The 2023-24 college football bowl season is well underway and the first of the New Year's Six bowls will take place on Friday when No. 7 Ohio State takes on No. 9 Missouri in the 2023 Cotton Bowl Classic. It's one of four games on the college football schedule that day and the first of six SEC vs. Big Ten matchups as those powerhouse conferences ratchet up the intensity on their rivalry. The latest college football bowl odds via the SportsLine consensus list the Buckeyes as 4.5-point favorites after that line initially opened at Ohio State -6.5 for the 8 p.m. ET kickoff in Dallas.
Other college football bowl games on Friday will include No. 22 Clemson taking on Kentucky in the Gator Bowl at noon ET, No. 16 Notre Dame vs. No. 19 Oregon State in the Sun Bowl at 2 p.m. ET (CBS/Paramount+) and Iowa State vs. Memphis in the Liberty Bowl at 3:30 p.m. ET. Iowa State (-10.5), Notre Dame (-6) and Clemson (-4) are the favorites in Friday's college football bowl lines. Before locking in any college football bowl picks, be sure to see the top Dec. 29 college football expert picks, predictions and best bets from Barrett Sallee.
Sallee is a true insider -- a CBS Sports analyst, SiriusXM host, Heisman voter and consistently one of the top CBS Sports experts picking games against the spread. He debuted with SportsLine in 2017 and has delivered his three best college football picks to members each week.
Now, he has turned his attention to the college football bowl odds and is sharing his top three best bets over at SportsLine. If you parlay them together, you could be looking at a return of around 6-1. Get his top college football picks at SportsLine.
Top college football expert predictions for Dec. 29 bowls
One of Sallee's top college football best bets for Dec. 29 bowl games: He's taking Notre Dame (-6) over Oregon State in the 2023 Sun Bowl which kicks off at 2 p.m. ET on CBS. Both teams are ranked but didn't quite live up to expectations this season, with Notre Dame falling short of College Football Playoff hype and Oregon State losing its final two games to miss out on a New Year's Six bowl invite.
These programs have also suffered heavy losses to the NFL Draft and the transfer portal, with Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman opting out of the Sun Bowl to focus on preparing for the draft process and Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei entering the portal. However, the Beavers also lost their head coach and Sallee ultimately thinks Notre Dame's roster is better suited to withstand the turnover.
"Opt-outs and transfers will play a big part in this one, but the overall team talent on the Fighting Irish roster will turn this one into a laugher," Sallee said. "They will dominate the line of scrimmage against a Beavers team that lost coach Jonathan Smith to Michigan State following the end of the regular season. It'd be one thing if this game was against a lower-tier Power Five or Group of Five team. This one, however, is against a team that also loves to own the line of scrimmage -- but does it with better players." See what other picks Sallee likes at SportsLine.
How to make Dec. 29 college football bowl picks
Sallee has also found two other college football picks he loves, including backing an underdog in a bowl game that he is expecting to "hinge on the motivation factor." You can only see his picks at SportsLine.
What are the best bets for Dec. 29 bowl action, and which underdog should you back? Visit SportsLine now to see Barrett Sallee's college football best bets, all from one of the top analysts in the nation, and find out.
