College football bowl game conference trends for 2023-24

By
Steve Makinen
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632
 

One of the intriguing things about bowl season is how various conferences match up. Some bowl series have specific conference vs. conference matchups lined up each year, while others vary. The specific matchups, which bowl games mean more to each conference, and how each conference is perceived by the oddsmakers are just a few of the things that can influence potential results.

 

For instance, lower-level leagues may get more motivation from playing a power conference opponent. Alternatively, they may be overmatched in talent, and the bigger the bowl game, the more this point tends to be magnified. I personally believe that however a team perceives its respect level, not only for itself but for the conference it is representing in its bowl, plays a big role in how that game eventually winds up going.

I’ve separated all of the various conferences in college football and determined their performance records in all kinds of varied situations in bowl games. Among these situations are line and total ranges, level of bowl game, where the bowl game is being played, and perhaps most importantly, how they fare against all of the other conferences.

Here’s the 2023-24 bowl game outlook for each conference. Note that lines utilized for this article were taken as of Monday, December 11th, and may differ from eventual closing lines, so be particular when applying those that take into account specific line/total benchmarks.

 

Atlantic Coast Conference

Heading into the 2022-23 bowl season, the ACC had only gone 2-14 SU and 4-12 ATS in its last 16 bowl games overall. They were able to turn things around a bit last year in going 5-4 SU and 6-3 ATS. There are 11 teams from the conference in play for 2023, with five of them being favored.

BOSTON COLLEGE vs. SMU (AMERICAN ATHLETIC), +11 / 51 – Fenway

CLEMSON vs. KENTUCKY (SEC), -6.5 / 46.5 – Gator

DUKE vs. TROY (SUN BELT), +7.5 / 44 – Birmingham

FLORIDA ST vs. GEORGIA (SEC), +14 / 45 – Orange

GEORGIA TECH vs. UCF (BIG 12), +4.5 / 64.5 – UGasparilla

LOUISVILLE vs. USC (PAC 12), -8 / 57.5 – Holiday

MIAMI FL vs. RUTGERS (BIG TEN), -2.5 / 41.5 – Pinstripe

NC STATE vs. KANSAS ST (BIG 12), +3 / 47 – Pop Tarts

NORTH CAROLINA vs. WEST VIRGINIA (BIG 12), +3.5 / 56.5 – Duke’s Mayo

SYRACUSE vs. SOUTH FLORIDA (AMERICAN ATHLETIC), -3 / 61 – Boca Raton

VIRGINIA TECH vs. TULANE (AMERICAN ATHLETIC), -7.5 / 46 – Military

 

Key ACC Bowl Game Trends:

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Steve Makinen
As one of the original founders of StatFox, Steve Makinen has been in the business of sports betting and data analysis for almost 25 years now. In his time in the industry, Steve has worked in a variety of capacities on both sides of the betting counter, from his early days of developing the StatFox business, to almost a decade of oddsmaking consulting for one of the world's leading sportsbooks, to his last seven years as Point Spread Weekly and Analytics Director with VSiN. Steve has always believed that number crunching and handicapping through foundational trends and systems is the secret to success and he shares this data with VSiN readers on a daily basis for all of the major sports.