RADIO
We've got seven bowl games on our first Saturday of Bowl Season. The Boca Raton Bowl starts bright and early at 11am Eastern, so DraftKings left that off the main slate. I do wish they would have made up for it by adding the Celebration Bowl featuring Coach Prime's Jackson State squad against South Carolina State, but we've still been dealt five good ones.
Our slate begins with the New Mexico Bowl between UTEP and Fresno State. Next up is the Independence Bowl between alphabet soup teams UAB and BYU. Up next is the Lending Tree Bowl between Eastern Michigan and Liberty. The Prime time game Is the Jimmy Kimmel Bowl. Even Johnny Carson and David Letterman never had their own bowl games. This seems a bit over the top, but it does feature a great matchup between Utah State and Oregon State. We end the night with the New Orleans Bowl featuring Louisiana and Marshall. This is still an outstanding slate!
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy college football lineup picks for DraftKings on 12/18/21 locking 2:15 pm eastern. I’ll be providing multiple player suggestions for players at quarterback, running back, and wide receiver, aiming to highlight one option apiece at the high, middle, and lower end of the salary scale. Good luck, RotoBallers. But first, we start with the betting picks! The Celebration Bowl is FCS vs. FCS so I wont officially pick it, but I like Jackson State even at -10.5.
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CFB Betting Picks 12/18 and 12/19:
Western Kentucky vs. Appalachian State(-2.5) at Boca Raton, FL
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 3
I'm a big believer in Bailey Zappe and this Western Kentucky offense. Big enough that the App State defense doesn't scare me all that much. I still like the Hilltoppers outright and that will be my stance unless Bailey Zappe opts out (which he wont......Joe Burrow's record is at stake!)
UTEP vs. Fresno State(-11.5) at Albuquerque, NM
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 3
Jake Haener withdrew from the transfer portal with the news that Jeff Tedford was returning as the head coach. He's a go for the bowl game and should have his full offensive arsenal with him. I like watching UTEP. They're a fun team, but they're not going to have much fun here. Fresno is a much better team and should roll them. Give me the Bulldogs.
UAB vs. (12)BYU(-6.5) at Shreveport, LA
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 3
This feels low. UAB is a good team, but BYU had more Pac 12 wins than six of the teams in that conference and had as many as Oregon State. BYU is more tested, and they might have the best running back on the docket today in Tyler Allgeier. I was impressed with some of the wins BYU picked up this year, so I expect them to pull away later in this one. Give me the Mormons.
Eastern Michigan vs. Liberty(-9.5) at Mobile, AL
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 2
This feels a bit high. The Eagles got throttled by Central Michigan to close the year, but they still had a solid year before that, especially when you consider last season. Malik Willis is going to be showing off for scouts in this one so I generally feel like Liberty will cover. I'm not all that confident in it though.
Oregon State(-7.5) vs. Utah State at Los Angeles, CA
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 4
I know Oregon State is a good team, but this Utah State offense is dangerous and the defense is better than advertised. I made the mistake of sleeping on them a few times this year. This wont be one of them. I still think the Aggies can win this outright, so getting an extra half on top of the touchdown feels like betting with house money. I'm going Aggies here.
Marshall vs. (16)Louisiana(-5.5) at New Orleans
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 4
This line feels skewed because the Herd had Western Kentucky on the ropes before Grant Wells went down. Wells is back for this one, but Louisiana and the Hilltoppers are not the same. In fact, they're polar opposites. The Cajuns run the ball very well and play smothering defense, something the Herd had trouble against this year. This is too low for what is nearly a home game for the Cajuns. Give me Loooosiana.
Tulsa(-9.5) vs. Old Dominion at Conway, SC
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 1
There's only one bowl game on Monday. That means no DFS article, so I'll give the spread pick here. This feels high considering how well the Monarchs played down the stretch. They are also a lot closer to Conway than Tulsa is. This feels like a trap game for the Dust Devils. I don't know that the Monarchs win outright, but I don't feel like they lose by double digits either. Give me ODU.
DraftKings CFB DFS Quarterbacks
Malik Willis, Liberty ($8,700)
Willis has been Liberty's One-Man Gang all season long. That's not going to stop now. Eastern Michigan hasn't faced anyone this talented this season. They aren't going to know how to handle Willis. There will be pro scouts in attendance and many teams looking for a quarterback with their first round pick will be very interested in what Willis does here. Think Auburn wishes they had Willis back right about now? His 820 rushing yards would be second to Tank Bigsby and the 11 rushing touchdowns would lead the Tigers!
