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Texas is a significant betting favorite in its CFP quarterfinal matchup against Arizona State.
Texas answered Clemson’s brief scare in a big, bold way on Saturday, and now the 5th-seeded Longhorns are moving on to the College Football Playoff quarterfinals after a thorough 38-24 victory over the 12th-seeded Tigers in Austin.
Now comes a trip to the Peach Bowl in Atlanta for a 1 p.m. ET showdown on New Year’s Day with 4th-seeded Arizona State, the Big 12 champions. Despite Texas being the lower seed in the quarterfinal matchup, the Longhorns are a heavy favorite.
Here’s a look at the initial betting lines for Texas vs. Arizona State in the Peach Bowl, courtesy of FanDuel:
- Spread: Texas -13.5 (-105) | Arizona State +13.5 (-115)
- Total: Over 50.5 points (-110) | Under 50.5 points (-110)
- Money line: Texas ML (-500) | Arizona State ML (+375)
Texas rolled up just under 500 total yards against the ACC champion Tigers on Saturday, including 292 yards rushing, as the Longhorns dominated the line of scrimmage in pushing around Dabo Swinney’s team. Texas, which was a few plays from beating Georgia in the SEC title game and getting a first-round bye, is now getting the royal treatment from the oddsmakers despite being the lower seed against the Sun Devils.
Arizona State will take a 6-game winning streak into the matchup, which was capped a few weeks ago with a dominating victory over Iowa State in the Big 12 title game. The Sun Devils are led by a freshman quarterback, which also might play into the opening point spread against Texas. But Sam Leavitt is a really good freshman quarterback, having thrown for 2,663 yards, 24 touchdowns and just 5 interceptions in 2024. He also ran for 383 yards and had 5 rushing TDs this season.
Texas and Arizona State don’t have much history between them, having faced each other only 1 other time. It was also a postseason game, coming in December 2007 at the Holiday Bowl in a shootout won by the Longhorns, 52-34.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
