2025-26 college football bowl games: Top confidence picks, pool predictions, computer rankings, projections

The 2025-26 college football bowl schedule begins on Saturday with Boise State vs. Washington (-8.5). College football bowl confidence pools have become increasingly popular, and there are 39 matchups to make college football bowl confidence picks on this season. The two biggest spreads are in the CFP First Round as Oregon is favored by 21 points over James Madison, while Ole Miss is a 17.5-point favorite over Tulane. While putting faith in big favorites is a part of just about everyone's college football bowl confidence strategy, correctly predicting an upset could help you separate from the pack.

Anticipated matchups outside of the CFP include Penn State vs. Clemson (-3.5), Georgia Tech vs. BYU (-3.5), Tennessee vs. Illinois (+5.5) and Michigan vs. Texas (-5.5). The college football odds give you an idea of what sportsbooks deem as favorites and underdogs, but you'll need more than just those when making bowl confidence bets. Before making any college football predictions for bowl season, be sure to see the latest college football bowl confidence picks from SportsLine's proven model.

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The model simulates every FBS game 10,000 times, and it is profitable on its top-rated money-line and over/under picks since the beginning of the 2024 season. Anybody following its college football betting picks at sportsbooks and on betting sites could have seen strong returns.

Now, it has turned its attention to the latest college football odds and 2025-26 bowl season college football betting for confidence pools. Head here to see every pick. 

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Top 2025-26 college football bowl confidence picks  

One of the model's most confident picks is that No. 21 Houston, a 3.5-point favorite, gets a double-digit win over LSU in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 27. Not only is this game in Texas, but it's in Houston, providing the obvious home-field advantage for the Cougars, as LSU has lost its last four games outside of Tiger Stadium. Meanwhile, the Cougars are 5-1 straight-up when favored this season, and the Tigers' offense limps into this matchup as it has a total of four touchdowns over the last four games. That's the same number that Houston had in its last game, alone, as the model has the Cougars winning in 80% of simulations. See all of the model's college football bowl confidence picks here.

Another one of the bowl confidence predictions the model is high on: No. 16 USC (-6.5) gets a comfortable win over TCU in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 30. USC went 9-3 in the regular season, with all three defeats coming versus ranked teams. TCU found itself in the Top 25 once -- back in September -- before having a pedestrian run through the Big 12 schedule, finishing 5-4. Even with the Horned Frogs playing in the easier conference than the Trojans, USC both averaged more points and allowed fewer points per game. USC sports a 32-9 (78%) straight-up record when favored since Lincoln Riley came aboard in 2022, as it is projected to easily take care of business in San Antonio. SportsLine's model has the Trojans prevailing nearly 70% of the time. See the rest of the college football bowl confidence predictions here. 

How to make college football bowl confidence picks

The model has also made the call on who wins every other bowl game. There are 11 teams that win at least 70% of the time, so you need to go big on those matchups, as well as 15 underdogs that win outright. You can get all the model's picks at SportsLine.

So who wins every college football bowl game, and which matchups should you assign the most confidence points to? Check out the college football bowl schedule below, then visit SportsLine to see which teams to pick, all from a proven computer model that has simulated each bowl game 10,000 times, and find out.

College football bowl schedule 

See every college football bowl game pick here

Saturday, Dec. 13
LA Bowl: Boise State vs. Washington, 8 p.m. ET

Tuesday, Dec. 16
Veterans Bowl: Troy vs. Jacksonville State, 9 p.m. ET

Wednesday, Dec. 17
Cure Bowl: Old Dominion vs. South Florida, 5 p.m. ET
68 Ventures Bowl: Louisiana vs. Delaware, 8:30 p.m. ET

Thursday, Dec. 18
Xbox Bowl: Missouri State vs. Arkansas State, 9 p.m. ET

Friday, Dec. 19
Myrtle Beach Bowl: Kennesaw State vs. Western Michigan, 11 a.m. ET
Gasparilla Bowl: Memphis vs. NC State, 2:30 p.m. ET
CFP First Round: Alabama at Oklahoma, 8 p.m. ET

Saturday, Dec. 20
CFP First Round: Miami at Texas A&M, noon ET
CFP First Round: Tulane at Ole Miss, 3:30 p.m. ET
CFP First Round: James Madison at Oregon, 7:30 p.m. ET

Monday, Dec. 22
Potato Bowl: Washington State vs. Utah State, 2 p.m. ET

Tuesday, Dec. 23
Boca Raton Bowl: Toledo vs. Louisville, 2 p.m. ET
New Orleans Bowl: Western Kentucky vs. Southern Miss, 5:30 p.m. ET
Frisco Bowl: UNLV vs. Ohio, 9 p.m. ET

Wednesday, Dec. 24
Hawaii Bowl: Cal vs. Hawaii, 8 p.m. ET

Friday, Dec. 26
GameAbove Sports Bowl: Central Michigan vs. Northwestern, 1 p.m. ET
Rate Bowl: New Mexico vs. Minnesota, 4:30 p.m. ET
First Responder Bowl: FIU vs. UTSA, 8 p.m. ET

Saturday, Dec. 27
Military Bowl: Pitt vs. East Carolina, 11 a.m. ET
Pinstripe Bowl: Penn State vs. Clemson, noon ET
Fenway Bowl: UConn vs. Army, 2:15 p.m. ET
Pop-Tarts Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. BYU, 3:30 p.m. ET
Arizona Bowl: Miami (OH) vs. Fresno State, 4:30 p.m. ET
New Mexico Bowl: North Texas vs. San Diego State, 5:45 p.m. ET
Gator Bowl: Virginia vs. Missouri, 7:30 p.m. ET
Texas Bowl: LSU vs. Houston, 9:15 p.m. ET

Monday, Dec. 29
Birmingham Bowl: Georgia Southern vs. App. State, 2 p.m. ET

Tuesday, Dec. 30
Independence Bowl: Coastal Carolina vs. Louisiana Tech, 2 p.m. ET
Music City Bowl: Tennessee vs. Illinois, 5:30 p.m. ET
Alamo Bowl: USC vs. TCU, 9 p.m. ET

Wednesday, Dec. 31
ReliaQuest Bowl: Iowa vs. Vanderbilt, noon ET
Sun Bowl: Arizona State vs. Duke, 2 p.m. ET
Citrus Bowl: Michigan vs. Texas, 3 p.m. ET
Las Vegas Bowl: Nebraska vs. Utah, 3:30 p.m. ET

Friday, Jan. 2
Armed Forces Bowl: Rice vs. Texas State, 1 p.m. ET
Liberty Bowl: Navy vs. Cincinnati, 4:30 p.m. ET
Holiday Bowl: Arizona vs. SMU, 8 p.m. ET
Duke's Mayo Bowl: Wake Forest vs. Mississippi State, 8 p.m. ET