Pre-Christmas Bowls are good bets

Dec. 21, 2009 / By Danny Sheridan

Well, it's pretty much my favorite time of year. It's Christmas and there is tons and tons of football with the College Bowls and the final two weeks of the NFL regular season.

I'll take a look at Week 16 of the NFL season later this week, but for now I want to focus on a pair of NCAA Football Bowl Games: the Las Vegas Bowl on Tuesday and the Poinsettia Bowl on Wednesday.

The BYU Cougars, ranked 15^th in the nation, take on the No. 8 Oregon State Beavers in the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl (8:05 pm ET, ESPN).

Oregon State is a 2.5-point favorite and the over/under total is 58.5 in College Football Odds at Bodog.

I really like BYU quarterback Max Hall. In the Cougars' last game, Hall threw the game-winning touchdown to lift BYU to a 26-23 win over the tough Utah Utes in Week 13. Utah covered as an 8.5-point road underdog while the final score played under the 56.5-point total.

Oregon State was defeated 37-33 by arch-rival Oregon Ducks in Week 14 as a 9.5-point underdog. The score eclipsed the total of 63.

BYU was 10-2 SU and 5-7 ATS this season while Oregon State went 8-4 SU and 7-4 ATS.

On Wednesday, No. 23 Utah battles the California Golden Bears in the Poinsettia Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego (8:05 pm ET, ESPN).

The Golden Bears are a 3-point favorite and the over/under is 53.

The Utes (9-3 SU, 5-7 ATS) and Golden Bears (8-4 SU, 5-6 ATS) have squared off just twice in the past nine years, with both teams 1-1 SU and ATS. They last met Sept. 11, 2003, when the Utes won 31-24 as a 1-point home underdog.

Both games should be quite entertaining.