College Football Championship week betting preview

Ohio State Leads College Football Championship Odds

It’s conference championship weekend around college football, and we will know the national semifinals and all the bowl matchups come Sunday with the release of the final College Football Playoff rankings for 2018.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

College Football Championship Week Betting PreviewThe first Power 5 title game is Friday night as No. 10 Washington (rankings from latest AP poll) faces No. 17 Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game from Levi’s Stadium outside San Francisco – that’s where the national title matchup will also be played. The Huskies are 5-point favorites, but that game has no bearing on the national semifinals. The winner heads to the Rose Bowl against a Big Ten opponent. Washington is just 1-6 ATS in its past seven games.

Will the Big 12 get a team in the College Football Playoff? Only if No. 5 Oklahoma trounces No. 9 Texas in that conference title game on Saturday afternoon from outside Dallas. Even a big Sooners win might not be enough as it could depend on what happens in the SEC title game and what Ohio State does as well on Saturday. OU’s only loss this year was against Texas at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on October 6, 48-45. The Sooners are -7.5 this time but have failed to cover their past six against the Longhorns.

No. 6 Ohio State is back in the playoff conversation after upsetting Michigan in a blowout. That earned the Buckeyes a date with No. 21 Northwestern in the Big Ten title game from Indianapolis. OSU needs to win in the most impressive fashion possible in case it comes down to a debate between the Buckeyes and Sooners. Ohio State is -14.5 and 5-1 ATS in its past six against Northwestern.

The ACC Championship Game from Charlotte seems like a forgone conclusion as No. 2 Clemson is a whopping 27-point favorite to beat Pittsburgh, which plays in that game for the first time. The Tigers are in the playoff for a fourth straight year with a win and have won their past 12 against ACC foes.

Finally, the SEC title game from Atlanta features No. 1 Alabama facing No. 4 Georgia. The winner is in the playoff, while the Tide probably still would be with a loss. The Dawgs might be, too, if it’s a close loss and a few other results go their way around the country. Alabama is -13.5 in a rematch of last year’s national championship game. The Tide have won the past four in the series by an average margin of 11.5 points.