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When Christmas Eve falls on a weekday and there are no NFL games, it’s one of the slowest sports days of the year in the United States because the NBA and NHL go dark. There is one major live event this year, however, and it’s the Hawaii Bowl featuring the host Warriors of the Mountain West Conference against independent school BYU with an 8 p.m. ET kickoff. The Cougars are 2-point favorites but have failed to cover their past six as betting favorites.
It’s a record ninth Hawaii Bowl appearance for the host school, which has gone 4-4 in the previous eight. Hawaii and BYU used to be members of the Western Athletic Conference and this is the third straight year they meet. BYU won 49-23 last year in Utah.
No bowl games on Christmas but two on December 26. The first at 4 p.m. ET is the Independence Bowl from Shreveport, Louisiana, with Conference U.S.A.’s Louisiana Tech facing Miami of the ACC. The Bulldogs will clearly have the fan advantage as the Tech campus in Ruston is only about 70 miles away. The Bulldogs have played in this bowl four times, last in 2008. They are in a bowl game for a sixth straight season and have won the past five.
Miami was a big disappointment this season at 6-6. The Hurricanes lost three times this season – outright, not ATS – as double-digit favorites, including a 30-24 embarrassment to little brother Florida International on November 23. Miami is -6 for this one but 1-7 ATS in its past eight bowls.
The late bowl Thursday features Pittsburgh of the ACC against Eastern Michigan of the MAC in the Quick Lane Bowl from Detroit at 8 p.m. ET. The Panthers are 11-point favorites and 3-9 ATS in their past 12 as double-digit faves. EMU is looking for its first bowl victory since 1987.
Busy day on Friday with five bowl games. The only one featuring ranked schools is No. 22 Southern Cal of the Pac-12 against No. 18 Iowa of the Big Ten in the Holiday Bowl from San Diego at 8 p.m. ET. Many Trojans fans are furious that Clay Helton is still the team’s head coach; there were reports that the new athletic director would fire him after an 8-4 season and a hugely disappointing recruiting class on the way. One bright spot this year was freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis, an early Heisman candidate in 2020.
Iowa has one of the nation’s best defenses and is a 2-point favorite. The Hawkeyes allow just 13.2 points per game and their three losses were to very good teams in Michigan, Penn State and Wisconsin, all by seven points or fewer. Iowa has won 11 straight as a betting favorite.
