Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Christmas Eve is annually perhaps the worst sports day of the year in North America because the NHL and NBA always are dark on December 24 and the NFL usually is – which is the case this year. However, there is one college football game Thursday: Hawaii of the Mountain West against Houston of the AAC in the New Mexico Bowl at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Because nothing was normal in this college football season due to COVID-19, the New Mexico Bowl naturally isn’t being played in New Mexico but from Frisco, Texas. State COVID guidelines in New Mexico wouldn’t allow for it to be played there. Houston is a 13-point favorite in the second all-time meeting between the schools (2003 Hawaii Bowl), and the Warriors are 2-5 ATS in their past seven overall.

There is also a bowl game on Christmas (along with an NFL matchup and five NBA games) as Conference USA runner-up Marshall takes on Mid-American Conference runner-up Buffalo in the Camellia Bowl (2:30 p.m. ET) from the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama. The Bulls are 3.5-point favorites, but the Thundering Herd are 7-1 ATS in their past eight bowl games.