New Year’s Eve Bowl Schedule 2021: CFP Odds, TV Start Times & Picks For Cotton, Orange Bowl Games
This New Year’s Eve is the beginning of a wall-to-wall football weekend that will have pigskin fans on the edge of their seats from start to finish! From major bowl games to the college football playoffs and a full Sunday NFL slate, this upcoming three-day football extravaganza is a dream come true for gridiron fanatics.
New Year’s Eve Bowl schedule
On Friday, Dec. 31, college football fans will have four games to feast on – including the two CFP contests. The action will kickoff at 11 am ET when Wake Forest takes on Rutgers in the Tax Slayer Bowl.
CBS Sports reports that Wake Forest was expecting to play No. 23 Texas A&M in the bowl game, but the Aggies pulled out of the contest on Dec. 22 because of a combination of season-ending injuries and COVID within the program. So, Gator Bowl officials chose Rutgers, which had the highest APR score among the nation’s teams with 5-7 records, to fill the spot on relatively short notice.
Now, just because the Demon Deacons will face a team with a losing record, don’t expect them not to be sky high for this game.
Six of Wake Forest’s wins this season came against teams that are playing in bowl games. That is impressive. We expect the ACC Coach of the Year Dave Clawson to have his team up for this contest in a big way. The Demon Deacons don’t want to end the year on a down note – especially as a 15.5 point favorite!
Game 2 on the NYE Bowl Schedule is following in the footsteps of Game 1 in the fact that one of the original teams had to back out due to COVID.
The original Sun Bowl matchup was scheduled to be Washington State vs. Boise State. When news broke that the Broncos had to pull out due to players dealing with COVID, Central Michigan stepped into the spot. The Chips finished the season 8-4 and will look to make most of their opportunity.
CFP games, Odds, picks
Now on to the College Football Playoffs! This is where the rubber hits the road. The winners of the Cotton and Orange Bowl games will meet up to determine this season’s national champion. Now, we aren’t going to bombard you with stats, crazy trends or if a certain player plays better at night than they do during the day.
While we have our own system here at Sports Odds Digest, we aren’t going to be long-winded on how we came to our selections – we are just handing them out like free candy on Halloween.
All four teams are great. That’s why they are here. Remember, the name of this game isn’t who wins – it is by how many! Let’s get to the winners at the window!
Both CFP games will air live on ESPN and be available for live stream through the Watch ESPN app.
- Cotton Bowl CFP: Alabama (-14.5) vs Cincinnatti — 3:30 p.m. ET — ESPN
- Orange Bowl CFP: Georgia (-7.5) vs. Michigan — 7:30 p.m. ET — ESPN
Picks — Cinncy +14.5, Michigan +7.5
