The Big 12 was depleted by the departure of Texas and Oklahoma leaving Arizona State to rise from the rubble as the conference’s champion. The Sun Devils beat Iowa State, 45-19, to claim the title in its first season and earn the No.4 seed in the college football playoff. ASU will take on former Big 12 member Texas, who advanced with a dominant win over Clemson in the first round, in a CFP quarterfinal at the Peach Bowl on New Year’s Day. The game is set to kickoff at 1 p.m. ET. If you bet on the CFB using bitcoin and the Sun Devils in particular, you’ve made a lot of coin. ASU has payouts in six straight games and in eight of their last nine. They are the biggest dog on the CFP quarterfinal board, though, catching 13.5-points.
College Football Betting Lines
Peach Bowl: Arizona State vs. Texas Betting Lines
Texas Longhorns -13.5 / ML -521
Arizona State Sun Devils +13.5 / ML +418
Over / Under 52
Texas broke out of a minor offensive slump beating Clemson, 38-24, in the first round. And surprisingly it wasn’t because of quarterback Quinn Ewers. The Horns took advantage of a weak Clemson run defense, which placed 14th in the ACC, by getting more than 100 yards and two touchdowns each from Jaydon Blue and Quintrevion Wisner. It was a bold change to the game plan since the Horns rank in the middle of the pack nationally in rushing yards per game. We’ll likely see more from Ewers against a better Sun Devils run defense.
With Ewers completing less than 60 percent of his passes and throwing three interceptions, the Horns scored less than 20 points in two games prior to their meeting with Clemson. They failed to score in the second half but held on to beat Texas AM, 17-7, in the regular season finale. Ewers tossed a pair of interceptions as the Horns lost for the second time this season to Georgia, 22-19, in overtime in the SEC Championship. In those two games Texas turned the ball over a total of five times hindering their ability to score points. Despite those outings the Horns still average 34 points.
I don’t know how many folks had ASU being a top-four seed in the CFP when the season started, but I’m sure it wasn’t many. The Sun Devils were 3-9 in each of the previous two seasons so winning 10 regular season games and the Big 12 title was quite an accomplishment. ASU had some big win during the year beating all four ranked opponents. Their losses were deeply concerning, though. They lost to a Texas Tech club that went 8-4 in the regular season and the Sun Devils lost by 10 to 5-7 Cincinnati in Week 8.
ASU has shown a balanced attack, especially in the last two games when they beat rival Arizona and Iowa State in the Big 12 Championship by a combined score of 94-26. ASU closed as a 1.5-point dog against ISU and won 45-19. They are 4-2 SU and ATS when catching points. ASU’s strength is running the football behind Cam Skattebo. They average nearly 200 yards on the ground with Skattebo’s 1,568 rushing yards the fifth-most in the FBS. Sam Leavitt helps balance the attack with a steady presence behind center. He attempted just 17 passes in the Big 12 title game completing 12 for 219 yards and three scores. Skattebo did the rest with 170 yards and two TDs on 16 rush attempts.
The ASU defense has been opportunistic and will come after Ewers with hopes of disrupting the passing game. The Sun Devils allow just 117.5 yards per game on the ground but haven’t faced a duo like Blue and Wisner. And the Horns boast one of the top defenses in the country making it harder for ASU to find space. Texas has allowed the second fewest points in FBS and their 261.4 total yards per game surrendered is third-best in the country. This isn’t the Big 12 where in most games defense isn’t an option and I do think ASU will have difficulty moving the football.
Don’t underrate ASU, though. They have nothing to lose and if they get a decent game from Skattebo they can control the clock while keeping Ewers and the Horns’ offense off the field. That has me leaning toward the UNDER and 13.5-points is a lot to pass up.
Peach Bowl: Arizona State vs. Texas Same Game Parlay Picks
Arizona State +13.5
Texas / Arizona State UNDER 52
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