Ohio State is a big, big favorite in the College Football Playoff national title game on Jan. 20.
The Buckeyes opened as 9.5-point favorites at BetMGM over Notre Dame after beating Texas 28-14 in the Cotton Bowl on Friday night. Notre Dame won the Orange Bowl on Thursday night thanks to a late field goal in a 27-24 victory over Penn State.
Ohio State has been one of the favorites to win the national title since the 12-team playoff bracket was unveiled and it was a certainty that whoever won the Cotton Bowl would be the favorite in the national title game. But a two-score spread is still a bit surprising, especially with how well Notre Dame has played so far this postseason.
The Irish have taken down Indiana, Georgia and the Nittany Lions through their first three games. Ohio State scored 83 points in its first two games before needing 14 fourth-quarter points to beat Texas.
Ohio State’s win was the ninth for a favorite through the first 10 games of the CFP. Favorites went 8-0 straight up and 7-1 against the spread through the first two rounds and would be undefeated if it wasn’t for a surge of late money toward Penn State on Thursday. Notre Dame started the day as a 1-point favorite but the line shifted two points to make Penn State a favorite before kickoff.
Ohio State has covered the spread in each of its three wins as a favorite.
The total for the national title game opened at 45.5 as the Orange Bowl went over that number on Thursday night and the Cotton Bowl hit under 50.5 on Friday night. Oddsmakers clearly think Notre Dame won’t be able to put up too many points against Ohio State.
The Buckeyes are 6-0 against Notre Dame since they first met in 1995. The national title game will be the third meeting in four years between the teams after they played a home-and-home series in 2022 and 2023. Ohio State infamously won the 2023 game after Notre Dame only had 10 players on the field for Ohio State’s game-winning TD. After the game, Ohio State coach Ryan Day called out former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz for his comments about the Buckeyes.
