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Utah vs. Northwestern Prediction, Pick & Odds: Las Vegas Bowl

C Jackson Cowart

Last Updated: December 23, 2023 3:43 PM EST • 3 min 59 sec read.

The Utah Utes and Northwestern Wildcats meet in the 2023 Las Vegas in the midst of a busy day of bowl games on Saturday, and we have you covered with our Utah vs. Northwestern prediction for the Las Vegas Bowl based on the best college football odds at the best college football betting sites.

The result of Saturday's Las Vegas Bowl will have lasting effects on the Utah Utes (8-4) and Northwestern Wildcats (7-5), both of whom look to put a positive spin on an emotionally-challenging 2023 campaign.

Utah star QB Cameron Rising was expected to return from a devastating knee injury he suffered in last year's Rose Bowl. Instead, the sixth-year senior watched from the sidelines as the Utes dropped four conference games for the first time since 2017 and missed out on the Pac-12 Championship for just the second time in his six seasons.

Meanwhile, Northwestern fired its most successful coach, Pat Fitzgerald, just two months before the season and still managed to reach its first bowl game since 2020, tying the team's highest win total since 2018 ahead of this year's Las Vegas Bowl.

As part of our look at all college bowl game odds, here is our best Utah vs. Northwestern prediction and our college football picks for Saturday's Las Vegas Bowl (odds via our best college football betting sites; Pick confidence is based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

Utah vs. Northwestern prediction: Las Vegas Bowl

Northwestern +6.5 (-110 via FanDuel) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Everything about this game screams value on the underdog, and the only reason this isn't a five-star play is because the best price (+9.5) is already gone. Still, Northwestern remains the side to bet on at the college football betting sites on Saturday.

Utah overcame issues under center to cobble together a 6-1 start. But injuries eventually derailed this group, which dropped three of its last five games before ending the season with a 23-17 victory over Colorado as a three-touchdown favorite.

In addition to Rising, the Utes lost eight other key players to season-ending injuries. They ruled out five players during the same week in late October, which precipitated the team's 2-3 swoon to end the year. Then came all the opt-outs and transfers, decimating what was left of the roster.

Star players Cole Bishop (DB), Keaton Bills (OL), Sione Vaki (RB/S), and Devaughn Vele (WR) have all declared for the NFL draft and won't play Saturday. More than a dozen other players - including starters JT Broughton (CB) and Mikey Matthews (WR) - have entered the transfer portal and also won't be available.

QB Bryson Barnes, the former pig farmer turned walk-on, is in the portal but expected to make his 10th start of the season on Saturday. That doesn't mean much for the Utes, as the junior ranks in the bottom 25 in completion rate (58.3%), yards per attempt (6.6), and big-time throw percentage (3.3%) among those with at least 250 dropbacks, according to PFF.

Meanwhile, just four Northwestern players have entered the portal, and only one (left guard Josh Priebe) played meaningful snaps in 2023. The Wildcats could also see the return of starting safety Coco Azema (47 tackles), one of five defenders to earn All-Big Ten honors in 2023.

That elite defense helped Northwestern win four of its final five games - covering six straight to end the year - to clinch its first bowl berth under former defensive coordinator David Braun. He assumed head coaching duties eight weeks before the season and shed the interim tag in mid-November.

It feels like the betting public is too focused on the front of these jerseys to realize all the forces at play on Saturday. The longtime reputation of Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham could also be a factor. He won 10 of his first 11 bowl games (8-3 against the spread) but has since dropped four straight (1-3 ATS).

Northwestern enters this game as the more complete and motivated team in Braun's bowl debut, and it rarely beats itself. Sixth-year QB Ben Bryant can make enough plays against a depleted Utah secondary to keep this game close, and I wouldn't be shocked if the Wildcats win outright (+200 via BetMGM).

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Utah vs. Northwestern best odds

FanDuel (-110)

DraftKingsFanDuelBetMGMCaesarsbet365
NU +6.5NU +6.5NU +6NU +6NU +6
-112-110-110-110-110

This line at the best sportsbooks has been experiencing dramatic movement since opening at Utah -9.5. We've seen a shift even over the last 24 hours in favor of Northwestern, which is trading at +6 through three of our best sports betting sites.

Only two college football betting sites are still dealing at +6.5, and the only one offering -110 odds is FanDuel, which is where we'd recommend making this wager. It's worth checking out our best sportsbook promos to see which books are offering the best potential bonus for your bet, for this game, and otherwise.

Editor's note: Get ready for the launch of Vermont sports betting with our best Vermont sportsbook promos, and be sure to download the best Vermont sports betting apps! 21+ and present in VT. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

Utah vs. Northwestern odds

Utah vs. Northwestern odds analysis

This game originally opened with Utah as a 9.5-point favorite, though a cascade of transfers and opt-outs have driven this line as low as 6 across our best sports betting apps, with two of the best sportsbooks still offering 6.5 as of Thursday.

The total has also dropped two points, from 42.5 down to 40.5 at most of our best sportsbooks. bet365 is still hanging 41 with -110 odds for those who fancy the Under in what profiles as a low-scoring affair.

Las Vegas Bowl game info

  • When: Saturday, Dec. 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET
  • Where: Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas
  • How to watch: ABC
  • Weather: Indoors

Utah-Northwestern prediction made Thursday at 3:15 p.m. ET.

Check out our best college football betting sites:

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Written By:
C Jackson Cowart
C Jackson Cowart is a publishing editor and lead writer for Sportsbook Review. An award-winning writer, reporter, and editor with a decade of sports media experience, "C-Jax" has worked with ESPN, Forbes, theScore, and various daily newspapers before joining the Sportsbook Review team. He's a proud graduate of the University of North Carolina, where he served as a beat writer for the Tar Heels' championship run through the NCAA men's basketball tournament in 2017. Jackson has spent the last five years covering sports betting as a predictive analyst, features writer, and industry reporter. Since joining the team in 2023, he's played a key role in Sportsbook Review's coverage of the Super Bowl, March Madness, and NBA playoffs while serving as the lead writer for the growing WNBA and NASCAR betting scenes. Though he's cashed some big bets over the years -- including Lamar Jackson to win MVP (twice) -- he's still haunted by enough second-place bet slips to wallpaper his home office. While Jackson is a committed "process over results" bettor with a keen eye for advanced stats and subtle bias in futures markets, he also embraces sports betting as a vehicle for entertainment and personal investment. He's written about everything from hot dogs to groundhogs and still hasn't forgiven his "inside source" for a sabotaged bet on the Gatorade color in Super Bowl LV.