College Football Bowl Previews: Analyzing Line Movement and Transfer Portal Impact for Friday, December 27th

The College Football bowl season continues on Friday night, with an exciting grouping of matchups featuring SEC, Big 12, and Big Ten squads among others. How will these conferences perform against each other? Let's see what the latest odds lean towards as we evaluate the line movements and transfer portal opt-outs.

It starts off with Georgia Tech taking on Vanderbilt, and continues with the Texas Tech, Syracuse, and Texas A&M as favorites in the later games. Are they truly better teams, or are the lines just capitalizing on the NFL Draft and transfer portal absences? Let's analyze the line movements and betting splits for each game.

Georgia Tech vs. Vanderbilt: Birmingham Bowl Preview

Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt will square off in the Birmingham Bowl on Friday afternoon as part of a packed bowl slate on December 27th. Georgia Tech is a -3 favorite, and the total is 49.5

Georgia Tech vs. Vanderbilt Date, Time, and Where To Watch

• Date: December 27, 2024
• Time: 3:30 pm ET
• Where To Watch: ESPN

Georgia Tech vs. Vanderbilt Preview and Line Movement

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets come into this game after a heartbreaking loss at Sanford Stadium last month against the Georgia Bulldogs. The Yellow Jackets dominated for most of the game against the future SEC Champion Bulldogs, pushing the game to eight overtimes before finally coming up short. It was one of the best games of the season, and showed the country that Georgia Tech was better than their record indicated.

Georgia Tech already took down a previously undefeated Miami team in November, and had some of the most offensive potential all year. A mid-season injury to QB Haynes King hampered their chances of getting to the next level of success, forcing them to drop games against Notre Dame and Virginia Tech in October. But King returned, and nearly took down the No. 2 team in their home stadium.

There is a strong momentum push for the Commodores on the other sideline as well, with veteran QB Diego Pavia getting granted another year of college football after a court ruling last week. It was a landmark event for JUCO players to gain more eligibility in the NIL era, and Pavia will be the first to cash in on it.

The Vandy squad is excited to have their QB back, so this game will be a battle of who can better capitalize on their newfound momentum. Both teams have their starting quarterbacks and are without a ton of transfer portal opt-outs, so we'll see pretty similar rosters to what was experienced in the regular season. There hasn't been a ton of line movement either, with this opening at Georgia Tech -2.5, and moving to -3 over the last week or two.

Additionally, the betting splits are relatively split, with Tech getting 51% of the spread bets and 48% of the money. Where you'll see a big gap is on the total, with 27% of the tickets but over 50% of the money siding with the under 49.5 total points. The total has completely crashed down from the 54.5 opener, so the sharp money has certainly capitalized on that closing line value and five point gap.

Who will win it all? Click here the College Football Playoff Championship odds

Texas Tech vs. Arkansas: Liberty Bowl Preview

Texas Tech and Arkansas will meet from the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Friday evening from Memphis, Tennessee. A pair of explosive offenses will take center stage, with a total of 53.5 and a Texas Tech team favored by just a field goal.

Texas Tech vs. Arkansas Date, Time, and Where To Watch

• Date: December 27, 2024
• Time: 7:00 pm ET
• Where To Watch: ESPN

Texas Tech vs. Arkansas Prediction

Texas Tech will be missing their starting quarterback, Behren Morton, who was unable to make it back from an injury suffered near the end of the regular season. Morton has been a great commander of an explosive Tech offense, so it will be interesting to see how backup Will Hammond steps up in his absence. However, this Red Raider group flows through star running back Tahj Brooks, and he will look to carry them tonight. Brooks ranks 8th in the country in rushing yards at over 1,500, and added 17 touchdowns to go with it.

Arkansas is missing a plethora of players, which figure to be much more impactful losses tonight. QB Taylen Green is one of the only offensive skill players in the game, with RB Ja'Quinden Jackson out for the Razorbacks as well as WR Andrew Armstrong who is headed for the NFL. They are also missing a trio of defensive line starters, a big issue as they try to stop Brooks tonight on the ground.

