After a wild Orange Bowl on Thursday night, Notre Dame has secured its place in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. Now the Irish await their opponent, as Ohio State and Texas get ready to meet in the Cotton Bowl on Friday night in Arlington. Let’s breakdown some betting angles in this one.
Ohio State vs. Texas (Cotton Bowl) January 10 at 7:30pm ET
The public faded Ohio State in their first two CFP games, opting for Tennessee as a road underdog and then the undefeated Ducks in the Rose Bowl. The Buckeyes blew the doors off both teams, and are now the odds-on-favorites to win it all. Now the public seems to have come around on OSU, which probably inflates the number on this game a little bit.
The Buckeyes have held strong laying six points against the Longhorns throughout the week. I’ve gone ahead and looped OSU ML in on a couple parlays during the week, both of which got through. I like OSU quite a bit here, and with it priced as an 8.5-point favorite on lookahead lines in the Championship Game, I’ll also take some on the Buckeyes to win it all.
Ohio State has allowed the fewest points per game this season at 12.1, and most of the points they’ve surrendered in the CFP have been after building large leads. What’s been really eye-opening is how the Buckeyes have evolved offensively, with the passing game playing the best it has all season. They’ve maintained a strong run game with their pair of physical running backs, but Jeremiah Smith has opened things up in the passing game as a dominant force.
Texas has also been an elite defense this season, but we’ve seen it show holes in some big games. The Longhorns gave up 24 points to Clemson at home in the CFP opener, and then 31 to Arizona State (24 in regulation) in a game they easily could’ve lost. I don’t want to disrespect Texas here too much with the season its had, but the Longhorns are going to have their hands full here against the Buckeyes. I think Ohio State is the better team on both sides of the ball, and will find a way to win it.
I’ll have OSU to win the game tied into enough things in the action I have already, but if I were betting the spread I would side with the public and lay the points here. Ohio State on a double result to lead and half and win the game is also worth a look. The Buckeyes have gotten out to tremendous starts this season.
The Play: Ohio State ML in parlays (I have 2-units here in plays from Twitter) and Ohio State (-110) to win it all (2-units)
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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
The contents contained in this article do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment.
