Handicapping The College Football Playoff Semifinals

• The Alabama Crimson Tide are favored by 13.5 points against the Cincinnati Bearcats,
• The Alabama and Cincinnati total is set with -110 odds on both sides of 57.5.
• The Michigan Wolverines are 7.5-point underdogs against the Georgia Bulldogs.
• The UNDER 45.5 points has a -110 betting line in the game.

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl make up the College Football Playoff semifinals this season.

The Alabama Crimson Tide and Cincinnati Bearcats will take part in the Cotton Bowl. As the defending champions, Alabama carries the No. 1 seed into the playoffs for the second consecutive season. Legal online betting sites heavily favor the Crimson Tide to advance to the championship game for the second year in a row.

Eight of the Crimson Tide’s 12 wins came by 14 or more points this season. The No. 1 seed has made it to the championship game in each of the last three seasons and in five of the seven years of the playoffs overall.

Alabama averaged 42.5 points per game, fourth-most in the country, and scored 38+ points in 10 of their 13 games.

If the Crimson Tide can cover 13.5 points against the Georgia Bulldogs, bettors can feel confident in them doing it against any team. The team averaged a 22.0-point victory this season and did so against a very tough schedule. An average performance covers the line easily.

Those interested in betting on the total may be conflicted as both teams are among the nation’s best in both scoring offense and scoring defense. The two are top 10 offenses as well as top 20 defenses. For what it’s worth, the Bearcats have been underdogs on 10 occasions in the last four years and the UNDER has hit in every one of the games.

Orange Bowl Odds: Georgia Bulldogs Vs. Michigan Wolverines

Georgia will take on the Michigan Wolverines in the Orange Bowl. For most of the season, the Bulldogs were thought to be a near-unbeatable team. However, now that they’ve been beaten, the public along with the college football betting sites have different thoughts on the team.

If the two were to meet just a couple of weeks ago the spread would likely be much larger, but Georgia is still favored by more than a touchdown. Georgia and Michigan are both rush-first teams who are both in the top 30 in rush-play percentage. The more the teams run the ball the fewer possessions each team will have which will diminish the opportunities to extend a lead past a touchdown.

However, the Georgia defense is so good that there isn’t much offense needed to cover this number. The Bulldogs allow the fewest points per game by a significant margin.

For all the same reasons that Michigan may be a good bet on the spread, the UNDER may be the best bet on the total. The clock will be running throughout the game and while the Bulldogs defense is well-covered, the Wolverine’s defensive unit isn’t too bad either. Michigan allows just 16.08 points per game which is top five in the country.

Two top-five defensive units playing one another is enough reason in itself to bet the UNDER but with all the other factors added in, it even easier to bet it.

News tags: Alabama Crimson Tide | CFP Playoffs | Cincinnati Bearcats | College Football | Cotton Bowl | Georgia Bulldogs | Michigan Wolverines | Orange Bowl