Bowl Mania Analysis

Game: Bowl Mania
From: ESPN
Link to Play: Bowl Mania

How does it work?: The College Football bowl season runs from the beginning of December until the National Championship game in early January. There are 40+ bowl games that the contestant must select a winner. For Bowl Mania, there are two possible scoring systems that can be chosen. We describe each below.

Strategy: Our numbers in the analysis table are based on the strategy of maximizing score. Thus, we always take the favorites and assign the confidence level by giving the most points to the team with highest odds of winning. In the case of ties, we present the confidence level as the average and leave you to choose which game to assign higher confidence.

How to Play

The college bowl pick’em game can be played under two scoring systems on ESPN. The simplest approach is to make picks for the winner of each game, and you are scored based on the number of correct picks. The second scoring system requires you to both make picks and provide your confidence by ranking the games in the order of most to least likely to be correct. This adds a little more of a twist in the scoring to makes things more interesting. Click here for more information on how to sign up and play.

In our analysis table below, we have provided you with a good starting point for making your own picks. These are our recommended picks based on a combination of odds for each game using DRatings and 5Dimes.

For those using the confidence based scoring system, be aware that you must make your pick and confidence before each game begins. Be sure to read the rules here for more information on scoring, when the games lock, and how ties will be handled.

There is obviously some strategy involved in picking confidence since we do not know who will play in the National Championship game. For our pick on that game, we used a weighted average of all the possible scenarios to provide you with the current expectation on who is likely to win in case you want to go ahead and make all your picks and confidence selections now. Of course it’s likely better to wait on this game as far as the winner goes, but you may want to go ahead and lock the confidence position ahead of time or if you’re fully uncertain then you can always make this one have the lowest confidence.