This game features one of the biggest line moves of the night, with this one moving from +3 all the way to -3 with the Arkansas opt-outs continuing to pour in over the last few weeks. It's rare to see a team move those six points when missing their starting QB, even in bowl season. With 48% of the bets coming in on the Red Raiders but a whopping 76% of the money, the big bets have certainly continued to push this line all the way to the other side.

Get oddschecker+ right now for just $0.99 per month. Don't miss out on this December deal!

Syracuse vs. Washington State: Direct TV Holiday Bowl Preview

The Syracuse Orange will take on the Washington State Cougars in the DirecTV Holiday Bowl from San Diego tonight. Syracuse has grown to an 18-point favorite, and the total is a high 58.5.

Syracuse vs. Washington State Date, Time, and Where To Watch

• Date: December 27, 2024
• Time: 8:00 pm ET
• Where To Watch: FOX

Syracuse vs. Washington State Prediction

Kyle McCord will lead this Syracuse offense once again, and he's had an up and down season that reached several high peaks. He took down Georgia Tech and Miami at home in some of the biggest wins of the last decade for Syracuse, but also threw five interceptions and three pick-6's on the road against Pitt in October. Which McCord will we see tonight? Likely the first version, as Washington State doesn't have many starters in and the Orange are shaping up to be the biggest favorite of bowl season, and it's not close.

The Orange have been a massive bowl game mover with nearly everyone on Washington State opting out. This line technically opened around -5.5 before completely steamrolling all the way to -18.5. The line has been out since December 8, but even in the last week, it flew another touchdown from -11.5 to where we are now. They are getting 55% of the spread bets and a whopping 80% of the money to back that up, with nearly everyone pouring big bets into Syracuse at some point in this double-digit line move.

Texas A&M vs. USC: Las Vegas Bowl Preview

Texas A&M and USC will meet in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday night in the final matchup of the day in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl. Texas A&M is a slight -3.5-point favorite, with the total at 53.5.

Texas A&M vs. USC Date, Time, and Where To Watch

• Date: December 27, 2024
• Time: 10:30 pm ET
• Where To Watch: ESPN

Texas A&M vs. USC Prediction

The Aggies offense was all over the place this year, flipping back and forth between Conner Weigman and freshman Marcel Reed. Reed eventually won the job, and led the Aggies to a formidable 8-4 record in Mike Elko's first year as head coach.

Nic Scourton led the defense that carried the Aggies for most of the year after transferring in from Purdue. Scourton racked up five sacks for the Aggies, but has opted out of this game as he prepares for the NFL Draft. Regardless, the Aggies aren't missing too many other pieces

For USC, former starting QB Miller Moss has transferred to Louisville, and speedy WR Zachariah Branch has headed for the portal as well. To add onto it, RB Woody Marks is off to the NFL draft, so we will see a massive grouping of inexperienced players starting for the Trojans offense at QB, WR, RB, and two brand new offensive linemen making their first start. It's tough to imagine a well-oiled unit taking the field for the Trojans on Friday night in Las Vegas.

The line move on this game was minimal compared to some of the other contests today, starting at -2.5 and growing just a bit to -3.5 on gameday. With the amount of players missing from USC, it's surprising not to see this line flying more towards the Aggies. Lincoln Riley has barely broken even this year in LA, and is finding himself firmly on the hot seat after a troubling season with a lot of close losses and a failure to find consistency. 75% of the tickets are flying in on Texas A&M's spread, as well as 80% of the moneyline bets on the Aggies. There hasn't been much sharp movement back on the USC side, but without the line flying, it will be something to watch as to how Vegas values the backup talent level for the Trojans.

Looking for odds the next round of CFP matchups? Click here complete College Football Playoff odds