College Football Picks Today: Best Bets for CFP Quarterfinals (Jan. 1)

• This week we are starring down the first-ever College Football Quarterfinal Round
• Three games will be held on New Year’s Day which means we’ve got action all day long
• Check out my favorite two CFP Quarterfinal bets in the article below

When I was a kid, New Year’s Day meant Bowl Games. There were a million of them, all played on January 1st, and it was incredible. Even the ones that didn’t mean anything still meant something. It was a different time and one I was glad to be a part of. Fast-forward to today, and things have changed a bit.

New Year’s Bowl Games have become “Bowl Season” and the whole thing just hits different. Lucky for us, the powers that be have given us a 12-team College Football Playoff. These games mean something to the schools, the kids and us bettors. What’s even better is the fact that we have three college football games on New Year’s Day that actually mean something. We should celebrate by betting on them. It’s the right thing to do.

This could easily be the greatest New Year’s Day of our lives.

College Football Playoff Odds

All odds as of Dec. 31 from ESPNBet & FanDuel. Claim the FanDuel promo code to sign up and tail our picks. 

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Quintrevion Wisner Gets His

The first game of the day is the Texas Longhorns versus the Arizona State Sun Devils. It’s at noon so we’re going to have to lock in. In my experience, the noon games on New Year’s Day are the toughest to get up for. They come earlier than we think. We’re going to need to be tough.

And if we’re going to be tough, I think we should find the toughest guy on the field and bet on him. It makes sense.

Steve Sarkisian bragging on Quintrevion Wisner… “He might be the toughest guy on our team. He is cut from a brillo pad.” #HookEm pic.twitter.com/03BuQBnOU7

— Darby Brown (@darbyjobrown) November 24, 2024

Lucky for us, Quintrevion Wisner is as fast as he is tough. That’s important because we’re betting the over on his rushing yards. If we’re going to deploy units on a running back to go over his number, the guy has to be the total package. Wisner is just that.

Here’s the rub. Texas ran with multiple guys all season long, so the books don’t even know how tough and fast Wisner is. They think he’s some rando. But lately, he’s been getting most of the work and he’s been producing in that role. But not too much, just enough to fly under the radar. He even pretended like he banged up his knee after he went over his number against Clemson just to keep the books off of his trail. He’s a real James Bond type.

He’s getting Arizona State in this game, which is perfect. Sure, they’re top 40 in opponents yards per rush attempt, but whatever. Go through their schedule. They played a bunch of community colleges. They’ve never seen a guy like Wisner, and honestly, I’d be shocked if he didn’t run for 200+ in this game. We only need 90. Feels right.

(If you can’t do NCAAF Player Props, just take the Texas Team Total Over 21.5. That’s hitting, too.)

The Pick: Quintrevion Wisner 90+ Rushing Yards (+100) – FanDuel

It’s Will Howard Time

We need a two-pronged attack if we stand any chance of beating the books in our New Year’s Day battle. We’ve already got our ground game handled; now we need an ariel assault. Lucky for us, Will Howard is playing the Oregon Ducks.

The haters are going to say that Will already got beat by Oregon this year, but he doesn’t agree. Listen closely.

Will Howard on the 1st UO game “I don’t think anyone beat us this year. I think we beat ourselves”. Sites 2 turnovers, hostile environment and still 1 point away. pic.twitter.com/wk6JyZcR1R

— Juck (@JuckOnBucks) December 30, 2024

Here’s the thing: we don’t even care who beat who last time these teams played. It’s all water under the bridge at this point. The only thing that matters is the game on January 1, 2025. That’s it. Ask anybody.

What we can take from the previous game is the fact that the ball flew. Prior to last week, Will Howard threw for 300+ yards one time this season. That game was against the Oregon Ducks. Part of it is because the Oregon offense can score on Ohio State. We need that since that puts pressure on the Buckeye offense to score.

Once we get Will into “throw mode”, it’s over. Just go back and watch last week’s game. He has absolute dawgs catching passes from him. Jeremiah Smith already said that if Oregon plays man, then the Buckeyes will go deep downfield. Those words mean we’re going to see an ariel assault. But more importantly, those words mean Will Howard is throwing for way more than 250 yards. Feels right.

• • The Pick: Will Howard 250+ Passing Yards (+100) – FanDuel
  • 2024 NCAAF SBD Release Results – 12-16 (-1.98 Units)