College Football Playoff Quarterfinals: 2025 Betting Guide For Biggest Bowls Cotton, Orange, Rose And Sugar

The post-Christmas Bowls continue and the biggest games draw the most watch and wager action. That includes a pair of Top 25 matchups on New Year’s Eve leading into the prime time College Football Playoff Quarterfinal contest on Dec. 31 between No. 2 Ohio State and No. 10 Miami in the Cotton Bowl. 

Then New Year’s Day on Thursday, Jan. 1 kicks off more big bowl betting with the Orange Bowl featuring No. 4 Texas Tech vs. No. 5 Oregon followed by “The Grandaddy of Them All” Rose Bowl between No. 1 Indiana and No. 9 Alabama in Pasadena. ESPN completes the trio of New Year’s Day Bowls with the Sugar Bowl featuring No. 3 Georgia against No. 6 Ole Miss as top SEC teams decide who advances to the national semifinals on Jan. 8 for the Fiesta Bowl and Jan. 9 for the Peach Bowl.   

These College Football Playoff quarterfinal contests will be the most watched college football games in 2025 drawing huge watch betting action. Check out the top quarterbacks in the CFP and the QB ratings, stats and profiles as you watch and wager on the College Football Playoff and biggest bowl games. 

College Football Playoff Quarterfinals

Betting lines and college football odds from BetOnline refresh periodically and are subject to change, including on props and live/in-game betting. Point spread on favorites plus game totals. All times Eastern

Wednesday, Dec. 31

No. 2 Ohio State (-9.5) vs. No. 10 Miami, 43 | Cotton Bowl | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN, WatchESPN 

Miami (11-2) earned a big road win at Texas A&M to kickoff the College Football Playoff. The 10-3 win in the first four CFP games saw the Hurricanes top defense hold the Aggies to just 89 rushing yards on 35 attempts. The ‘Canes offense was on the short end of possession time while gaining less than 280 yards offense on 12 first downs, but 175 rushing in that CFP victory led by a top-10 run-blocking offensive line and potential first-round NFL Draft pick at right tackle, Francis Mauigoa. Miami’s 86.8 team Pro Football Focus (PFF) pass-blocking grade ranks No. 3 in the entire nation, and QB Carson Beck’s 2.33 second average time to throw is the third-fastest in the entire FBS. Now Miami will try to pull the upset and tackle Ohio State (12-1), whose dominant defense led the country (217 ypg, 3,8 yards per play) while holding every opponent to 17 points or less – the first team to do so in nearly 50 years. That also included limiting No. 1 Indiana to 13 points in a 13-10 loss in the Big Ten Championship game. Only two teams in college football history have played 13 games and held the opponents to 106 points or less, 1,100 rushing yards or less and 1,700 passing yards or less – the 2025 Ohio State Buckeyes and 2011 Alabama Crimson Tide. Ohio State has nine players ranked by ESPN among the top 50 players in this year’s College Football Playoff, and five of them are on defense ranking in the Top 25.  But the Hurricanes defensive line is also elite, ranking No. 2 in the nation in Pro Football Focus (PFF) pass-rush grade behind fellow playoff team Texas Tech. The run defense is also among the best, and Miami features two defensive lineman ranking among the best in the CFP to make this one of the top CFP games to watch as defensive players dominate in a lower-scoring slugfest.  

Miami is BetOnline’s biggest liability to win the NCAA title and College Football Playoff, followed by Texas Tech and Georgia. 

Thursday, Jan. 1 

No. 4 Texas Tech vs. No. 5 Oregon (-2,5), 52.5 | Orange Bowl | 12 p.m. | ESPN, WatchESPN 

New Year’s Day kicks off with a pair of 12-1 teams. Texas Tech won the Big 12 title while Oregon could not reach the Big Ten Championship game after winning the conference title last season. The Red Raiders were the most dominant team on the field this season going 11-2 ATS while winning every game by at least 22 points. The TTRR only loss was 26-22 at Arizona State when QB Behren Morton was out with a lingering leg injury. Pressure on the Red Raiders QB will be key for the Ducks, as Morton’s 43.9 PFF grade when under duress ranked No. 105 in the FBS with five turnover-worthy plays. Texas Tech employs a variety of power and counter concept gap run schemes to create explosive plays on the ground. Matchups to watch are in the trenches as Oregon’s offensive line leads the the nation in PFF pass-blocking grade, while the Texas Tech defensive line tops the country in PFF pass-rush grade led by edge defender David Bailey, the nation’s pressure and sack leader. Oregon also leads the FBS with a 95.1 team PFF rushing grade, and the Ducks are also first in EPA per run and second in yards per carry (6.2). Texas Tech leads the country in team PFF run-defense grade (96.4), as it does in every other defensive grade. The Red Raiders easily top the nation in EPA per run allowed led by the best defensive line in the country, along with the best defensive player in college football in linebacker Jacob Rodriguez. Oregon has the edge at quarterback with Dante Moore, who has also posted an average time to throw under 2.6 seconds in each of his past six starts. His ability to make quick decisions and deliver the ball accurately and downfield as able against an elite TTRR pass rush will be key. I’m betting on a turnover or two and the Red Raiders to win.

