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Come Fan with UsTuesday, August 4, 2026

College Football Playoff betting primes the odds pump this week

December wraps up with a strong bowl schedule leading up to the big games on New Year’s Day.

The Oregon Ducks are 8-0 SU and ATS over their last eight games and 3-0 SU and ATS over their last three bowl games. The Ducks hope to keep things rolling in the Rose Bowl at 5 p.m. ET on Thursday, Jan. 1 against the Florida State Seminoles in the Playoff semifinal.

Oregon is a 9-point favorite in the national semifinal according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. This is Florida State’s first game as an underdog since Sept. 24, 2011. The Seminoles are 9-1-1 ATS over their last 11 bowl games and 29-0 SU over their last 29 games.

Alabama vs. Ohio State makes up the second half of the national semifinal at 8:30 p.m. ET in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. The Crimson Tide are 5-1 ATS over their last six bowl games and 4-0 SU and ATS in their last four games against Big Ten opponents. Ohio State is just 1-5 SU and ATS in its last six games against SEC opponents. Alabama is going off at -9 in the Sugar Bowl.

Other New Year’s Day games include Auburn (-6.5) vs. Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl at noon ET, Michigan State (+2.5) vs. Baylor in the Cotton Bowl Classic at 12:30 p.m. ET, and Missouri (-4.5) vs. Minnesota in the Citrus Bowl at 1 p.m. ET.

Before that, Georgia meets Louisville in the Belk Bowl at 6:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Dec. 30. The betting favorite has covered in each of the last three Belk Bowls, a trend that Georgia hopes will continue this year as it enters the game as a 6.5-point favorite. Louisville is 4-1 SU and ATS in its last five bowl games and 9-1 ATS in its last 10 games as an underdog according to the OddsShark College Football Database.

New Year’s Eve on Wednesday, Dec. 31 features some intriguing matchups, starting with the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at 12:30 p.m. ET between the Mississippi Rebels and the TCU Horned Frogs. Ole Miss is 9-1 SU and 8-1-1 ATS over its last 10 bowl games but TCU is 7-0 SU and 6-1 ATS in its last seven games as a favorite. The Horned Frogs are a 3.5-point favorite in this one on the college football bowl game odds.

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