Holiday Bowl Odds, Predictions & Bowl History

Louisville -7 (-110) -265

USC +7 (-110) +215

Louisville -7 (-110) over USC

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Louisville -7 (-110) -265

USC +7 (-110) +215

• USC is without starting quarterback Caleb Williams, who has opted out of this game to prepare for the NFL Draft.
• The USC defense has been one of the worst in college football all season and that trend should continue in the Holiday Bowl.

The Holiday Bowl is one of the great traditions of the college football bowl season. In this contest, teams have been going at it since the late 1970s, with some of the greatest players in the history of the sport suiting up in this contest. Here, we break down the history of this prestigious portion of the college football bowl schedule and look at this year’s edition of the game.

2023 Holiday Bowl Analysis

Going into the Louisville vs USC matchup in the Holiday Bowl, the major storyline is the opt-out of USC quarterback Caleb Williams. Williams is focusing on the upcoming NFL Draft, which will leave the USC offense in a tough spot. However, we are not putting it past Lincoln Riley to find a way to get his team to put up a big point total in this matchup.

But there may not be a point total big enough for the USC defense to protect, as they have been one of the worst defensive teams in college football this season. While Louisville struggled to score against Florida State in the ACC championship game, they should have no such problems scoring on USC in this matchup.

Holiday Bowl History

The history of the Holiday Bowl dates all the way back to 1978, when this game was first contested. BYU factored heavily into this annual bowl game early in its history, when players like Steve Young were leading the Cougars. Today, this contest has tie-ins with the Pac-12 and ACC, though the Pac-12 is dissolving and that will require a change in the future. Below is a full list of matchups from this bowl game’s history and a list of which teams have come out on top in it.

Bowl Game MVPs

If you scroll through the below list of MVPs from this bowl matchup, you will be amazed by the long list of stars contained within. All-time greats like Steve Young and Barry Sanders have made the list, while plenty of excellent pros have joined them in accepting the award on offense or defense. Below is the full list of Holiday Bowl MVPs spanning over 40 years of action in this game.