Our best bets for the final bowl games of the season, including the national championship between LSU and Clemson

Birmingham Bowl: Cincinnati (-7.5) over Boston College

Cincinnati only lost three times in 2019. One of those losses was to Ohio State. The other two were against Memphis, in back to back weeks to close out their regular season.

Meanwhile, Boston College was lucky to steal bowl eligibility in the final week of the season thanks to an admittedly impressive road win over Pittsburgh.

There's some concern about Cincinnati's motivation heading into this game — will the Bearcats get up after closing the season in such disappointing fashion? Last year's win over Virginia Tech in the Military Bowl says yes.

Gator Bowl: Tennessee (-1.5) over Indiana

Tennessee won their final five games of the season to save what started as a disastrous season.

Indiana had a solid year, pushing Penn State and Michigan State in tough games on the road, but still finished in fourth place in the Big Ten East.

This should be a good game. But in what feels like a coin flip, I'm going to back the SEC team over the Big Ten side.

Potato Bowl: Ohio (-8) over Nevada

Ohio averaged nearly 35 points per game this season, finishing as a top-20 scoring team in all of college football. Nevada's opponents scored at least 30 points in seven of their 12 games.

This is a bigger spread than I'd prefer to lay, especially between teams I don't know well, but the numbers seem to point towards Ohio being able to score in this contest.

Armed Forces Bowl: Southern Mississippi (+7) over Tulane

After a hot start to the season, Tulane has lost five of their final six games heading into their bowl game against Southern Miss.

It's tough to back a favorite that's been playing that poorly heading into the matchup, so we're backing the dog here.

LendingTree Bowl: Louisiana (-14) over Miami (Ohio)

The Ragin' Cajuns were another top offense in college football this year, putting up 38.8 points and more than 500 total yards per game.

Even if Miami (Ohio) can keep things close through the start of the game, Louisiana can score fast enough to cover this number late.

National championship: LSU (-5.5) over Clemson

It feels wild to be picking LSU in this spot.

The Clemson Tigers haven't lost since January 1, 2018, are the reigning national champions, and are getting nearly a touchdown against LSU on Monday night.

But this season has been defined by Joe Burrow's transcendent talents, and while Clemson has plenty of players on their sideline, I don't think they have an answer for Burrow.

In the semifinal, LSU was able to play on cruise control for three quarters after jumping out on top of Oklahoma early. Meanwhile, Clemson had to claw out a comeback in a thriller against Ohio State.

Clemson won't make the mistake of coming out slow again, but there's no doubt that the game took a lot of energy out of them, while LSU will have fresh legs beneath them. I think that makes the difference, and LSU finishes the year as national champions.

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