New Years Six: Odds For Citrus and Peach Bowl Matchups

• New Year’s Day features two compelling CFB matchups outside of the playoffs, like the undefeated
• Cincinnati Bearcats a touchdown underdog to the Georgia Bulldogs in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl.
• Other odds include the No. 14 Northwestern Wildcats as a 3.5-point favorite over the Auburn Tigers in the Vrbo Citrus Bowl.

ATLANTA – The College Football season reaches its pinnacle on New Year’s Day with many of the best teams in the country taking part in some of the most prestigious bowl games.

While the four playoff teams prepare for their games later on in the day, the action begins with two great matchups in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and the Vrbo Citrus Bowl.

The Peach Bowl will feature a hometown favorite in the No. 9 Georgia Bulldogs facing off against the undefeated and No. 8 Cincinnati Bearcats.

Meanwhile, the Citrus Bowl will see the Auburn Tigers face off against the No. 14 Northwestern Wildcats who just finished as runners-up in the Big Ten following their loss to Ohio State.

All of these games as well as full college football odds, lines, and props are available via online sportsbooks.

The Bulldogs enter this game as a seven-point favorite over the Bearcats thanks to their newly-rejuvenated offense.

Georgia’s season ended early after losses to Alabama and Florida eliminated them from playoff contention. The common theme in those losses was a lack of top-level QB play from walk-on Stetson Bennett. The Bulldogs were finally able to replace Bennett with USC transfer JT Daniels for the second half of the season, tremendously increasing their output on offense.

In three games as a starter, Daniels has thrown for 839 yards and nine touchdowns leading the Bulldogs to three straight wins.

JT Daniels made this connection look too easy 👀 pic.twitter.com/yc4rst5VKt

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) November 29, 2020

They will matchup against a Cincinnati team that had a real case for making the College Football Playoffs following their undefeated season. Coach Luke Fickell led the Bearcats to the American Athletic Conference title and a 9-0 record, impressing many with the play of quarterback Desmond Ridder.

The Bearcats have three ranked wins on the season and will be at full strength heading into this game. At number 8, the Bearcats are the highest-ranked Group Of Five team entering the bowl season.

Bettors looking to wager on this game should note that Georgia has hit the over in the four straight games under JT Daniels, while the Bearcats are 1-4 against the spread in their last five neutral site games.

Now to Orlando, where the Auburn Tigers will be playing their first game without former coach Gus Malzahn.

Auburn finished the season with a 6-4 record, leading to the firing of Malzahn following the team’s final game, a win over Mississippi State. Since then, the Tigers made quick work of their coaching search, hiring Boise State’s Bryan Harsin as the new man for the job.

Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele will serve as the interim coach for this game and will have his hands full trying to gain an advantage over a tough Northwestern team.

The Wildcats are fresh off their loss to the Buckeyes in the Big Ten Championship game. A contest in which they led at halftime 10-6. The Wildcats were 6-2 on the season but were unable to stop OSU’s rushing attack in the second half.

Auburn will likely try to exploit this weakness by leaning on freshmen running back Tank Bigsby, as well as the legs of mobile quarterback Bo Nix.

Those looking to wager on this game should note that the Wildcats have gone 6-1 against the spread this season, while Auburn has hit a perfect .500 ATS record at 5-5. Both teams are used to scoring under expectations, with the Wildcats hitting the under in 7 of their 8 games and the Tigers hitting the under in 8 of their 10 games.