The Roofclaim.com Boca Raton Bowl brings together two 6-6 teams as the USF Bulls of the AAC take on the Syracuse Orange of the ACC in Thursday night college football action.
Will USF or Syracuse end the 2023 college football season on a high? Ahead of the game, we’ve got the latest college football betting odds, DFS picks, and a Boca Raton Bowl prediction.
Boca Raton Bowl Betting and DFS Preview
All odds are from DraftKings Sportsbook and correct as of Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023. Want to take advantage of the Boca Raton Bowl odds? Visit the College Football Network live college football odds page to place bets in your state.
- Spread
Syracuse -2 - Moneyline
Syracuse -125, USF +105 - Over/Under
57 points - Game time
8:00 p.m. ET - Location
FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, FL - Predicted Weather at Kick
65 degrees, 10 mph winds, cloudy - How to Watch
ESPN, FuboTV
Going all out on the Orange on Thursday night? Has USF got you fancying a flutter on some football? If you take advantage of the Boca Raton Bowl odds, consider the following factors before you part with your hard-earned cash.
USF is back bowling for the first time since 2018 and faces a team they’ve had great success against. The Bulls are 8-2 all-time against Syracuse and won the last two matchups between the sides comfortably. Alex Golesh has given this team an exciting offensive identity, but what are the chances of them repeating former glories?
Well, DraftKings Sportsbook tends to favor the Orange, and our Boca Raton Bowl prediction concurs with their portrayal of Syracuse as the favorite for reasons we’ll discuss later. They haven’t lost when fancied by the oddsmakers this season, while USF is 2-4 as an underdog.
Delving into the other Boca Raton Bowl odds, it’s a marginal spread for Syracuse but one they should just about cover. The Orange are 2-1 when they’re favored by a spread of a field goal or less, including in their regular season finale win over Wake Forest under interim head coach Nunzio Campanile, who will take the reigns in Florida despite the presence of a new head coach.
Top DFS Picks and Fantasy Plays
USF Depth Chart | Syracuse Depth Chart
- QB Byrum Brown, USF
- QB Braden Davis, Syracuse
- QB Luke MacPhail, Syracuse
- RB Nay’Quan Wright, USF
- RB Michael Dukes, USF
- RB Kelley Joiner Jr, USF
- RB LeQuint Allen, Syracuse
- RB Juwaun Price, Syracuse
- WR Sean Atkins, USF
- WR Jaden Alexis, USF
- WR Naiem Simmons, USF
- WR Khafre Brown, USF
- WR Donovan Brown, Syracuse
- WR Damien Alford, Syracuse
- WR Umari Hatcher, Syracuse
- TE Weston Wolff, USF
- TE Dan Villari, Syracuse
There’s just one college football game on Thursday to compile your DFS team. If you’re new to DFS, Fanduel’s one-game contests allow you to select four Flex positions from the quarterback, running backs, wide receivers, and tight end positions in one-game slates. One-game slates give you an MVP that scores 1.5x the points of a normal player.
With Garrett Shrader out due to surgery on an ongoing injury, redshirt-freshman quarterback Braden Davis is listed atop the depth chart for Syracuse. With one career start and more receptions than pass attempts this season, Davis is something of an unknown commodity — especially for fantasy purposes, which will impact your Boca Raton Bowl picks quite considerably.
Syracuse wide receivers likely won’t be among them, but running back LeQuint Allen most definitely will. Expect the Orange’s star running back to handle a hefty workload against this USF defense, adding to his 185.44 fantasy points scored this season as the RB4 in the ACC. Versatile offensive weapon Dan Villari might be another Orange playmaker to include in DFS lineups.
While our Boca Raton Bowl suggests Syracuse can limit USF offensively, quarterback Byrum Brown should account for the vast majority of their points, making him a firm contender for your MVP selection. The dazzling dual-threat has amassed 335.12 points this season, with 34 total touchdowns and over 3,800 total yards, leading the team with 11 rushing scores.
Prediction for the Boca Raton Bowl
Okay, so we’ve furnished you with the Boca Raton Bowl odds and some DFS picks. Now, it’s time to close this thing out with our prediction.
Will USF finish their first season under Golesh with a flourish and a first bowl win since 2018? Or will Syracuse muster a last win for interim coach Campanile before ushering in an exciting new era under former Georgia DB coach Fran Brown?
MORE: Bowl Game Opt-Out Tracker
There are plenty of reasons to believe USF can upset the odds on Thursday night. They’ve proven once already this season that they can play Power Five opposition close, holding what is now a rampant Alabama to just 17 points in Week 3.
Their offense under the former Tennessee offensive coordinator and in the hands of QB Brown has the potential to be extremely explosive.
Meanwhile, the Syracuse defense has proven to be incredibly porous at times this year. After giving up less than 20 points in each of their first four, they allowed 30+ in four straight, and ended the year with two consecutive games doing the same. They’ll also be without some starting pieces of that defense, including Leon Lowery.
However, the presence of Marlowe Wax, Justin Barron, Kevin Darton, and Caleb Okechukwu should have a say in how well USF moves the ball on the Orange. Syracuse did a decent job of holding Thomas Castellanos at bay despite defeat against Boston College, proving they can limit a dual-threat quarterback — which will be the difference between winning or losing for Syracuse.
An even bigger factor will be the identity of their own offense. USF has one of the worst defenses in the country, allowing 34.9 points per game this season.
They’ve also allowed amongst the most rushing touchdowns this season, while finishing in the bottom half of the FBS for yards per carry allowed. Give the ball to Allen and shine, Syracuse.
Prediction: USF 27, Syracuse 30