Peach Bowl, Fiesta Bowl Odds Update: Alabama, Ohio State Betting Favorites
The top-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide (13-0) will kick off the College Football Playoff semifinals in the Peach Bowl on Saturday as large 14-point favorites against the fourth-seeded Washington Huskies (12-1), according to OddsShark.
The defending national champion Crimson Tide bring a 25-game winning streak into this matchup at the Georgia Dome, going 16-9 against the spread during that stretch.
The Pac-12 champion Huskies have won 15 of their last 16 games straight up dating back to last season, along with a 10-6 mark ATS.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
The Huskies are led offensively by sophomore quarterback Jake Browning, who threw for 3,280 yards with 42 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Browning is viewed as one of the top prospects at his position in the country, but he will be going up against the nation's top scoring defense, which features many future NFL players, making this the toughest challenge of his young career.
The second semifinal will take place in the Fiesta Bowl between the second-seeded Clemson Tigers (12-1) and the third-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes (11-1), who are listed as three-point chalk at University of Phoenix Stadium and who won the national championship two years ago.
The Tigers are back in the CFP semifinals for the second season in a row. They fell to Alabama 45-40 in last year's title game but covered the spread as 6.5-point underdogs. Clemson won the ACC again this season, with its lone loss coming at home to the Pittsburgh Panthers 43-42 as a 21.5-point favorite on Nov. 12.
Meanwhile, the Buckeyes were a somewhat controversial choice to make the playoff because they did not win the Big Ten. Instead, Ohio State suffered its only setback to the eventual conference champ Penn State Nittany Lions 24-21 as 17.5-point road chalk on Oct. 22.
Neither team has fared well covering the number lately, with the Buckeyes going 2-6 ATS in their last eight games overall and the Tigers struggling versus winning teams with a 1-5 record ATS in their past six in that situation.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
