Plenty of chances to cash in on bowls

Never did this seem plausible. Matt Barkley, a senior quarterback who turned down the NFL for a shot to become another Southern California legend, will write the last chapter of his college career in the Sun Bowl. One day life is a beach, and the next it can be a bummer.

A country song was written about it, but legends don't spend New Year's Eve throwing passes in the West Texas town of El Paso.

The Heisman Trophy that appeared destined to go to Barkley instead landed in the hands of another quarterback, Johnny Manziel, a Texas A&M freshman who runs as wild as the wind and made his name in a win over Alabama. Never did this seem possible.

Cynics see the bloated bowl season as 34 meaningless games and one that matters. But the beauty of the bowls is in the eye of the beholder, not to mention the bettors and bookmakers. Every game matters when there is money on the line.

"It's never too many games," said Jimmy Vaccaro, director of public relations for William Hill sports books. "Whether you like Notre Dame or Western Kentucky, if you like something, you're going to run to the counter. It's another betting opportunity. We're glad we're booking it."

Handicapping the bowls is more challenging than figuring out the San Diego Chargers. There are coaching changes, player suspensions, odd matchups, and location and motivation intangibles to consider.

Is Barkley determined to go out with a bang or will the Trojans (7-5) play dead as 10-point favorites against a 6-7 Georgia Tech team in El Paso? Will Manziel, minus his offensive coordinator, overcome the Heisman jinx and Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl?

Pick your winners and enter a few bowl contests to make the month more entertaining. I'm in two bowl pools, plus the 35-game contest for entertainment purposes only in today's Las Vegas Review-Journal.

A new option is being offered by William Hill, which unveiled its $10,000 "20/20 College Bowl Challenge" - a contest idea that was long overdue in Nevada.

Each entry is $20, and players select 20 sides against the spread from the entire schedule. There is no limit on the number of entries per player. The winner-take-all format pays a $10,000 guaranteed grand prize to the entry with the most ATS winners. William Hill is also offering a $50,000 bonus if the champion can hit a 20-for-20 card.

"Obviously, it's not that easy to do," Vaccaro said. "But it will be fun because bowl season is so unpredictable. Plus, a $20 bill gets you action for more than three weeks."

The action kicks off Saturday, when UNR is a 9½-point underdog to Arizona in the New Mexico Bowl. I typically like bowl underdogs, but there's not much to like about the Wolf Pack defense.

"The bowl underdogs are never bad teams," said The Gold Sheet handicapper Bruce Marshall, "and the double-digit 'dogs usually offer pretty good value."

Marshall is siding with Duke as a 7½-point underdog to Cincinnati in the glamorous Belk Bowl on Dec. 27. The Bearcats are one of many teams adjusting to a coaching change after losing Butch Jones to Tennessee.

The location of the Poinsettia Bowl on Thursday favors San Diego State, which is a 2½-point 'dog to Brigham Young. The game is at Qualcomm Stadium, where the Chargers find ways to lose but where the Aztecs went 6-1 this season. "I'm a little surprised BYU is favored," Marshall said.

Purdue finished 6-6, good enough to earn an invite to the Heart of Dallas Bowl on New Year's Day and get its coach fired. The Boilermakers are the biggest bowl 'dogs, getting 17 points from Oklahoma State.

Wisconsin will be coached in the Rose Bowl by its athletic director, Barry Alvarez. Will his return motivate the underdog Badgers against Stanford in the Rose Bowl? Who knows.

The Big Ten's best teams, Ohio State and Penn State, are banned from bowling. The league did put seven teams in bowls, including Purdue and Wisconsin, and all seven are underdogs by a combined 56½ points.

By comparison, the Southeastern Conference put nine teams in bowls, and all are favorites by a combined 60 points.

Rolling through the bowls, the most entertaining might be the Fiesta, in which Kansas State is an underdog to Oregon. The total is 75½. Don't be surprised if it's Ducks coach Chip Kelly's last game before he gets a shot in the NFL.

"We're making picks on games over two weeks in advance," Marshall said, explaining the challenge of bowl handicapping.

It's an early list, but pencil me in for bets on Ball State (+7), UCLA (pick), West Virginia (-4), Texas Christian (-2½), Louisiana State (-4), Purdue (+17), Northwestern (+2½) and Kansas State (+9).

It always seemed plausible Alabama would be in the BCS Championship Game on Jan. 7 in Miami. But it's possible we'll see Notre Dame pull the upset, so I took plus-10½ a month in advance.

Contact sports betting columnist Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts "The Las Vegas Sportsline" weekdays at 2 p.m. on ESPN Radio (1100 AM, 98.9 FM). Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247.