College Football Bowl Odds 2023: Betting Tips for CFP Playoffs and New Year's Six

Three of the most recognizable bowl games will be played on New Years' Day.

The Rose and Sugar Bowls host the two College Football Playoff semifinals, while the Fiesta Bowl serves as an appetizer to the pair of high-profile clashes.

The Fiesta Bowl carries intrigue because it pits the best Group of Five team, the Liberty Flames, against the Pac-12 runner-up Oregon Ducks.

Oregon is a massive favorite in the Fiesta Bowl, but Liberty can compete with the Ducks, especially if its offense plays well.

The Rose Bowl should be the most defensive of the three high-profile games on Monday because of the Michigan Wolverines.

Michigan's incredible defense can contain Jalen Milroe and the Alabama Crimson Tide, like it did against its two other notable Top 25 foes.

The Texas Longhorns and Washington Huskies each played strong defense in their respective conference championship games, but their Sugar Bowl matchup has more potential for points because of how explosive each offense can be.

Fiesta Bowl (Monday, 1 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Liberty may shock some casual college football fans with how competitive it will be with Oregon.

The Flames have one of the most dynamic offenses at the FBS level and they will test the Oregon defense.

Liberty put up 49 points in the Conference USA Championship Game to extend a run of six games in seven in which it eclipsed the 40-point mark.

Quarterback Kaidon Salter is one of the better dual-threat signal-callers in the FBS and he can hurt the Oregon defense with both his arm and legs.

Salter had 484 total yards in the C-USA title game and he is just 186 yards away from a 4,000-total yard campaign.

Oregon has a solid defense, but it was torched by the Washington Huskies in the Pac-12 Championship Game in its last time out.

The Ducks allowed 481 total yards to the Huskies, and if Salter gets off to a fast start, the Flames have the potential to put up a similar total.

Oregon quarterback Bo Nix will play, but he will not have top wide out Troy Franklin at his disposal.

Franklin's absence could hurt the Ducks on some series and allow Liberty to make a few stops to remain in the contest.

Rose Bowl (5 p.m. ET, ESPN)

It might finally be Michigan's year.

The Wolverines stumbled at the semifinal stage in each of the last two years, but now they are the top seed and favorite to beat the program with the most appearances in CFB Playoff history.

Alabama saved its best performance of the season for the SEC Championship Game against the then-top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs, but before that, it had some shortcomings.

The Crimson Tide needed a fourth-down heave from Milroe to save them from an upset at the hands of the Auburn Tigers and their defense conceded at least 20 points to their last seven FBS opponents.

Alabama has not played a perfect set of games, like Michigan has, and that could be one of the intangibles that become X-factors at the Rose Bowl.

The other intangible could be J.J. McCarthy's playoff experience. The quarterback appeared in both semifinal appearances and he has a 5-0 record against Top 25 teams outside of the playoff.

McCarthy will likely have the lowest passing-yard total of all the quarterbacks playing in the semifinals, but if he makes the key throws in right spots, he could help Michigan extend drives.

McCarthy completed over 70 percent of his passes in four of his non-playoff Top 25 games. Another high completion percentage should help the Wolverines get over their semifinal struggles.

Sugar Bowl (8:45 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Texas and Washington's offensive stars typically receive the headlines, but their defenses stole the show on conference championship weekend.

Each team broke out to a double-digit halftime lead because of the stops made by their defenses that allowed Quinn Ewers and Michael Penix Jr. to open up the contests.

Ewers and Penix could negate strong defensive performances if they continue their terrific seasons.

The potential connections with Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell, Rome Odunze and Ja'Lynn Polk make the Sugar Bowl so intriguing from an offensive perspective.

Washington holds one edge on offense at running back with Dillon Johnson over Texas freshman C.J. Baxter, who will fill in for the injured Jonathan Brooks.

If the Huskies shut down the Texas run game, they could force Ewers to complete a handful of long throws and that may lead to some punts and turnovers the Longhorns did not have in the Big 12 Championship Game.

Each team has the offensive talent to put up over 30 points, so it may come down to one small advantage on either side, like Washington slowing the run, to determine which team advances to the CFB Playoff National Championship.

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