Rose Bowl CFP Quarterfinal Picks: Ohio State vs. Oregon

The second round of the College Football Playoff is upon us, and hopefully, we can have some more competitive matchups than we had in the first round of action. No one wants to see blowout after blowout, with all the favorites winning and covering easily with almost no resistance at all from the underdogs. That just gives more of an argument to those who didn’t want an expanded playoff. While there are a few games in this round that are projected blowouts, this game at the Rose Bowl is not one of them. You might even be shocked who the favorite is.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are ranked No. 8 in the CFP, but they are -2.5 favorites here against the No. 1 seeded Oregon Ducks. In fact, three of the four lower-seeded teams in this round are favorites over the higher seed. I feel like this line shows that the bookmakers clearly don’t trust the Ducks as much as they do the Buckeyes, a program that has had a ton of success in the past. That, and Oregon beat Ohio State in the regular season, so the revenge factor is there.

Taking a look at their schedules, Ohio State played just three ranked teams all season. They defeated No. 3 Penn State 20-13 and No. 5 Indiana 38-15, while losing to No. 3 Oregon 32-31 in a thriller. While they didn’t have the most daunting schedule in the nation, they did play three top-10 ranked teams, and beat two of them. They whipped the No. 9 seed Tennessee in the first round 42-17 in an absolute blowout.

Oregon also played just three ranked teams all season like the Buckeyes. They defeated No. 2 Ohio State 32-31, No. 20 Illinois 38-9, and No. 3 Penn State 45-37 in the Big Ten Championship. Once again, it was a fairly easy schedule outside of those games, and Ohio State had a slightly tougher run with Indiana instead of Illinois. The Ducks got a bye week for the first round, so they will be fully rested here.

Over at DraftKings Sportsbook, 58% of the handle is on Ohio State to cover the -2.5 spread. On the moneyline, it is a bit more divided, with 51% of the cash on the Buckeyes. It’s hard to believe, but as of right now, the books are going to need the No. 1 seed Ducks to win the game and cover the spread. It seems most people are also not believing that they can beat Ohio State twice in the same season.

Personally, I bet Ohio State to win the National Championship before the season started at +400 odds, so I have pretty much used that as my bet for their games to this point. I haven’t placed a wager on this game, and I am not sure I am going to, but I will be rooting for the Buckeyes obviously. I think this is the best team in the nation, and while they have had their hiccups this season, I have always thought they were the most complete team all around.

The Ducks' secondary can be had, and Penn State showed that in the conference championship game. They were torched over and over again, allowing 37 points, and were lucky not to allow more. Ohio State let up 32 points to them last go around, and I think that defense is going to be more prepared here for the Oregon attack.

Best Bet: Ohio State ML (-130, BetMGM)