Each of the first two College Football Playoff matchups between the No. 1 Clemson Tigers and No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide were instant classics with the series tied at 1-1 straight up and Clemson holding a 2-0 against the spread edge.
Bowl game odds 2017: Betting lines, trends, and analysis for college football bowl season
Alabama is favored over Clemson in the Sugar Bowl, and Georgia is chalk against Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl in the top matchups on the bowl slate.
John Reed-USA TODAY Sports
The two powerhouse programs will meet for Round 3 in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day.
Alabama is going off as a 2-point favorite in this semifinal matchup at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The Crimson Tide advanced into the postseason despite losing to No. 7 Auburn in their final game of the regular season. In their last eight games coming off a loss as a favorite, the Crimson Tide are 2-6 ATS.
College Football Bowl Games Opening Odds
Cotton Bowl USC vs. Ohio State (-6.5)
Fiesta Bowl: Washington vs. Penn State (-2.5)
Orange Bowl: Wisconsin (-6.5) vs. Miami
Peach Bowl: UCF vs. Auburn (-9.5)
Citrus Bowl: Notre Dame vs. LSU (-3)
Rose Bowl: Georgia (-1.5) vs. Oklahoma
Sugar Bowl: Alabama (-2) vs. Clemson
In the other College Football Playoff semifinals matchup, the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs are a slight favorite at -1.5 against the No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners in the Rose Bowl. Oklahoma has won each of its last eight games and is 5-1 ATS over its last six games. Both teams finished the regular season with 12-1 SU records, though Georgia holds the ATS edge at 9-4 ATS over Oklahoma at 8-5 ATS.
After being left out of the College Football Playoff in favor of a second SEC team in Alabama, the top teams in the Big Ten will have the chance to make statements as favorites in three top bowl games.
The No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes (-6.5) will face the No. 8 USC Trojans in the Cotton Bowl. Both of these teams finished as two-loss conference champions and would love to prove that the committee made a mistake in leaving them out. The Buckeyes are 11-2 ATS in their last 13 games against the Pac-12 per the OddsShark College Football Database.
No. 9 Penn State (-2.5) faces No. 11 Washington in the Fiesta Bowl, and No. 6 Wisconsin (-6.5) will head to Miami to face the No. 10 Hurricanes in the Orange Bowl. Miami is just 1-7 SU in its last eight games played in November.
Rounding out this year’s top bowls, the No. 14 Notre Dame Fighting Irish clash with the No. 17 LSU Tigers (-3) in the Citrus Bowl and the No. 12 UCF Knights go head-to-head with the No. 7 Auburn Tigers (-9.5) in the Peach Bowl. UCF was the only team in FBS play to finish the regular season undefeated this season with a record of 12-0 SU and 7-4-1 ATS.
For more info, picks and a breakdown of this week’s top sports betting news, check out the new OddsShark podcast with Jon Campbell and Andrew Avery. Subscribe on iTunes, or check it out at OddsShark.libsyn.com.
