Home Dawgs Column: Bowl-o-Rama has arrived

Ah, Bowl Season. A colossal waste of our time, but also an outlet to pull us away from the post-present lull.
While this will be my first foray into bowl betting, I knowingly am taking it all with a grain of salt. Most of the 30-some odd games are complete toss ups, even if the lines suggest otherwise.
We never know what version of a team is going to show up or if they have any desire to win. Some players may be in it for the free vacation – let's not forget, these are young college kids with essentially a week or two of freedom away from campus. Yes, they still have practices and a game to play, but more often than not they have the chance to roam new and mostly warm destinations. It would be pretty easy for me to lose my focus, especially if I'm on a team that was far out of the playoff conversation.
So, before you dump a ton of money into these glorified exhibition games, put some serious thought into each matchup. Hell, a lot of these early bowl games are between two teams I've never seen play a second of football.
Yikes.
So, I say buckle up and enjoy bowl season. But please, don't piss away all of your holiday money.

With that being said, I'm in a bit of a slump these last two weeks. For a second straight weekend I posted a losing record, going 1-2. I'm a dismal 1-5-1. Ugh. But, thankfully, I'm still a miraculous eight games over .500, so at least we are winning money.

Here we go.

B-HURL'S SEASON RECORD: 32-24-1
    Last Week: 1-2
        - Winners are in bold
    - Lines courtesy of Draftkings Sportsbook (Dec. 17)

1. SMU (-2.5) vs. Florida Atlantic (Boca Raton Bowl, 2:30 p.m. Dec. 21)
I just have a strong feeling that Southern Methodist is a better team. They play in a better conference than FAU (The American) and have a tougher schedule. Not only that, but the Mustangs feature an incredibly prolific offense (43 points per) and FAU just lost their coach (Lane Kiffin) to the SEC.

2. Boise State vs. Washington (-4) (Las Vegas Bowl, 6:30 p.m. Dec. 21)
Washington has lost three straight bowl games. You think they want to lose a fourth and send head coach Chris Peterson off into retirement like that? Boise State is a fake 12-1, they have played absolutely no one while the Huskies, despite being 7-5, have played a fairly strong schedule. I don't necessarily like the line a ton, but I like the action the public is taking. Give me UW.

3. Saints at Titans (+3)
The Titans have to win to keep their playoff hopes alive, and doing so as a home underdog makes this matchup incredibly enticing. I mean, this is the Home 'Dawgs column. The Saints, though as good as they may be, are beatable, and this one is on the road. Oh, let's not forget, the Saints are getting ALL the money at this point, a 70 percent hike from the public.

4. Cowboys at Eagles (+3)
Another home underdog, one in which I'm tempted to take the juicy as hell +120 moneyline. The winner here essentially captures the NFC East title as both the Cowboys and Eagles sit at 7-7 with two games to play. The Eagles as a home underdog (despite a 4-10 ATS record at home over the last 14) with the public overreacting to Dallas' man-handling of the Rams is enough for me.