Breaking Down the Bowl Odds

The Bowl Championship Series title game is expected to be the highest scoring game of the postseason, according to odds posted by Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

The oddsmaking company put an over/under of 74 on the Auburn-Oregon game, the highest over/under on the board. The Tigers opened as 1.5-point favorites but have been bid to minus-3 at the time of this post.

Point spreads and over/unders on the other BCS games. Numbers reflect odds at time of the post:

• Rose: Texas Christian (-2.5) over Wisconsin. Over/under: 53.
• Fiesta: Oklahoma (-17) over Connecticut. Over/under: 55.
• Orange: Stanford (-3) over Virginia Tech. Over/under: 54.
• Sugar: Ohio State (-3) over Arkansas. Over/under: 57.

Other items of note:

• The Big Ten sent eight teams to bowl games, but only one (Ohio State) opened as a favorite.
• The Southeastern Conference sent 10 teams to bowls and only two (Arkansas and Kentucky) opened as underdogs.
• The Pacific 10 sent four teams to bowls and only one (Stanford) is favored.
• The Atlantic Coast sent eight teams to bowls and only two (Clemson and Maryland) are favored.
• The Big East sent six teams to bowls and two (West Virginia and Pittsburgh) are favored.
• The Big 12 sent eight teams to bowls and only one (Texas A&M) opened as an underdog.

There is one game left in the regular season. Navy (-7) plays Army on Saturday in Philadelphia.

Complete odds are available by clicking here.

Comments

[david]

Actually Iowa opened as -1 over Missouri.

[The Wiz]

Iowa was actually a 3-point underdog on the opening line. Remember, we're talking about the opening line posted by Las Vegas Sports Consultants. The Iowa-Missouri line has moved quite a bit but seems to be settling around "pick."