College football bowl confidence pools 2023-24: Picks, predictions, optimal rankings from expert on 46-27 roll
The 2023-24 college football bowl season begins on Saturday and the college football bowl schedule is absolutely loaded with high-profile matchups once again. The first ranked vs. ranked matchup of bowl season will take place on Dec. 28 when No. 18 NC State takes on No. 25 Kansas State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando. Kickoff for that game is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. ET and a 3-point spread from oddsmakers means that this will be one of the tougher contests to pick as you enter your college football bowl confidence pools.
No. 14 Arizona is also a 3-point favorite over No. 12 Oklahoma later that day in the 2023 Valero Alamo Bowl and those are only two of the 15 games where the spread is a field goal or less. So how should you be picking those games that are expected to be hard-fought, and which teams can you rely on for big points as you make your college football bowl confidence picks? Before entering any college football bowl confidence pools, be sure to see the college football picks from SportsLine's Emory Hunt.
Hunt is the founder and CEO of Football Gameplan, which has been supplying analysis of all levels of football since 2007. He is a former running back for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns and knows the game from a player's perspective. He enters the 2023-24 college football bowl season on a 46-27 roll on all college football picks, returning nearly $1,700 for $100 players during that span. Anybody following him is way up.
So before filling out your college football pool picks, you need to see Hunt's college football bowl picks. He has analyzed each bowl matchup and ordered every game by level of confidence. He's sharing his picks over at SportsLine.
Top college football bowl confidence predictions
One of the top 2023-24 college football bowl confidence picks from Hunt: He likes the No. 21 Tennessee Volunteers to beat the No. 17 Iowa Hawkeyes in the 2024 Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1 at 1 p.m. ET. Tennessee is favored by 7.5 points here and the SEC's traditional dominance of Big Ten opponents in bowl matchups is likely a significant factor, with the SEC going 65-35 in bowl games against the Big Ten.
Tennessee is 11-5 in those Big Ten vs. SEC bowl matchups and the Volunteers are coming off a dominant postseason victory over Clemson in the Orange Bowl last season. Quarterback Joe Milton threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns in that victory and he's coming off a dominant performance in the regular-season finale against Vanderbilt where he threw for four touchdowns and rushed for two more. He'll be tested by an elite Iowa defense but Hunt ultimately likes the speed and talent of Tennessee to wear the Hawkeyes out. See who else to pick here.
How to make college football bowl confidence picks
Hunt is also going all-in on a double-digit underdog with one of his most confident picks. Picks like these could be the difference between winning your 2023-24 bowl confidence pool and going home empty-handed. You can see who it is and get every pick for every game at SportsLine.
