding way to bounce back and shut up any critics.
If nothing else, the two commanding wins mean the Wolverines come into this match in decent form.
Harbaugh and his Michigan team may well see the Fiesta Bowl as just another match in the bigger picture, but they will still want to win it and retain their unbeaten record.
Ultimately, the NCAAF Championship match will be the main target this season. And with Michigan second favorites at +290 (behind favorites Georgia at -135), they are well in with a chance of winning the title this year.
The Horned Frogs come into the Fiesta Bowl with a 12-1 record. Unfortunately for Sonny Dykes’ team, the defeat came in their last match, which was against the Kansas State Wildcats.
The Wildcats ended TCU’s winning run with an overtime win at the AT&T Stadium, eventually winning 31-28.
The loss to the Wildcats in the championship game can be looked at from differing perspectives. Yes, it was disappointing to lose, but Kansas was ranked ten at the time, and there is no major shame in losing to a highly-ranked side.
But on the flip side, TCU was 11 points behind with just over 10 minutes of the match remaining. So, even taking the match into overtime was an achievement.
To put it simply, some positives and negatives can be taken from the match. And depending on whichever of those the Horned Frogs take into the Fiesta Bowl could go a long way to deciding the match’s outcome.
Right – it’s time to choose our NCAAF betting picks for the Fiesta Bowl. To start with, I’ve not seen anything that says this won’t be a win for Michigan. They look like the superior team, and if both sides play to their respective potentials, I can only see a win for the Wolverines.
So it’s a straight choice between backing the Wolverines on the moneyline, or deciding if they will cover the spread. I’m expecting a close game, and I feel it will be a close call whether Jim Harbaugh’s team beat the 7.5 points spread.
In this instance, though, I will pick the Wolverines to do it. As I said, it looks like a 50/50 call. So with far better odds on the handicap than the moneyline, I’m making a win for Michigan (-7.5 points), my first betting pick.
Please check out our BetOnline sportsbook review for information and great betting offers.
Will the match have 59 or more points in it? My first instinct was over when I saw this total, and nothing I’ve read or seen since changed my mind.
Also, with most of the bowl matches being token gesture cups, I don’t anticipate players from either side being under too much pressure to perform. Hopefully, this will result in a more attack-minded game, with players expressing themselves and playing with plenty of freedom.
With that in mind, I’m making over 58.5 points my second betting pick.
