College Football Conference Championship Betting Preview

• College Football’s Conference Championships are this weekend which include the Alabama Crimson Tide as a 17.5 point favorite over the Florida Gators in the SEC Championship Game.
• The Clemson Tigers come in as a 10 point favorite in their rematch with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish for the ACC Championship.
• The Ohio State Buckeyes (-21) are a heavy favorite over the Northwestern Wildcats in the Big 10, while the Oklahoma Sooners (-5.5) face the Iowa State Cyclones in the Big 12, and the USC Trojans (-3) play the Oregon Ducks in the Pac 12.

LAS VEGAS – The end of the most unique regular season of college football in history is here, and each of the major Power 5 conferences are ready to crown a champion.

Championship week looks a bit different this time around as some teams are just playing their sixth game of the season, while others are completing a full schedule.

No matter what has happened so far, each and every game matters in the greater College Football Playoff betting picture. What happens this weekend will decide which four teams get the chance at a National Championship.

Bettors have plenty of reason to tune in this weekend, with some valuable lines available to work with.

The biggest matchup of the weekend comes in the form of a rematch between the number two and number three teams in the country. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are undefeated on the season thanks to their dramatic overtime victory over the Clemson Tigers back on November 7.

As many know, Clemson was without quarterback Trevor Lawrence for that game while he recovered from COVID-19.

While Lawrence’s absence had an effect, backup freshmen DJ Uiagalelei actually performed tremendously well in the game, throwing for 438 yards and two touchdowns. More importantly were the holes on defense left by players like James Skalski, Tyler Davis, and Mike Jones Jr., who were all out due to injury.

All of those players are back and healthy now, ready to prove that they are the top dog in the ACC and lock in their spot in a College Football Playoff. Knowing how dangerous Clemson has looked since returning to full strength, the 10 point spread might not be enough. The line opened at 8 and has already moved in the favor of Clemson.

The SEC Championship suffered a huge hit to its hype last weekend as the Florida Gators suffered a crucial upset defeat at the hands of a 3-8 LSU Tigers team. The Gators only dropped to No. 7 in the rankings, but showed that they might not be able to compete with Alabama whatsoever.

A thrown shoe from Florida cornerback Marco Wilson has appeared to have sealed the fate of the Gators in 2020.

Marco Wilson just committed 1 of the worst penalties I’ve ever seen. #Gators pic.twitter.com/tFaBd2ZVfm

— Darren Heitner (@DarrenHeitner) December 13, 2020

For comparison, the team that Florida lost to last weekend 37-34 was just defeated by Alabama 55-17 the very week prior. With the way Florida’s defense played last week, they are going to have a very hard time keeping up with Alabama’s scoring offense.

Florida has all the tools on offense to keep up with Alabama, but after last week’s let down, it is hard to see them making this game close. Those looking to bet on the SEC Championship should look to the Over for this matchup. Despite the line set very high, all indications this season point to a shootout.

The Over has hit the last four times these teams have played against each other and that trend should continue on Saturday.

Up North, the Big Ten Championship Game was one of the more controversial conference championships this season. Largely due to the inclusion of the Ohio State Buckeyes, who only have five wins on the season.

Originally, the rule in the Big Ten required a team to play at least six games to get an invite to the championship game. That rule was explicitly amended this season to allow Ohio State to play the title game in order to increase their chances at qualifying for the CFP.

The controversial decision robbed a team like the Indiana Hoosiers of a chance to win a conference championship and has many college football bettors rooting against Ohio State going forward.

Unfortunately for those bettors, Ohio State faces a Northwestern team that, while capable, simply does not stand a chance against the athletes the Buckeyes have on both sides of the ball. Look for Justin Fields to have one of his best games as the Buckeyes run up the score in an attempt to lock in their Playoff spot. With the moneyline odds for Ohio State being as heavy as they are, betting on OSU to cover the spread might be the better play.

The favorite is 7-1 ATS the last eight times these two teams have played against each other. All eight of those times, Ohio State was favored.

In the Big 12, the Playoff implications are slim but not non-existent. The Iowa State Cyclones are currently the No. 6 team in the country despite their two bad losses and have an outside shot of sneaking into the playoffs if they are able to take care of No. 10 Oklahoma Sooners for the second time this season.

The Sooners have come a long way since back-to-back losses to Kansas State and Iowa State to start the season. Since then, the team has only scored under 33 points once and has fielded one of the best OU defenses in recent memory. Oklahoma comes in as the favorite, fueled by revenge against a team they should have beat in their first meeting.

Look for the Sooners to cover the spread in this matchup. They’ve covered in 5 of their last six games overall.

Finally, the Pac 12 championship was initially scheduled to be between the USC Trojans and the Washington Huskies before the Huskies pulled out due to COVID issues. They have been replaced by the Oregon Ducks, who limp into this game at 3-2 despite tons of talent on their roster.

USC is undefeated and the slight favorite here, but bettors should be warned that this Trojan team has had to earn each of their wins. USC has been behind in three of their five wins this season, including a tremendous 20-point comeback over their rival UCLA Bruins this past weekend.

While they haven’t played the Ducks yet this year, USC might get into trouble if they go down early yet again, giving live bettors a prime opportunity to get better odds on the Trojans during the game.