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Mike's Bowl Week 2 college football betting picks against the spread from Friday, December 19 to Friday, December 26. Free CFB betting predictions, odds analysis, and ATS picks from RotoBaller.
The first week of the bowls went fairly well. We expected opt-outs for Washington and didn't get them. We didn't expect opt-outs for Jacksonville State and got them. No one ever said that this was an exact science, especially in this era.
We'll take a look at all of the picks against the spread for the second week of bowl games, including the first round games of the CFP. We'll go ahead and do this from Friday to Friday during bowl season.
Next Saturday has the most bowl games of any day this year, so that feels like a good spot to cut the games off. We have 14 bowl games this week. Keep up with the latest opt-outs here.
CFB Betting Picks for 12/19 - 12/26
I will pick every college football game every week. Not a top five. Not a top 10. All of them. Big deal, right? Lots of people make picks. Well, I do them all against the spread. I take the odds for each game, average them across all Vegas casinos, and round to the nearest half. There will be no ties here. Ties are for the other (European) football.
I think you should know who you're listening to. I've been doing this since 2014, and I have most of my record available for viewing here. This can help you determine which teams I usually pick correctly or incorrectly.
Kennesaw State vs. Western Michigan (-3.5) at Conway, SC
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 2
I would like to see Kennesaw win this, but Western Michigan has been excellent this year. The Owls are good enough to keep this within three points. I'll take some action on this.
Pick: Kennesaw State +3.5
Memphis vs. North Carolina State (-4.5) at Tampa
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 3
Memphis is missing its coach. The Pack is missing RB Hollywood Smothers and TE Justin Joly. Those are some big missing pieces. Memphis will have both running backs, and WR Cortez Braham Jr. is expected to play. If that's true, the wrong team is favored.
Pick: Memphis +4.5
(9) Alabama at (8) Oklahoma (-1.5)
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 2
Alabama’s last five FBS games:
Beat 4-8 South Carolina by 7
Beat 7-5 LSU by 11
Lost to Oklahoma at home
Beat 5-7 Auburn by 7
Lost to Georgia by 21They haven’t beaten a current Top 25 team in 63 days.
— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) December 7, 2025
This line opened with Alabama favored. Now it makes me even more nervous. I know that Alabama hasn't played well in over two months. I also know that it's tough to beat a good team twice in one year.
I'll tell you this: if Alabama loses to Oklahoma for the third time in 13 months, at least one of those times with a markedly better team, fans will buy his plane ticket to Ann Arbor.
Pick: Oklahoma -1.5
(10) Miami (FL) at (7) Texas A&M (-3.5)
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 3
Will the loss of Offensive Coordinator Collin Klein offset the poor play of Carson Beck on the road? I highly doubt it.
Pick: Texas A&M -3.5
(11) Tulane at (6) Mississippi (-17.5)
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 3
Tulane is probably better than the team that got smashed in Oxford back in September. How much better? Probably not enough.
Pick: Mississippi -17.5
(12) James Madison at (5) Oregon (-20.5)
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 3
Uhhh is this real???
Oregon might be the slowest team we’ve ever seen. pic.twitter.com/ogyYSJ8vJ4
— JMU Sports News (@JMUSportsNews) December 11, 2025
The brilliant Twitter game means nothing to Vegas. Lost in James Madison's close games against perceived lesser teams is how good this defense is. Alonza Barnett III is going to have a tough time against Oregon, but Oregon won't be able to run up and down the field at will. I don't expect the Dukes to go quietly.
Pick: James Madison +20.5
Washington State vs. Utah State (-1.5) at Boise
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 4
Bryson Barnes made his first career start against Washington State when he was with Utah. His last start will come against Washington State. It's serendipity.
Pick: Utah State -1.5
Toledo vs. Louisville (-6.5) at Boca Raton
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 2
I know...I know. Louisville demolished Kentucky. That was personal. They don't care about Toledo. Chris Bell, Isaac Brown, Keyjuan Brown, and Duke Watson are all out. This is a game that Toledo can win in Tucker Gleason's final start.
Pick: Toledo +6.5
Western Kentucky (-5.5) vs. Southern Mississippi at New Orleans
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 3
It's a short jaunt from Hattiesburg to the Big Easy, but will this team be the same without Charles Huff? I really doubt it.
Pick: Western Kentucky -5.5
UNLV (-6.5) vs. Ohio at Frisco, TX
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 3
Both Anthony Colandrea and Jai'Den Thomas have affirmed they will return to UNLV in 2026, so they should play in this game. Sieh Bangura and Parker Navarro are finishing illustrious careers in this game. This is going to be a really good one.
So good that the number feels high. I've seen enough of the UNLV defense this year to know that Ohio can put up some big numbers on it.
Pick: Ohio +6.5
California (-1.5) at Hawaii
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 3
Ask Stanford how easy it is to win at Hawaii. You know...the Stanford team that blasted Cal three weeks ago.
Pick: Hawaii +1.5
Central Michigan vs. Northwestern (-10.5) at Detroit
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 3
I know that Caleb Komolafe and Griffin Wilde are going to play in this game, but betting on Northwestern to beat anyone by double figures feels a bit much.
Northwestern hasn't beaten a MAC team by double digits since 2021 and lost outright to Miami of Ohio in 2022. I expect a closer game here.
Pick: Central Michigan +10.5
New Mexico vs. Minnesota (-2.5) at Phoenix
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 2
Those crazy people from Albuquerque are going to show up in full force in Phoenix. This Minnesota team is a tough one to figure out this year. They looked great against Nebraska. They looked dreadful against Iowa.
The bad part is that those games were only eight days apart. Minnesota got blown out by Oregon and lost to Northwestern in that span as well. The Lobos took out Mountain West heavyweights San Diego State and UNLV during the last month of the season.
I wouldn't be shocked if New Mexico won outright, but they'll have to do it on the arm of Jack Layne. That's terrifying!
Pick: New Mexico +2.5
Florida International at UTSA (-9.5) at Dallas
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 3
It's only about four hours (traffic permitting) up I-35 from San Antonio to Dallas. The strange part about this game is that UTSA was outstanding at home and Florida International was much better on the road. You would never guess it by the spread.
FIU will be short in the secondary for this one, with Mister Clark entering the transfer portal, but it appears that RB Kejon Owens is going to play. Same with WR Alex Perry. Keep an eye on this one in case anything changes.
I'm a sucker for the UTSA offense and QB Owen McCown in particular. The Roadrunners have largely disappointed this year, but this feels like a game where they get the fanbase riled up and optimistic about 2026.
Pick: UTSA -9.5
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