No. 1 Indiana (-6.5) vs. No. 9 Alabama, 48 | Rose Bowl | 4 p.m. | ESPN, WatchESPN 

The story of the season in the CFP is undefeated Indiana (13-0), who has consistently delivered on offense and defense led by the Heisman Trophy-winning QB Fernando Mendoza. They Hoosiers came through with wins in their four toughest tests away from home winning at Oregon 30-20 and one-score wins at Iowa, Penn State and 13-10 over Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship game. Alabama (11-3) lost at Florida State in Week 1 and then beat 4-straight top 20 teams by mid-October including Georgia. But the Tide narrowly escaped at South Carolina and Auburn, had turnover troubles in losing at Oklahoma and was blown out by Georgia in the SEC Championship game. But ‘Bama bounced back and rallied from a 17-0 deficit to whip Oklahoma 34-24 in Norman in the first round of the College Football Playoff.

The ‘Tide defense has been disguising coverages in the secondary and rotating safeties at the snap more in the last three games, resulting in an outstanding PFF coverage grade and better results. But Indiana QB Mendoza’s post-snap processing and identifying complex coverages has been exceptional while delivering the ball quickly and accurately. He ranks No. 2 in PFFpassing grade when facing disguised coverages. Alabama QB Ty Simpson has struggled in half his games this season against the blitz with sub-par 60.0 PFF passing grade, and Indiana blitzes at a high rate (48%) and also disguises its coverages and blitz packages well. With Alabama’s SEC-worst running game going against a Hoosiers third-ranked PFF run-defense grade, Simpson will be under more pressure to make plays and keep drives alive. The Hoosiers have a huge edge in the running game ranking among the best in college football in EPA per run and PFF run-blocking grade. Pedigree and past performance would usually point you towards Alabama over Indiana, and especially with a TD head start for the underdog Crimson Tide. Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer is also 11-3 ATS as an underdog, and naysayers will note that Oregon was undefeated and No. 1 in this quarterfinal game last season and lost to Ohio State. But barring turnovers and unforeseen penalties and mistakes by the Hoosiers, Indiana should win and advance.   

No. 3 Georgia (-6.5) vs. No. 6 Ole Miss, 56.5 | Sugar Bowl | 8 p.m. | ESPN, WatchESPN

Another heavyweight bout in the SEC with conference champion Georgia (12-1) tackling Ole Miss (12-1), who rolled over Tulane in the CFP first round 41-10. Mississippi led Georgia 35-26 into the 4th quarter of their Oct. 18 contest, but the Bulldogs rallied for a 43-35 win rushing for 221 yards on 48 carries with more inside zone running success, and another 289 passing yards. A key to that contest was the Dawg defense smothering Rebels star RB Kewan Lacy, who leads the country in forced missed tackles but rushed for a season-low 31 yards on 12 carries. Georgia’s defense played more man coverage in that contest and forced Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss into more missed passes (19-of-36) while posting his season-low PFF passing grade against man coverage. The Ole Miss flaws in the trenches are likely exposed by the Bulldogs defense, who has a top-rated run defense with an elite PFF run-defense grade. Mississippi has since lost head coach Lane Kiffin to LSU following the conclusion of the regular season, and the coaching edge in this matchup is the widest of the four CFP quarterfinal games. When the clock strikes midnight near the conclusion of this contest, Georgia will be on their way to the CFP semifinals and the transfer portal opens Jan. 2 with Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss hoping he’s granted a 6th year of eligibility to play college football. 

BetOnline reports more live/in-game betting on the biggest games, and plenty of watch and wager options beyond just the point spread, total, and moneyline wagering. Follow all the matchups, odds, sports news, and betting information at BetOnline.