3 Lower Seeds Currently Favorites In College Football Playoff Quarterfinals
12/21/2024 08:11 PM
We're nearly done with the first round of the College Football Playoff, and so far chalk has ruled the day. The home teams - and higher seeds - have won each of the first three games, and all have won in fairly convincing fashion.
Notre Dame took down Indiana in South Bend, Penn State overwhelmed SMU in Happy Valley, and Texas handled Clemson in Austin. All three teams are now in the quarterfinals, but interestingly, they're favorited in the three games that have been determined.
According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Notre Dame is favored over No. 2 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. The Irish are a 1.5-point favorite in the opening line after their win over Indiana on Friday, a line that's likely been affected by the injury to Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck.
Notre Dame opens as 1.5-point favorites against Georgia in the College Football Playoff Quarterfinals 👀 pic.twitter.com/q1pHghuBrD
— DraftKings Sportsbook (@DKSportsbook) December 21, 2024
The Peach Bowl features Texas and Arizona State, and it also sees the Longhorns favored by 13.5 points, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
The Sun Devils won the Big 12 this season, but the Longhorns have been ranked inside the top five all-year long, and they're far from a typical lower seed in this playoff format.
Penn State are also double-digit favorites in the Fiesta Bowl, where they'll face the No. 3 seed Boise State. The Nittany Lions are favored by 11.5 points over the champions of the Mountain West, even with Boise having one of the best players in the country in Heisman finalist Ashton Jeanty.
The final first-round game of the night could result in another lower-ranked team being favored in their quarterfinal bowl game. The Ohio State Buckeyes would potentially be favored in a rematch with the top-seeded Oregon Ducks, largely due to the neutral site of the Rose Bowl.
Oregon did defeat Ohio State earlier this season, but they did so at home in Eugene at Autzen Stadium. The Buckeyes should be motivated to take down Tennessee, which would earn them another chance at the Ducks away from their home soil.
We'll see how the rest of the first round - and the rest of this year's College Football Playoff - goes, but it's clear that the lower-seeded teams aren't underdogs in the quarterfinals, even with the higher-ranked conference champions earning one-week byes.
Related: Tennessee Fans Bring Giant Michigan Logo To Ohio Stadium
