Washington State vs. Fresno State Odds, Picks, Predictions College Football: Bulldogs Now Favored in LA Bowl

It’s a Pac-12 battle in the second annual LA Bowl with Fresno State and Washington State set to battle it out Saturday. Read on for our look at the college football odds and our top college football picks for the LA Bowl between Washington State and Fresno State.

The second annual LA Bowl features a matchup between the Pac-12’s Washington State Cougars and the Mountain West Conference champion Fresno State Bulldogs.

It took a major turnaround just for Fresno State (6-7 against the spread, 7-6 Over/Under) to become bowl eligible, let alone win a conference championship. The Bulldogs started the season 1-4, but haven’t lost a game since Oct. 8. Quarterback Jake Haener's return from injury is a big reason why. FSU avenged a loss to Boise State by winning the MWC title game on the blue turf.

Meanwhile, Washington State (8-4 ATS, 3-9 O/U) beat everyone except for the elite teams in the Pac-12 this season. All five of the Cougars’ losses on the year came against teams that finished 9-3 or better in the standings. That said, Wazzu played Oregon, Oregon State, Utah, and Washington extremely tough in defeat.

Here is our pick for the LA Bowl matchup between Fresno State and Washington State (odds via FanDuel Sportsbook; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5 star scale).

Check out all of our top college football bowl odds, picks, and predictions!

Washington State vs. Fresno State Game Info

Date: Saturday, Dec. 17, 3:30 p.m. ET
TV: ABC
Location: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA
Weather: Indoors

Washington State vs. Fresno State Odds

Washington State vs. Fresno State Odds Analysis

The consensus spread has flipped since opening with Washington State favored by 2.5 points to now having Fresno State favored by 4.5 points as of Saturday afternoon (though you can still find the odd -5). The Bulldogs are backed by 77% of the handle on 66% of the tickets.

There's been much less movement on the Over/Under with the consensus opening line of 54 dropping only a half-point as of Saturday morning.

Washington State vs. Fresno State Pick

Under 53.5 ★★

In the four games that Jake Haener missed entirely, Fresno State was held to 20 points or fewer on three occasions. Not counting the loss to USC when he got hurt, the Bulldogs have scored 28-plus points in every game that Haener has played in. The sheer productivity of the Bulldogs’ offense with Haener compared to without shows just how important he is to this team. 

The betting market also provided a clear indicator of Haener’s importance two weeks ago. Fresno State was only a 3-point road underdog against Boise State in the Mountain West title game. That line was certainly a far cry from the 10-point spread for the regular-season meeting that Haener missed.

Unfortunately for bettors, it’s tough to justify backing FSU in the LA Bowl considering how far the line has already moved. Knowing that one could have previously gotten the Bulldogs as a 2.5-point underdog makes laying a full field goal highly unattractive. 

The sentiment expressed above becomes even more profound when one considers how physical and scrappy Washington State is on defense. The Cougars finished the year ranked 32nd in adjusted defensive efficiency. There’s no denying that this will be a step up in competition for Haener and the Fresno offense compared to some of the awful MWC teams.

All season long, the Bulldogs’ main weakness defensively was against the run. Well, Wazzu’s offense is predicated on Cameron Ward and the passing attack. The Cougars ranked 111th in FBS with only 110.4 rushing yards per game. Given this, Fresno State should be able to match up well and keep WSU in check.

Washington State vs. Fresno State Best Odds

PointsBet (-110)

With all major sportsbooks now listing the game total at 53.5, shopping the odds simply boils down to finding the best bang for your buck. And you can pretty much pick your favorite of the top sports betting site here – except for FanDuel, which was offering the best price at U54.5 but has the worst odds on the U53.5. We like PointsBet because it is the most likely of the main sportsbooks to make a late adjustment that favors Under bettors.

Washington State-Fresno State picks made 12/12/2022 at 1:30 p.m. ET.

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