Zac Jackson’s 2023 Bowl Game Picks: A Guide to Winning Your Pool

It’s that time of year again – Bowl Game Pick’ Em season! Zac Jackson has carefully ranked his confidence in each bowl game pick he’s made, ranging from 43 being the most confident to 1 being the least. These rankings are crucial for the “confidence pool” games, where you earn “confidence points” based on your picks. If your most confident pick wins their bowl game, you’ll receive those valuable 43 points.

Even if you’re not participating in a “confidence pool,” these picks can still serve as a useful guide to help you determine who Zac Jackson believes will win each game. So whether you’re competing in a pool or simply making your own predictions, good luck and enjoy the excitement of bowl season!

Note: Alabama is featured twice in this list – once for the Rose Bowl and again for the title game against TBD.

Strategizing Your Picks

While many players in pools across the country may be heavily favoring Oregon and Georgia, Zac Jackson takes a different approach. After successfully picking Tulane over USC last year and narrowly missing out on a big payout, he focuses on the underdogs and avoiding potential losses on games with uncertain outcomes. The transfer portal and mixed motivations of teams make this bowl season particularly unpredictable.

Your own strategy should depend on the type of pool you’re entering. If it’s a large pool with hundreds of entries, you’ll need to think outside the box and consider a few upsets in the 20-ish range. On the other hand, if it’s a smaller pool with 20-40 entries, your main goal should be accuracy. Regardless, you’ll need to have success with your top five (or more) picks to have a shot at winning.

Zac Jackson advises against choosing teams that had poor performances in November, such as Fresno State and Marshall. These teams may not have much to gain from continuing their season. Additionally, he suggests avoiding teams like Texas A&M and Duke due to recent turnover and instability.

Last year, four MAC teams won bowl games. However, this year seems more reminiscent of 2018 or 2017 when MAC teams only managed to win one game. Zac Jackson predicts that MAC teams will face challenges with backup quarterbacks and unfavorable matchups. Of course, there’s always next year if his predictions prove to be incorrect.

More Bowl Game Resources

Looking for more bowl game content? Check out these articles:

• Zac Jackson and Jon Greenberg’s weekly betting/picks/Ohio
• College football bowl projections: Predicted scores for every bowl game
• Pre-Christmas bowl game betting guide: Odds, picks, transfers, opt outs and matchups

(Top photo: Justin Ford/Getty Images)