Bowl Games 2015-16: Schedule and Predictions for Games with Closest Spreads

With a record 42 bowl games this year, Vegas is bestowed the taxing task of generating reasonable and realistic spreads for the hefty college football slate at the time of year when the most eyes are on the sport. 

College football can be even more difficult for oddsmakers, particularly given the unpredictability of upsets, emotion and drama of the sport, all of which are more enhanced this time of year.

The high stakes and allure of the game’s pomp and circumstance are why fans flock to the betting pools, but the sport’s erratic nature creates quite a challenge for those seeking a winning bet. 

That said, here are a few notable matchups to keep an eye out for against the spread. 

College Football Playoff Semifinal: Michigan State (+9.5) vs. Alabama 

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

Alabama is the outright favorite to win its fourth national title in the Nick Saban era, per Odds Shark, but such a hefty spread in the Crimson Tide’s semifinal game versus No. 3 Michigan State seems one bettors should pounce on. 

Alabama had an eerily similar spread in last year’s semifinal as nine-point favorites over Ohio State, which pulled off a 42-35 upset and went on to win the national title. 

Michigan State was an underdog by a considerable margin in two of its three biggest wins this year—seven points against Michigan (won 27-23) and 13 points against Ohio State (won 17-14). 

The Spartans also match up well with Alabama and should make it a close game. If the Crimson Tide have an Achilles' heel, it’s a balanced offense, and Saban acknowledged that MSU quarterback Connor Cook is likely the best the team will see all season. 

The Spartans also have a rugged run defense, ranked seventh nationally, that should keep Heisman Trophy-winning running back Derrick Henry from scampering past his 152.7 yards-per-game average.  

Alabama is on this stage every year, while this is arguably Michigan State’s biggest game in program history. The Crimson Tide have the edge in experience, but, more chiefly, talent, and should go on to win the game—but not by more than 9.5 points. 

Pinstripe Bowl: Duke (+2) vs. Indiana

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In the realm of college basketball, this would be one of the year’s marquee matchups, but Duke and Indiana will sidestep from their well-known ways on the court in this year's Pinstripe Bowl.

Duke has’t won a postseason game since the 1961 Cotton Bowl and is in prime position to snap that streak with a favorable matchup against the Hoosiers. 

Indiana has the nation’s eighth-worst defense among 127 teams, while the Blue Devils ranked behind only Clemson and North Carolina—two top-10 teams—in ACC total offense (431 yards per game). 

The Blue Devils have played in four straight bowl games under head coach David Cutcliffe, the focal figure in returning the program to relevancy, but they haven’t yet gotten over the hump and won.

Many players, including quarterback Thomas Sirk, are well-aware of the program's lengthy bowl drought, per Laura Keeley of the News & Observer:

"

You have to really emphasize that we haven’t won a bowl game in a long time. You know how big it would be for our program to get this first win. It would be so big for coach (David) Cutcliffe and our seniors who have done so much in transforming this place. Really what’s going on here with the stadium and everything, to send these guys out the right way is what we’re really focusing on.

"

Couple 50-plus years of hunger, a favorable matchup and a disappointing 7-5 season by Duke’s modern-day standards, and one can’t help but wonder why the Blue Devils were even two-point underdogs to begin with.