Texas vs. Washington Odds, Pick Against Spread, and Prop Bets
The Texas Longhorns and Washington Huskies meet on Monday in the College Football Playoff for a shot at a National Championship.
GAME INFO
Monday, January 1, 2024; 7:45 p.m. CT; Caesars Superdome; New Orleans, Louisiana
TV: ESPN
Radio: ESPN Radio
Records: Texas (12-1); Washington (13-0)
Rankings: Texas No. 3; Washington No. 2
Series History: Texas leads, 3-2-0
Last Meeting: Washington 27, Texas 20 (2022)
Odds: Texas -4, Total: 63.5 (Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook)
What a matchup for the second National Semifinal. The Longhorns were able to grab the three seed in the College Football Playoff, even with a loss on the ledger. Texas was the best team in the country before their loss to Oklahoma in Red River and by the end of the season, I thought the Longhorns were playing the best of anyone in the country.
With Quinn Ewers now fully healthy, I expect the Longhorns to be able to move the ball on Washington. I will give the Huskies defense a lot of credit for being able to come up big in the biggest spots. They made the plays they needed to on defense in the Pac-12 game in their upset against Oregon.
Meantime, the Longhorns defense will have their work cut out for them going against the best receiving corps in the country. Rome Odunze is the second best receiver in College Football and will be a difficult guy for the Horns to slow down. Washington QB Michael Penix has had a great year even though there have been some inconsistencies over the last month of the season.
This Washington team has played up and down to their competition, but their two best games came against Oregon, and Texas profiles pretty similarly to the Ducks. This whole matchup is going to come down to coaching. How will Steve Sarkisian hold up against National Coach of the Year Kalen DeBoer? Both Sark and DeBoer are among the best play callers in the country, but DeBoer has had a better idea on what to do in difficult spots this year. If the head coaches are even, Texas’ talent should win out and the Longhorns will advance to the National Title Game in Houston. I do expect that to happen, even though Washington defeated Oregon twice. I think the Texas defense presents a different challenge for the Huskies and I fully expect a big game from Quinn Ewers. The Horns get it done in New Orleans and cover the four-point spread.
PICK: Texas -4Â
Two Prop Bets
I do like two prop bets for the Sugar Bowl. As I wrote above, I expect this to be a big game for Quinn Ewers. The Washington secondary is vulnerable and I have concerns about the Texas’ run game, so I foresee a big day for Ewers through the air. DraftKings has Ewers’ passing yards at 288.5, we’ll go over that number. The other prop I’m looking at is on the Washington side, even though it is a high number for receiving yards props, I like Rome Odunze over 97.5 yards receiving. Even though the Huskies have a deep and elite receiving corps, I expect Penix to target Odunze double-digit times in this one as I’m not certain the Horns secondary will be able to keep up.
PICKS: Quinn Ewers over 288.5 Passing Yards
Rome Odunze over 97.5 Receiving Yards
