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College Football Playoff Semifinls Best Bets & Picks

Rob O'Connor

January 7, 2025

We're down to the four teams in the College Football Playoff and have two semifinal games this week to see who makes it into the National Championship.

To help you figure out the action, we've got two best bets for you to make, one for Thursday's Notre Dame/Penn State game and one for Friday's Texas/Ohio State game.

Be sure to compare the lines and odds before placing your bets to find the best deal currently available.

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College Football Playoff Semifinal Best Bets

Notre Dame vs. Penn State UNDER 45.5 – Thursday, 7:30 pm ET
Texas +6 vs. Ohio State – Friday, 7:30 pm ET

Notre Dame vs. Penn State UNDER 45.5 – Thursday, 7:30 pm ET on ESPN

Two very strong defenses will get together with a birth in the National Championship game on the line.

Penn State is 6th in the nation, allowing only 288.8 yards per game and 15.8 points. Notre Dame is 8th in the nation, allowing 295.6 yards per game and even fewer points at 13.6 per game.

The strength of the Notre Dame offense is the run, where they average over 217 yards per game, but they will be facing a Penn State defense ranked 7th against the rush, allowing just over 100 yards per game.

I don’t expect Penn State QB Drew Allar to make a lot of big plays, and I think they focus on the run game instead.

Between an expected focus on the run game by both teams and two of the top defenses in the country, look for this game to stay UNDER on Thursday night.

>> Use our College Football Odds Comparison Tool to find the best lines & odds

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Texas +6 vs. Ohio State – Friday, 7:30 pm ET on ESPN

This is a situation where everyone remembers what Ohio State did against Oregon in the Rose Bowl but forgets how bad they were just a few weeks before against Michigan.

These teams are nearly equal on offense, with Texas putting up 443.9 yards per game compared to 432.5 for Ohio State.

These are also two of the top defenses in the country, with Ohio State allowing 244.6 yards per game and Texas allowing 277.9 yards per game.

The game is being played in Dallas, so there will be a clear advantage for the Longhorns in terms of travel and fan support.

With these teams being so evenly matched, 6 points is too many to be laying. Take Texas to cover on Friday night.

>> Use our College Football Odds Comparison Tool to find the best lines & odds

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Rob O'Connor

Rob O’Connor is a veteran sports handicapper. He broke into the industry in 2002 and has continued to provide his clients with high quality sports handicapping advice ever since. He is currently a handicapper with Rob Veno Sports and prior to that ran his own sports handicapping service. Rob has been featured on ESPN Radio as well as on his hometown sports station WIP out of Philadelphia. Rob O'Connor handicaps the NFL, College Football, College Basketball, and Major League Baseball.

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