Jaren Hall, BYU ($7,300)
There are a lot of weapons on this BYU offense, but Hall is the guy that's going to have to get them involved against a solid UAB squad. Hall has at least 275 passing yards in each of the last four games and has piled up 11 passing touchdowns and two rushing in that span. Hall feels cheap in this game environment and I would even considering fading Willis for him in larger filed GPP's. However, running both together is doable on this slate.
Ben Bryant, Eastern Michigan ($6,100)
Don't be fooled by the inauspicious end to the season by Bryant. The other directional Michigan schools shut him down, but that wasn't the norm in the MAC this year. Bryant threw for over 300 yards four times this season. The Liberty defense padded their stats against the likes of Campbell, UMass, and Old Dominion early in the season and played teams that don't pass much like Army and Louisiana. This defense can be had and Bryant is good enough to exploit them.
Also consider: Jake Haener, Fresno State ($7,900); Levi Lewis, Louisiana ($7,000); Gavin Hardison, UTEP ($5,600); Dylan Hopkins, UAB ($5,500)
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DraftKings CFB DFS Running Backs
Tyler Allgeier, BYU ($8,600)
This is a tough one since UAB has one of the better run defenses in the country. However, BYU beat five Pac-12 teams this season. Allgeier was a big reason why. He scored a touchdown in every game but the Holy War and piled up 11 of those in the last five games. We aren't going to see a ceiling game from Allgeier, but he's going to score at least one touchdown. It's what he does. That gives you a nice floor if you do decide to pay up.
Ronnie Rivers, Fresno State ($6,100)
The emergence of Jordan Mims took some of the luster off of Rivers this year, but he's still the guy to have. UTEP has allowed 20 rushing touchdowns this year and Mims gets most of his work (and points) in the passing game. If Fresno goes after UTEP on the ground, that's going to mean a more reliable game for Rivers. If he gets 20 carries here, Rivers could be in for a big game.
Emani Bailey, Louisiana ($5,200)
Chris Smith will miss the bowl game due to a knee injury. We saw Bailey go over triple digits in relief of Smith in the Fun Belt Championship. He's got another nice matchup with a Marshall team that gave up 190 rushing yards per game and 15 rushing touchdowns this season. Bailey might be my favorite play on the entire slate at this price. Louisiana loves to run the ball, so I expect Montrell Johnson to have a big game for his price as well.
Also consider: Rasheen Ali, Marshall ($7,500); B.J. Baylor, Oregon State ($6,700); Deion Hankins, UTEP ($5,500); Calvin Tyler, Utah State ($4,900)
DraftKings CFB DFS Wide Receivers
Deven Thompkins, Utah State ($7,500)
Thompkins was the nation's leading receiver heading into Week 12, but a slow end to a brilliant season took some of the luster off. The Utah State offense blew out both New Mexico and San Diego State to conclude the season, so maybe Thompkins' services weren't needed as much. His ceiling is very high, but the Aggies offense has been at its best spreading the ball around lately. Oregon State gave up 20 passing touchdowns on the season, so there's room for both Thompkins and Brandon Bowling to have nice games here. Bowling has scored a touchdown in four straight games, so I'd use him in cash games and save some money.
Hassan Beydoun, Eastern Michigan ($6,600)
If you're willing to ride Bryant, don't use him without Beydoun. That's like pancakes with no syrup. Beydoun closed the season with 94.8 DraftKings points over the last four games of the season. Most of that time was spent with the Eagles playing from behind, which is expected to be the case here as well. The volume will be there for Beydoun. He has 34 receptions in the last four games. He might be the safest receiver on the board.
Jacob Cowing, UTEP ($6,400)
Gavin Hardison is a big reason the Miners are bowling, but he wouldn't have the numbers that he did this year without Cowing. Cowing topped 100 receiving yards in nine of 12 games and closed the season with a touchdown in three straight games. Like Eastern Michigan, the Miners will be playing from behind most of the game. Cowing had more than double the yards of UTEP's second leading receiver. He's going to be heavily involved in this one.
Peter LeBlanc, Louisiana ($3,800)
LeBlanc is probably the best possession receiver the Cajuns have, which is good news against a Marshall team that doesn't surrender a lot of big plays. Michael Jefferson does have more upside, but LeBlanc had 14 more receptions than anyone else on the team this year and compiled 44 more yards than Jefferson. His lack of touchdowns is the main concern, but Louisiana wont rely on the passing game for scoring anyway. I'm after the targets heading towards LeBlanc on their way down the field.
Also consider: Jalen Cropper, Fresno State ($7,000); Corey Gammage, Marshall ($6,800); Trevon Bradford, Oregon State ($5,600); Kevin Shaa, Liberty ($4,200); Xavier Gaines, Marshall ($3,900)
