Bettors backing favorites in College Football Playoff games

Defending national champion Clemson is the first college football team since 1966 to start a season ranked No. 1, go undefeated and finish the regular season ranked third.

At least that’s how Clemson coach Dabo Swinney spun the narrative to help inspire his team before Saturday’s showdown against No. 2 Ohio State in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl.

Professional sports bettors and handicappers have sided with Swinney as the Tigers are 2-point favorites over the Buckeyes after the line opened at pick.

No. 1 Louisiana State is a 13½-point favorite over No. 4 Oklahoma in the other semifinal in the Peach Bowl. Sharp bettors have wagered on both sides, backing LSU early to drive the line up from 10 before betting on the Sooners when the spread momentarily hit 14.

Las Vegas sportsbooks will need Oklahoma.

“That’s the JV game,” William Hill sportsbook director Nick Bogdanovich quipped. “In the varsity game, we’re going to need Ohio State for sure. We’re high on everything on Clemson: parlays, teasers, straight bets. That will be a monster bet game.”

While the books will need both CFP underdogs, there is good two-way action on the games. In fact, at MGM Resorts sportsbook — which has nine locations on the Strip — there were only four more tickets written on Clemson than Ohio State as of Friday afternoon and only 17 more tickets on Oklahoma than LSU.

“That’s pretty amazing. A difference of only 21 tickets between the two games,” The Mirage sportsbook director Jeff Stoneback said.

The money at MGM Resorts is 4-1 in favor of Clemson. But that would change if an MGM bettor who inquired about betting $500,000 on the Buckeyes returns to place the bet.

“We’ll be rooting for Ohio State, which is a rare case,” Stoneback said.

William Hill opened the Buckeyes as 1-point favorites before the line flipped and Bogdanovich isn’t sure why sharps are backing Clemson.

“Whatever the sharps’ power rating made Clemson the play, I don’t see it,” he said. “I think it’s a dead coin-toss game. If they played 100 times, they’d each win 50.”

Best bet

Handicappers Bruce Marshall and Kelly Stewart both like Clemson, which is 9-1 ATS in its last 10 bowl/playoff games, including a pair of wins and covers over Ohio State.

“Dabo’s sterling bowl mark is too much to overlook,” said Marshall (Goldsheet.com).

Stewart made the Tigers her best bet in the Review-Journal’s Bowl Challenge.

“It feels like every year Clemson gets no respect in the CFP,” said Stewart (Wagertalk.com). “Maybe it’s because they’re from the ACC or maybe it’s just the bias to the SEC.

“Last year in the CFP title game, they were catching points from Alabama. This year, they’re laying a small number vs. Ohio State. It’s hard to pass up the short number here.”

The Tigers, riding a 28-game win streak, covered their final four games this season and were 10-3 ATS overall. The Buckeyes finished the regular season on a 1-3 spread skid.

The Clemson-Ohio State total is 63. The LSU-Oklahoma total is 76.

“There won’t be many stops,” Bogdanovich said of the LSU-Oklahoma game. “Both teams will go up and down the field.”

The Sooners, who will be missing four key players because of suspension and injury, are on a 2-7 ATS slide and a 4-0 under streak. Though Oklahoma is 3-1 ATS as an underdog under coach Lincoln Riley.

In last season’s CFP semifinal, the Sooners delivered a backdoor cover as 13½-point underdogs to Alabama in a 45-34 loss.

More Betting: Follow at reviewjournal.com/betting

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.