2018 San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl Odds And Prediction

We are finally up to New Year’s Eve with our bowl picks. We have six bowl games for our New Year’s Eve, the most of any day so far this bowl season. Next up, we have the San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl!

More from College Football Odds

It was a rough weekend no matter what. I at least hoped Oklahoma would put up a fight. Despite Alabama not covering, Oklahoma was never really in that game.

For the rest of the bowls, you will get my picks against the spread and point wagers just like I did all season long. I had a solid regular season, but I can make it look a whole lot better with a strong bowl season!

Just in case you missed any:
Autonation Cure Bowl
Progressive New Mexico Bowl
Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl
Raycom Media Camellia Bowl
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl
DXL Frisco Bowl
Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl
Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Jared Birmingham Bowl
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Dollar General Bowl
So-Fi Hawaii Bowl
ServPro First Responder Bowl
Quick Lane Bowl
Cheez-It Bowl
Walk On’s Independence Bowl
NewEra Pinstripe Bowl
Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl
Camping World Bowl
Valero Alamo Bowl
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl
Belk Bowl
Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl
Goodyear Cotton Bowl
Capital One Orange Bowl
Northrup-Grumman Military Bowl
Hyundai Sun Bowl
Redbox Bowl
AutoZone Liberty Bowl

(22)Northwestern vs. (17)Utah(-7.5) at San Diego, CA(3):

Northwestern 8-5, 8-2(1st Big Ten(14) West)

Wins: at Purdue(31-27), at Michigan State(29-19), vs. Nebraska(34-31), at Rutgers(18-15), vs. Wisconsin(31-17), at Iowa(14-10), at Minnesota(24-14), vs. Illinois(24-16)

Losses: vs. Duke(7-21), vs. Akron(34-39), vs. Michigan(17-20), vs. Notre Dame(21-31), vs. Ohio State(24-45)

Record vs. bowl teams: 5-4

Northwestern has the dubious distinction of winning their division while not winning an out of conference game. The Akron loss was a pretty bad one since the Zips fell apart, but they were a solid team when Northwestern played them.

The Wildcats are built on impressive defense and a ball control offense. The losses of Jeremy Larkin and later John Moten hurt, but the emergence of Isaiah Bowser got this offense back on track. Clayton Thorson‘s return to Evanston likely hurt his draft stock.

Utah 9-4, 6-3(1st Pac 12 South):

Wins: vs. Weber State(41-10), at Northern Illinois(17-6), at Stanford(40-21), vs. Arizona(42-10), vs. USC(41-28), at UCLA(41-10), vs. Oregon(32-25), at Colorado(30-7), vs. BYU(35-27)

Losses: vs. Washington(7-21), at Washington State(24-28), at Arizona State(20-38), vs. Washington(3-10)

Record vs. bowl teams: 4-4

Utah was looking like a well oiled machine when healthy, but different injuries first to Tyler Huntley then the season ending one to Zack Moss slowed them down. The defense is still probably the toughest in the conference.

The good news is that Utah will have Huntley back for the bowl game. This is a better offense with him in there. Utah still needs to get better production from Armand Shyne. He’s not expected to be Moss, but Shyne needs to take some of the pressure off of the passing game.

Prediction:

These are two really tough defenses in this game, so I’m inclined to take the under on 46. However, the spread actually seems like an easier bet here. Neither team is going to run off with this. I don’t see anyone winning by more than seven, and I think it probably stays closer than that.

Pick: Northwestern

Stay tuned for the rest of the bowl picks against the spread, and our DFS picks for the NBA, NFL, and even some NHL action! We have something for everyone!