It's the most wonderful time of the year for college football bettors! The bowl season is upon us, and the betting lines for the biggest bowl games of the year have been released.
College Football New Year's Six Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Peach Bowl: Houston vs. Florida State (-6.5)
Fiesta Bowl: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State (-6.5)
Rose Bowl: Iowa vs. Stanford (-7)
Sugar Bowl: Ole Miss (-6.5) vs. Oklahoma State
It's amazing that the four New Year's Six bowl games that aren't a part of the College Football Playoff all basically have the same point spread. All four of the games feature spreads of between 6.5 and 7, and in three of the four, it's the team with the better final ranking in the CFP rankings getting the nod.
We'll start in the Peach Bowl. Florida State has been here and done this before in big bowl games against teams with great records against teams from Group of Five schools. The Seminoles are only a few years away from running Northern Illinois off the field at the Orange Bowl. Now though, they've got a Houston team which many thought could've ultimately challenged for a spot in the CFP had it run the table.
Iowa and Stanford finished just on the wrong side of the College Football Playoff this year as No. 5 and No. 6 respectively. The Cardinal, the winners of the Pac-12 were the easy choice for the Rose Bowl, their third visit to Pasadena for New Year's Day in the last four years. Stanford has mixed results here, having beaten Wisconsin in 2013 while losing to Michigan State two years ago. Iowa hasn't been to the Rose Bowl since 1991 and hasn't won it since 1959, but the Hawkeyes have proven they're legit and were arguably just a few inches away from finishing a perfect regular season.
The Fiesta Bowl had two at-large teams it needed to put into its bowl game this year, and it got two really good ones with Notre Dame and Ohio State. The Buckeyes were one defensive stop away from going to the Big Ten Championship Game and having a shot to defend their crown, but this isn't a bad consolation prize. The Irish have two losses this year, one of which was to the No. 1 team in the land, the second of which was against No. 6.
Arguably the worst of the big time bowl games is the Sugar Bowl, a game which was forced to take a three-loss Ole Miss team and an Oklahoma State team which finished second in the Big XII in spite of its miserable end of the regular season. Neither one of these teams truly "earned" their way in this game. The Rebels needed Florida to lose the SEC Championship Game. Okie State needed Baylor to lose to Texas in its regular season finale.
College Football Playoff Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Orange Bowl: #4 Oklahoma (-3.5) vs. #1 Clemson (64.5)
Cotton Bowl: #3 Michigan State (49) vs. #2 Alabama (-10)
Boy, does this look familiar? Alabama is coming into the College Football Playoff against a Big Ten team, and no one is giving that Big Ten team any chance to win. Of all of the New Year's Six games, the one with the biggest spread is actually the playoff between the two teams which were theoretically the most evenly matched in the land. The Spartans are getting a whopping 10, a number which feels insanely high for a team which just doesn't quit. If the SEC was truly overrated this year as many suspect, there might be a lot of value here on Sparty.
What might be stranger is the fact that the only undefeated team in the country and the team which has been No. 1 ever since the first College Football Playoff rankings came out is an underdog. Clemson is set at +3.5 against Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl in a rematch of last year's Russell Athletic Bowl, a game which was won by the Tigers 40-6. Still, the Sooners won what might've been the best conference in America, and they've been one of the hottest teams in the land coming into the playoff.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go.
Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook!
