College Football Betting – College Football Playoffs Semifinals 2019

The selection committee got it right this year with three of the four teams in the College Football Playoff undefeated and the fourth a one-loss conference champion. The LSU Tigers rolled through the season behind Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow beating five top-10 teams along the way to earn the No. 1 seed in their first playoff. They’ll play Big 12 champion Oklahoma Sooners in the Peach Bowl in one semifinal. OU, making its third straight CFP trip and fourth overall, is the only team among the four to lose a game during the regular season and had a few scares along the way, including an overtime win over Baylor in the Big 12 Championship.

The defending champion Clemson Tigers got a bad rap for a perceived soft schedule, yet they went undefeated for a second straight regular season extending their overall winning streak to 28 games with a thrashing of Virginia in the ACC title game. And they opened as a slight favorite over No. 2 seed Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. The Buckeyes were in a position to grab the top-seed before having their two worst games of the season in their final three.

The CFP semifinals will be played on Saturday, December 28, 2019, and will be televised on ESPN. BookMaker will have odds and spreads for both matchups and every college bowl game during the 2019 season.

CFP Semifinal – No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners vs. No. 1 LSU Tigers

Date and Time: Saturday, December 28, 2019, 4 p.m. ET

Location: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA

Opening CFB Odds: LSU -10, O/U 77

Sooners vs. Tigers TV Coverage: ESPN

Oklahoma Sooners vs. LSU Tigers Preview

LSU was rarely tested during the season winning its games by an average of 26.6 points per game with just two of their 13 matchups having a single-digit margin. Playing in the SEC West is no cakewalk and the Tigers made it look easy besting top-10 clubs Florida, Auburn and Alabama during the regular season, and throttling No. 4 Georgia in the SEC title tilt. That’s why the Tigers opened as a 10-point favorite, and that’s also why the number was wagered to -13.5.

Behind Burrow, the Tigers had the No. 1 offense in the country averaging over 550 yards per game and they ranked third with 47.8 points per outing. Burrow was down the odds list of Heisman hopefuls at the start of the year and he benefitted from the team’s new offensive approach. Burrow started hot and remained that way to run away with the hardware. He completed 77.9 percent of his passes for 4,715 yards and a FBS best 48 touchdowns.

Oklahoma has been to the CFP three times previously and has yet to win in the semis. And facing a near two-touchdown spread is nothing new. The Sooners were a 14.5-point dog in last year’s semi against Alabama covering the line in a 45-34 setback. And the Sooners were shaky down the stretch. After suffering their only loss they won the next three over Iowa State, Baylor and TCU by a total of eight points. They escaped disaster in the Big 12 Championship getting by the Bears again in overtime. Jaylen Hurts and the Sooners have been to the CFP before giving them an edge in experience, but that likely won’t matter.

CFP Semifinal Score Prediction: LSU 38, Oklahoma 24

CFP Semifinal – No. 3 Clemson Tigers vs. No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes

Date and Time: Saturday, December 28, 2019, 8 p.m. ET

Location: State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ

Opening CFB Odds: Clemson -1.5, O/U 61.5

Tigers vs. Buckeyes TV Coverage: ESPN

Clemson vs. Ohio State Preview

Two remarkably similar teams as far as the stats go have people thinking this is going to be a close game. And action on the line suggests that might be the case. Clemson wasn’t even among the top four in the initial CFP rankings, which were revealed a few weeks after the Tigers beat UNC, 21-20, by stopping a potential game-winning 2-point conversion. Since then all Clemson did was trounce their next eight opponents by a combined score of 415-78 while going 7-1 ATS. They left no doubt about their inclusion in the CFP field by destroying Virginia, 62-17, in the ACC title game.

Led by Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne and a host of talented pass catchers, the Tigers ranked third in total yards with 547.7 per game and fourth in scoring at 46.5. They may have faced some lesser teams during the year, but the Tigers still scored and performed at a high level. And this is, for the most part, the same team that beat Notre Dame by 27 points and Alabama by 28 points in last year’s playoff. Ohio State has its own playmakers on offense led by Justin Fields and J.K. Dobbins, and the Buckeyes led the nation in scoring with 48.7 points per game while racking up 531.5 yards per outing.

This game will come down to which team makes more defensive stops. And they’ve both done plenty of that over the season. Clemson led the FBS in fewest yards ( 247.7 ) and points ( 10.6 ) allowed per game, and didn’t concede more than 300 yards until the ACC Championship. OSU was a close second in yards allowed and ranked third in points surrendered at 12.5. The Buckeyes nearly let a 21-point lead slip away in a Week 13 win over Penn State and they overcame a 21-7 halftime deficit in the Big Ten Championship to beat Wisconsin.

CFP Semifinal Score Prediction: Clemson 34, Ohio State 30

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- Phil Simon, Gambling911.com