When the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff bracket was initially released, one of the prevailing storylines was Penn State’s favorable path. At 11-2, the Nittany Lions were the No. 4 overall team by the CFP’s rankings and earned the No. 6 seed in the CFP bracket with a first-round matchup against ACC runner-up SMU with No. 3 seed Boise State awaiting the winner in the Fiesta Bowl.
Clemson’s upset victory over SMU in the ACC title game, and the committee’s reluctance to punish conference championship game losers, kept the Mustangs in the field and bumped the Broncos and Arizona State Sun Devils into top four seeds as two of the four-highest-ranked conference champions. So, while No. 1 overall-seeded Oregon faces No. 8 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal and No. 2 Georgia has a Sugar Bowl matchup with No. 7 Notre Dame, Penn State gets the Mountain West Champs and Texas is a big favorite over the Big 12 winner in the Peach Bowl.
The lopsided quarterfinal matchups for lower-seeded teams, Texas, which lost to Georgia in the SEC title game, and Penn State, which lost the Big Ten crown to Oregon, is one of the criticisms of this 12-team CFP format, though Steve Sarkisian and James Franklin aren’t complaining.
The Longhorns are favored by 13.5 points over Arizona State while Penn State opened as a 10.5-point favorite over Boise State in the FanDuel Sportsbook.
Penn State vs. Boise State odds, spread, and total for Fiesta Bowl
Moneyline
- Boise State +330
- Penn State -430
Spread
- Boise State +10.5 (-105)
- Penn State -10.5 (-115)
Total
- 52.5 (over -110/under -110)
Penn State was an 8.5-point favorite over SMU in the first round, so as Vegas sees it, the Nittany Lion’s path through the CFP is getting even easier. Boise State finished the season 12-1 with their only blemish a three-point loss to Oregon in Eugene.