The theme of the week is BOWL ELIGIBLE, as there are eight games on the college football schedule, beginning Thursday night, where teams can become bowl eligible with their sixth victory of the season. Now of the eight, there are two with no lines and a third in which the team needing a sixth win - Rutgers - is catching 17.5 points from Central Florida at Sportsbook on Thursday.
That leaves five games to talk about.
The first one takes place Thursday night in Colorado Springs, where UNLV (5-5) is looking to head back to the postseason for the first time since 2004, and can do so with a win over Air Force (2-8). The oddsmakers have the Falcons laying 1.5 to the surprising Rebels, who come in after a bye week that followed two straight home losses.
Friday night, San Jose State (5-5) hosts Navy (6-4), and the Spartans are laying 2 to their guests after being upset in Reno this past Saturday. Like fellow Mountain West member UNLV, San Jose has lost two straight since winning in Vegas back on Nov. 2.
Saturday finds three more games with bowl implications, beginning with a pair of old-school conference rivals getting together for their first meeting as members of the ACC. Pittsburgh (5-5) is laying -1 to Syracuse (5-5). While the Panthers are 2-4 in conference play, the ‘Cuse comes in with a 3-3 mark. Pitt has won seven of the last eight meetings.
Texas-San Antonio (5-5) has been a surprise all season, and will head to Denton, Texas for a date with North Texas (7-3) catching 8.5 points. The Roadrunners and Eagles both come in after extended time off with their last games being played on Nov. 9. UTSA is in on a three-game win streak after a 10-7 win over Tulane, while North Texas crushed UTEP, 41-7, for homecoming.
Finally, Louisiana-Monroe (5-5) is laying 3.5 points to South Alabama (3-6), and heads to Mobile after its second bye week of the campaign. These two have only met once before, with the Warhawks winning the first-ever meeting last year with a 38-24 victory in South Alabama.