2017-2018 College Football Bowl Mania Predictions

Confidence	Team		Implied Odds		Win Prob
N/A	Grambling Tigers			46.6%	46.6%
6	North Carolina A&T Aggies			53.4%	53.4%
31	Troy Trojans	-245	69.8%	70.3%	70%
N/A	North Texas Mean Green	+225	30.2%	29.7%	30.1%
26	Western Kentucky Hilltoppers	-230	68.4%	59.3%	65.7%
N/A	Georgia State Panthers	+210	31.6%	40.7%	34.3%
N/A	Boise State Broncos	+260	27.2%	47.3%	33.2%
28	Oregon Ducks	-290	72.8%	52.7%	66.8%
N/A	Marshall Thundering Herd	+200	32.7%	41.9%	35.5%
22	Colorado State Rams	-220	67.3%	58.1%	64.5%
N/A	Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders	+155	38.6%	39.8%	39%
19	Arkansas State Red Wolves	-165	61.4%	60.2%	61%
N/A	Akron Zips	+1250	7.2%	22%	11.6%
41	Florida Atlantic Owls	-2000	92.8%	78%	88.4%
N/A	Louisiana Tech Bulldogs	+175	34.9%	28.4%	33%
29	Southern Methodist Mustangs	-210	65.1%	71.6%	67.1%
34	Temple Owls	-275	71.1%	75%	72.3%
N/A	Florida International Golden Panthers	+235	28.9%	25%	27.7%
N/A	UAB Blazers	+255	27.1%	16.5%	23.9%
39	Ohio Bobcats	-310	72.9%	83.5%	76.1%
N/A	Central Michigan Chippewas	-102	48.3%	53.2%	49.8%
1	Wyoming Cowboys	-118	51.7%	46.8%	50.2%
N/A	Texas Tech Red Raiders	+115	44.7%	39.8%	43.2%
13	South Florida Bulls	-135	55.3%	60.2%	56.8%
32	San Diego State Aztecs			70.3%	70.3%
N/A	Army Black Knights			29.7%	29.7%
N/A	Appalachian State Mountaineers	+255	27.1%	28.2%	27.4%
35	Toledo Rockets	-310	72.9%	71.8%	72.6%
N/A	Fresno State Bulldogs	+115	44.7%	37%	42.4%
16	Houston Cougars	-135	55.3%	63%	57.6%
24	Utah Utes	-275	71.1%	50.8%	65%
N/A	West Virginia Mountaineers	+235	28.9%	49.2%	35%
25	Duke Blue Devils	-210	65.1%	66.8%	65.6%
N/A	Northern Illinois Huskies	+175	34.9%	33.2%	34.4%
9	Kansas State Wildcats	-130	54.3%	56.4%	54.9%
N/A	UCLA Bruins	+110	45.7%	43.6%	45.1%
N/A	Southern Miss Golden Eagles	+500	16%	8.7%	13.8%
40	Florida State Seminoles	-700	84%	91.3%	86.2%
17	Iowa Hawkeyes	-145	57.1%	59.8%	57.9%
N/A	Boston College Eagles	+125	42.9%	40.2%	42.1%
11	Arizona Wildcats	-170	61.2%	44%	56%
N/A	Purdue Boilermakers	+150	38.8%	56%	44%
N/A	Texas Longhorns	+132	41.7%	62.9%	48.1%
3	Missouri Tigers	-152	58.3%	37.1%	51.9%
N/A	Virginia Cavaliers			48%	48%
4	Navy Midshipmen			52%	52%
N/A	Virginia Tech Hokies	+190	33.1%	42.5%	35.9%
21	Oklahoma State Cowboys	-230	66.9%	57.5%	64.1%
N/A	Stanford Cardinal	+120	43.8%	41.9%	43.2%
15	TCU Horned Frogs	-140	56.2%	58.1%	56.8%
8	Washington State Cougars	-152	58.3%	46.3%	54.7%
N/A	Michigan State Spartans	+132	41.7%	53.7%	45.3%
18	Wake Forest Demon Deacons	-152	58.3%	63.7%	59.9%
N/A	Texas A&M Aggies	+132	41.7%	36.3%	40.1%
30	North Carolina State Wolfpack	-245	68.4%	73.3%	69.9%
N/A	Arizona State Sun Devils	+205	31.6%	26.7%	30.1%
N/A	Kentucky Wildcats	+245	28%	24.1%	26.8%
36	Northwestern Wildcats	-290	72%	75.9%	73.2%
N/A	New Mexico State Aggies	+158	37.6%	34.2%	36.6%
20	Utah State Aggies	-180	62.4%	65.8%	63.4%
N/A	USC Trojans	+248	28.3%	29.6%	28.7%
33	Ohio State Buckeyes	-270	71.7%	70.4%	71.3%
27	Louisville Cardinals	-260	69.8%	58.1%	66.3%
N/A	Mississippi State Bulldogs	+220	30.2%	41.9%	33.7%
N/A	Iowa State Cyclones	+145	39.6%	51.7%	43.2%
14	Memphis Tigers	-165	60.4%	48.3%	56.8%
N/A	Washington Huskies	+115	45.6%	37.8%	43.3%
12	Penn State Nittany Lions	-125	54.4%	62.2%	56.7%
23	Wisconsin Badgers	-245	69.8%	52.4%	64.6%
N/A	Miami (FL) Hurricanes	+225	30.2%	47.6%	35.4%
37	Michigan Wolverines	-310	72.9%	76.3%	73.9%
N/A	South Carolina Gamecocks	+255	27.1%	23.7%	26.1%
N/A	UCF Knights	+305	24.3%	27%	25.1%
38	Auburn Tigers	-335	75.7%	73%	74.9%
N/A	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	+137	40.9%	69.8%	49.6%
2	LSU Tigers	-157	59.1%	30.2%	50.4%
5	Georgia Bulldogs	-125	54.4%	50.4%	53.2%
N/A	Oklahoma Sooners	+115	45.6%	49.6%	46.8%
7	Alabama Crimson Tide	-140	57.3%	45.4%	53.7%
N/A	Clemson Tigers	+130	42.7%	54.6%	46.3%
N/A	Georgia vs Oklahoma Win			45%	45%
10	Alabama vs Clemson Win			55%	55%

Results

2016-2017 College Football Bowl Mania Results

2016-2017 Bowl Season Pick Results

2015-2016 College Football Bowl Mania Results