Peach Bowl Preview: LSU vs Oklahoma

The No. 1 LSU Tigers and No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners play the first of two semifinals with a national championship berth up for grabs. LSU cruised past Georgia 37-10 in the SEC championship game, while Oklahoma needed extra time to sneak past Baylor 30-23 in the Big 12 championship game. The Tigers are 13-point favorites over the Sooners with the total coming in at 75.5 points.

Peach Bowl Odds Analysis

The Sportsbook line for this matchup had LSU at -10 but an early buy on the Tigers has raised that number to -13. This is the second-highest spread ever in a College Football Playoff semifinal, matching the number when No. 1 Alabama was a 13-point favorite over No. 4 Washington in the 2016-17 CFP – the Tide won and covered that game. The largest spread was last year when, once again, No. 1 Alabama came in as a 14.5-point fave over No. 4 Oklahoma. The Tide won but didn’t cover that game.

With the Tigers boasting the third-best offense in the nation and the Sooners sitting two spots below them in fifth, it should come as no surprise to see an elevated total at 75.5. However, that is 2 points lower than the Sportsbook total of 77.5 with early money coming in on the UNDER.

LSU News & Notes

LSU is looking for its sixth victory over a top-10 opponent this season and its third over a top-five ranked foe. The Tigers had the 16th-toughest strength of schedule in the nation yet made it look easy, scoring the third-most points per game in the country and winning by an average margin of 26.6, with just two of their victories coming by single digits – over Auburn and Alabama.

The offense has come primarily through the air, with the Tigers averaging 386.8 passing yards per game, led by senior QB and Heisman Trophy favorite Joe Burrow. As for the defense, LSU ranks 27th with 21.2 points per game allowed. That said, it has almost felt like boom or bust, with the defense snuffing out lesser offensive teams like Texas A&M, Georgia and Mississippi State, but surrendering a fair number of points against Texas, Florida and Alabama. The secondary has allowed 221.7 passing yards per game, though opposing run games have struggled with just 119.6 rush yards per game.

Oklahoma News & Notes

It looked as though the Sooners’ playoff hopes might have been dashed with their Week 9 road loss at unranked Kansas State, but they took care of business outside of that defeat and here we are. Oklahoma won each of its four games against ranked foes, including two narrow triumphs over Baylor.

Putting points on the board was no issue for the Sooners as they racked up 43.2 points per game, scoring fewer than 30 points in just one contest, a 28-24 win at home over TCU. Keeping opponents from racking up the points has been a bit of an issue, though, as Oklahoma ranked 49th in college football by yielding 24.5 ppg, giving up more than 30 points on four occasions.

Betting Pick: OVER 75.5

I think defenses might be put away in a good old-fashioned shootout. LSU locked horns with Texas in the second week of the season and that’s how that game played out with a combined score of 83. We are looking at two teams ranked in the top five in points scored per game and outside of the top 20 defensively. Both QBs should be able to move the ball effectively in a very entertaining Peach Bowl.