Las Vegas Bowl – (22)Utah Utes vs Northwestern Wildcats Free Picks
Utes to Lean on Run Game One Last Time Against Cats Solid Run Defense
The Las Vegas Bowl kicks off this upcoming Saturday. We’ve got the latest updates on lines, injuries, departures and weather right here:
As we close in on the 2023 Las Vegas Bowl, it’s important to review any last-minute changes affecting betting patterns, followed by our official selection.
Before we finish our handicapping to any bowl game, we must know who will be our starting quarterbacks. For Utah, we know that Cam Rising is out until next season for the Utes. Starting against Northwestern will be red-shirt junior Bryson Barnes who started 10 games this season.
Barnes completed 58.5% of his throws for 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Barnes will start for Utah dispute declaring himself eligible for the transfer portal. For bettors, we know that we have a quarterback who can extend plays and is patient but one that sometimes makes poor decisions.
In all, Utah had 14 players declare themselves portal-eligible, while four key Utes will be headed to the NFL. Key losses to the draft include offensive lineman Keaton Bills who made 12 starts this season, and safety Cole Bishop who made 60 tackles in 11 NCAAF games.
For the Northwestern Wildcats, Ben Bryant will start at quarterback for the ninth time this season. Bryant completed 61.7% of his passes for 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. The Wildcats were not affected as Utah by the Transfer portal declarations making this game easier than most to handicap.
Oddsmakers opened Utah as 7.5-point favorites with a total of 42.5. Bettors left no doubt what side they were on with 92% of the money on Northwestern, pushing this number down to Utah -6. The under has dropped to 41.5 on the back of 95% of the money going under. To conclude our preview, our official selection is Northwestern and under. Of note, the moneyline is giving us +195 for a Wildcat win, we think that’s worth a smaller play. All the best with your bowl game wagers.
Now, check out the rest of the Las Vegas Bowl preview, originally published on December 14.
The 22nd-ranked Utah Utes (8-4, 6-5-1 ATS) head to the Entertainment Capital of the World to take on the Northwestern Wildcats in the 30th Las Vegas Bowl. At first, the Utes were disappointed after back-to-back trips to the Rose Bowl as the Pac-12 champion but if you’re not going to head to a game as your conference champion, Las Vegas isn’t the worst secondary prize. Northwestern (7-5, 8-4 ATS) will play in the school’s 17th bowl game, but first since 2020. Oddsmakers opened Utah -7.5 and 42.5, bet down slightly to -7 and 42.
SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl
Utes vs Wildcats 
Day/Time:
Records: Utes (8-4) vs Wildcats (7-5)
Location: Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada
Streaming: ABC
Utah Takes Portal Hit, Gets One More Game From Barnes
The CFB schedule is filled with games being played by athletes who are wearing the logo of their school, but bettors are frantically trying to make sense of a puzzle that doesn’t have all its pieces because of the mass exodus of players through the college portal.
We know Utah struggled this season without quarterback Cam Rising who missed the entire season with a knee injury. They turned to Bryson Barnes (1517 yards passing, 12 TD, 9 INT, 9 GP) who took over eventually and managed his team to a postseason berth behind a terrific running game and defense.
Barnes will be playing in Las Vegas after announcing that he too will become a free agent, a breath of fresh air considering the number of NCAAF players who are leaving their teams high and dry, something that should be left as a great record (Def Leppard) not a spot most college coaches are in.
Utah is 10th in the nation with 42.6 rushing attempts per game. Which has produced the 27th-best running game (186.2 YPG). If Utah can control the ground game they won’t have to test the strength of the Wildcats defense, which is a secondary that allows just 10.3 yards per completion. We continue our Utah vs Northwestern picks analysis by turning our attention to the Wildcats.
Braun Hopes To End Improbable Season With Win
The college football betting line in this one doesn’t exactly give the Wildcats much of a chance as a touchdown and a hook dog, but that’s good with the Big 10 Coach of the Year, David Braun, who wasn’t supposed to be playing in this game or any other according to the preseason media polls that had the Cats buried in the Big 10.
It’s been well documented the problems off the field that came to light in the offseason, but Braun rode his secondary that anchored a defense that was as disciplined as any in college football. Bettors always knew that the Wildcats were going to play hard and would limit mistakes.
You can tell that Braun’s defense is always prepared, allowing just over 10 points in the first half, ranking them among the best in college football. We conclude our Utah vs Northwestern picks analysis with our official selections.
Winning Starts With Losing
The best college football bets this postseason will be made by the sharps who can simply recognize which teams have lost the most impactful players. However, there are some cases like with the Utes who lost their entire roster of quarterbacks but will have a capable signal caller, unlike other college football teams.
After it was announced that the opponent of the Utes was going to be the Wildcats, some thought that Northwestern wasn’t exactly the level of competition Utah had hoped for prompting over 90% of the early tickets to come in on Northwestern.
There is one rule about a team having motivation on their side over another is that they have to have the ability to take advantage of bulletin board material and we don’t think the Wildcats do.
Expect the Utes to run over a pretty good run defense while exploiting a suspect Northwestern offensive line. Our official selection is Utah minus the points and the under. All the best with your college bowl picks this weekend.
For NCAAF betting news, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
