College football’s bowl season is starting to wind down and frankly none of them matter in the grand scheme of things than the College Football Playoff national semifinals, which are held on New Year’s Eve.
2022-23 College Football Playoff Title Game Exact Result Odds
The semifinals of the College Football Playoff are on New Year’s Eve.
No. 3 TCU of the Big 12 faces No. 2 Michigan of the Big Ten in the Fiesta Bowl from outside Phoenix in the first matchup Saturday and No. 4 Ohio State of the Big Ten takes on No. 1 Georgia of the SEC in the Peach Bowl nightcap from Atlanta – a place where the Bulldogs are very comfortable being only about 70 miles from their campus. UGA crushed Oregon in the season opener at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and then routed LSU in the same building in the SEC Championship Game.
Georgia is looking to become the first repeat champion in the College Football Playoff era and is the -125 overall favorite, followed by Michigan at +300 (no titles in CFB era), Ohio State at +375 (one) and TCU at +1500 (first time in the CFP).
Let’s break down some potential national title matchups and exact results odds from Bovada.
Michigan-Ohio State rematch?
Members of the Michigan football team celebrate after defeating Purdue in the Big Ten championship NCAA college football game, early Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022, in Indianapolis. Michigan won, 43-22. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Unbeaten SEC champion Georgia is a 6.5-point favorite over one-loss Ohio State, and unbeaten Big Ten champion Michigan is -7.5 over one-loss TCU. Thus, a UGA vs. U-M national title matchup is the -125 favorite as is the Bulldogs beating the Wolverines for the title at +140. Those teams met in the CFP semifinal last season and Georgia won easily 34-11.
Coach Kirby Smart’s Dawgs beating TCU is the second favorite at +450, and on the lookahead lines UGA is a whopping 15-point favorite over the Horned Frogs compared to -8 vs. Michigan. The Wolverines beating Georgia is +500.
Michigan was an upset winner at Ohio State in the regular-season finale to clinch a spot in the Big Ten title game, and the two could have an even bigger rematch on Jan. 9 from SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. That is +300 to be the title game with OSU beating U-M at +650 and the result flipped +750. Interesting that oddsmakers list the Buckeyes as early 3-point favorites in a possible rematch considering Jim Harbaugh’s club completely dominated the second half of the first matchup.
TCU vs. Georgia is +350 and vs. Ohio State +950. The Frogs upsetting the Dawgs or the Buckeyes are both +3000 long shots. No Big 12 school has won it all in the CFP era. Only Oklahoma had previously made the playoff from that conference.
