Alamo Bowl – Wildcats vs Sooners Free Picks
The 2023 Alamo Bowl Odds Favor Arizona Almost One Week Away From The Game
The Arizona Wildcats and Oklahoma Sooners will finish off the four-game slate of college football games on Thursday, December 28, in the Valero Alamo Bowl.
The Sooners finished 10-2 and in third place in the Big 12. However, many significant players that got the Sooners to their 10-2 record will enter the transfer portal or opt out. That includes Dillon Gabriel, who passed for 3,660 yards with 30 touchdowns and six interceptions.
On the other hand, Arizona is expected to have most of its starters back. Left tackle Jordan Morgan has opted out to prepare for the NFL Draft. But other than that, the Arizona Wildcats should have a full roster that helped them to 9-3 on the season.
Oklahoma opened as a three-point favorite. But with a lot of significant news coming out about players not playing in the bowl game, Arizona became the favorites at -3.
Meanwhile, the total has decreased from 64.5 to 62.5, with Oklahoma dropping from -154 to +130 over the last few weeks.
Check out the 2023 Alamo Bowl preview with free picks at the end of the article.
Alamo Bowl
Wildcats vs Sooners 
Location: Alamodome
Day/Time:
Streaming: ESPN
Head Coach Jedd Fisch Named Finalist For Dodd Trophy
The Arizona Wildcats weren’t projected to be a top team in the Pac-12 this season. The start of the year wasn’t even promising.
However, Arizona earned six straight wins to finish out the regular season. The losses came against SEC’s Mississippi State and two Pac-12 teams, Washington and USC.
All three of those games were lost by one possession.
Therefore, Fisch has the chance to win the Dodd Trophy, which includes the nation’s top coaches in college football who embody the three pillars such as scholarship, leadership, and integrity on and off the field.
Fisch is up against more prominent coaches like Nick Saban of Alabama, Mike Norvell of Florida State, Eli Drinkwitz of Missouri, and Kalen DeBoer of Washington.
It’s unlikely Fisch will win the award. But the recognition for this program is fantastic to see.
Seth Littrell’s Debut As Offensive Coordinator
The Oklahoma Sooners lost former offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby to the head coaching position at Mississippi State.
Therefore, Seth Littrell was elevated from an offensive analyst to the offensive coordinator in late November. Littrell joined Oklahoma in the spring and has already been promoted to a new and improved role.
However, don’t expect many changes. Oklahoma won’t look to do too much in this bowl game with a freshman quarterback under center. They can’t make it too complicated for Jackson Arnold, who is starting instead of Dillon Gabriel at quarterback.
Oklahoma will keep things simple with a new offensive coordinator and a new quarterback.
Coincidently, Littrell spent some time in Arizona as the offensive coordinator earlier in his career. He was also the head coach at North Texas from 2016-2022.
Oklahoma’s Depth Is Lacking
The Oklahoma Sooners won’t have their star quarterback in Dillon Gabriel. They also won’t have many running backs, including Tawee Walker, Marcus Major, and Daylan Smothers.
Those guys have all entered the transfer portal, along with many offensive linemen and three defensive players.
Outside of Gabriel, Walker, and Major, the only two other key losses were Cayden Green at left guard and defensive back Key Lawrence, who played 398 snaps this season. However, Lawrence saw his reps decrease late in the season, which is likely why he’s transferring out.
Therefore, the defense should be almost normal this year. But that’s not saying much. Oklahoma allowed 22.25 points per game this season. However, opponents added 232.5 yards in the air and another 148 yards on the ground.
TCU added 45 points against Oklahoma in its last game and has allowed at least 20 points in eight straight games.
Meanwhile, Arizona’s offense should have no problems scoring. The Wildcats have added nearly 295 yards in the air and almost 149 yards on the ground. They made Noah Fifita the starting quarterback a few games in and never looked back. The freshman threw 23 touchdowns and only five interceptions and finished with an 85.6 QBR. That’s good for 6th in the nation.
If Fifita had played the entire season, he would’ve earned some Heisman votes, if we’re honest.
He’ll go up against Jackson Arnold of Oklahoma. Arnold was Gabriel’s backup quarterback but was highly regarded coming in from high school. He’s the guy that Oklahoma will roll with next season at quarterback.
Arnold has thrown a 75% completion percentage of 24 throws and has added two touchdowns with no interceptions. This is an excellent opportunity for the young quarterback to perform. He’s got all of the wide receivers available and will also have freshman Gavin Sawchuk at running back. The main pieces are still intact for Oklahoma.
There will be many blowouts this bowl season. However, this game should be a back-and-forth affair with lots of scoring.
When you check todays NCAA Football scores, look for the 2023 Alamo Bowl. You’re going to see a high-scoring game. Therefore, you can consider adding the Over 62.5 to your NCAAF picks and parlays. The Alamo Bowl odds currently favor Arizona because of Oklahoma’s transfer portal issue, among many other reasons. Therefore, Arizona at -3 and on the moneyline at -155 still makes the most sense.
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