College Football

2024 College Football bowl, CFP predictions, best bets by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica

Published Dec. 26, 2024 2:36 p.m. ET

Chris Fallica

FOX Sports Wagering Expert

"Bear Bets" are real wagers that Chris "The Bear" Fallica is actually making.

College football bowl season is off and running.

Just like we've done all year, we have our weekly picks posts and gambling show.

As always, I look forward to sharing my best football bets and gambling nuggets (Bear Bytes) with you.

So if you are looking to throw a few bucks down on the big games, I've got you covered.

Let's have some fun and, hopefully, make some money.

Here are my favorite wagers so far for this bowl season.

RECORD
Last Week: 1-1 (one game pending)
Season: 51-36-2

(All times ET)

Louisville vs. Washington (2 p.m., CBS)
Dec. 31

Playing amateur psychologist is always a fun exercise during bowl season, but looking at the opt-outs here suggests UW is the right side. Louisville will be without QB Tyler Shough and top WR Ja’Corey Brooks, as well as some key defensive pieces. Winning a bowl game to cap off his first season in Seattle is something I think Jed Fisch and the Huskies can rally around.

PICK: Washington (+2.5) to lose by fewer than 2.5 points, or win outright

Duke vs. No. 14 Ole Miss (7:30 p.m., ESPN)
Jan. 2

Ole Miss will have most of its team for the Gator Bowl and that's bad news for Duke, who will be without departed QB Maalik Murphy from an already average offense. It will be a tall task for the defensive mind of Manny Diaz to keep the Rebels offense in check. For those who think Ole Miss will not be super motivated here, consider this thought: One of Duke’s losses was a 28-27 OT loss to SMU, which was given a playoff berth over the Rebels. Knowing what we think we know about how Lane Kiffin’s mind works, can’t you see him beating Duke by as many points as he possibly can to fire out that post-game tweet with the two scores side-by-side? I sure can.

PICK: Ole Miss (-14.5) to win by more than 14.5 points

CFP Quarterfinals: No. 6 Penn State vs. No. 3 Boise State (7:30 p.m., ESPN)
Dec. 31

We saw how schedules mattered in the first round, as schedule-deficient teams Indiana and SMU were drilled. This is a massive step up from MWC opposition for Boise State. Penn State will welcome the Broncos just running Ashton Jeanty at them, as it probably will not go well for the Heisman runner-up. We talked prior to the bracket release about how it was setting up well for the five and six seeds given their likely opponents in the quarterfinals, and it has certainly played out that way. Ask James Franklin and Penn State fans in August if he’d sign up for a home game against SMU and a neutral-site game against Boise State for a trip to the CFP semifinals and every single one of them would have almost laughably said yes 100 out of 100 times.

PICK: Penn State (-10.5) to win by more than 10.5 points

Chris "The Bear" Fallica has covered sports for nearly three decades. While college football has been his focus, he also enjoys the NFL, Soccer, Golf, Tennis, MLB, NHL and Horse Racing, with an "occasional" wager on such events. Chris recently won the inaugural Circa Football Invitational and finished in the Top 10 of the Golden Nugget Football Contest. He’s a multiple-time qualifier for the NHC Handicapping Championship. Remember, "The less you bet, the more you lose when you win!" Follow him on Twitter @chrisfallica.

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