College football today: Bowl game schedule for Friday, Dec. 23

Your look at the college football bowl schedule for the games on TV for Friday

College football bowl season continues as the schedule moves to the Friday slate and we get one step closer towards Christmas and from there, to the College Football Playoff and the national championship game.

How it's going so far: College football bowl game tracker: Conference win/loss records

Early in the postseason, the Sun Belt and Mountain West have performed the best overall while the AAC and Conference USA have not played up to expectations.

But as the calendar moves closer to, and then after, Christmas is when we'll start seeing the more prestigious teams in action in the more famous bowl games, culminating in the College Football Playoff and national championship.

Going bowling: College football bowl schedule for 2022 games

Here's what you need to know about the bowl schedule today, with two intriguing games on tap across the country.

College football games on TV today: Bowl schedule for Friday

College football bowl schedule today

Independence Bowl
Houston vs. Louisiana
Fri., Dec. 23 | 3 p.m. | ESPN
Streams live on fuboTV (Try for free)

Point spread: Houston comes into the game as 7 point favorites against Louisiana, according to the lines at SI Sportsbook.

Total: The book set the over/mark at 56.5 points for the game.

Moneyline: Houston -300 | Louisiana +200

FPI prediction: Houston has the comfortable 64.3 percent chance to win the game, compared to Louisiana at 35.7 percent, according to the Football Power Index computer prediction model that picks winners by simulating teams' seasons 20,000 times.

Spread consensus pick: Houston -7

Louisiana: The Ragin' Cajuns check in at 6-6 overall, losing three of their last five to close out the regular season, finishing fourth in their division in the Sun Belt, posting 27.0 points per game and averaging 367.7 total yards each time out.

Houston: After a sluggish start to the season that included losing three of the first four games, the Cougars rebounded by winning five of the last seven, finishing fifth in the AAC standings and coming in at 7-5 overall, averaging 37.2 points per game and eclipsing 463 total yards each time out.

Score prediction: Team Rankings estimates that Houston will defeat Louisiana by a projected score of 31.3 to 23.6 to win the Independence Bowl.

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Gasparilla Bowl
Wake Forest vs. Missouri
Fri., Dec. 23 | 6:30 p.m. | ESPN
Streams live on fuboTV (Try for free)

Point spread: Wake Forest comes into the game as 2 point favorites against Missouri, according to the lines at SI Sportsbook.

Total: The book set the over/under mark at 58.5 points.

Moneyline: Wake Forest -143 | Missouri +110

FPI prediction: The power index computers project that Wake Forest as the even 60.0 percent chance to win the game outright, compared to Missouri, which has the 40.0 percent edge to pull off the upset, according to the projections.

Spread consensus pick: Wake Forest -2

Wake Forest: This will be the last we see Sam Hartman in a Wake uniform before he either goes to the NFL or into the college football transfer portal, and he has a chance to set the ACC record for touchdown passes in the process. Despite some up and down play this year, the Deacons still average almost 37 points per game and are good for almost 448 yards.

Missouri: Losing the likes of wide receiver Dominic Lovett, who transferred to Georgia, hurts this fragile passing offense, but 5-star Luther Burden is still very much in the gameplan for quarterback Brady Cook. The two will pair up against a Wake Forest defense that ranks 116th nationally in pass yards allowed and 93rd in points surrendered coming in.

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College Football Playoff rankings

1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. TCU
4. Ohio State
5. Alabama
6. Tennessee
7. Clemson
8. Utah
9. Kansas State
10. USC
11. Penn State
12. Washington
13. Florida State
14. Oregon State
15. Oregon
16. Tulane
17. LSU
18. UCLA
19. South Carolina
20. Texas
21. Notre Dame
22. Mississippi State
23. NC State
24. Troy
25. UTSA

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