NCAA Football New Year’s Weekend Underdog Picks

New Year’s weekend will feature a lot of great football action. The College Football Playoff semifinals will be played on New Year’s Day.

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In addition to those two matchups, there will be an additional six bowl games played over Friday and Saturday.

Here are my favorite underdogs for this weekend’s games.

Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Clemson Tigers Picks

Best Bet: Buckeyes (+235)

This year’s Sugar Bowl will be a rematch of one of the College Football Playoff semifinals from a year ago. The Tigers defeated the Buckeyes by a score of 29-23 last season.

Ohio State has made it clear that it’s going to New Orleans to avenge last year’s loss to the Tigers.

Clemson is a 7.5-point favorite against Ohio State on Friday. Don’t be swayed by this line. The Sugar Bowl is going to be tightly contested.

Ohio State looked awful against Northwestern in the Big Ten title game. The Buckeyes won by a score of 22-10.

However, many starters didn’t play because of COVID-19 protocol. Other than that contest, the Buckeyes have been dominant all season long.

Clemson has lost one time this year. The Tigers were defeated by Notre Dame without Trevor Lawrence under center.

Lawrence will play in the Sugar Bowl, but the Buckeyes still need to take a lesson from that game. Ohio State must neutralize Travis Etienne and the Tigers rushing attack without loading the box.

This will give the secondary some support against Lawrence’s rocket arm.

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Oregon Ducks vs. Iowa State Cyclones Picks

Best Bet: Ducks (+170)

I was skeptical of Oregon entering the Pac-12 Championship Game. Washington was unable to compete, so the Pac-12 replaced the Huskies with Oregon to take on USC.

Oregon entered the game as an underdog but pulled off a 31-24 victory, bringing the conference crown back to Eugene. I didn’t believe this Oregon team knew how to win, but I was wrong.

Oregon dominated the Trojans and really outplayed them in multiple facets of the game. Iowa State is 8-3 on the year. The Cyclones are favored by four points on Saturday in the Fiesta Bowl, but I like the Ducks as a slight underdog.

Iowa State consists of a two-headed monster on offense. Quarterback Brock Purdy and running back Breece Hall have helped this unit rack up 441 yards per game this season.

The Oregon defense will need to force turnovers. The Ducks forced three against USC.

If the defense can play the Cyclones tough, I think Oregon will win. The Oregon offensive line will be able to dominate the Iowa State front seven. It will just need support from its defense to limit Iowa State’s points.

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Auburn vs. Northwestern Picks

Best Bet: Auburn (+150)

Auburn will enter this Citrus Bowl matchup as a 3.5-point dog. The team is 6-4 on the year and unranked.

Northwestern is the No. 14 team in the land at 6-2. Northwestern almost upset Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game. However, the Wildcats didn’t have enough firepower to finish the job in the second half.

Northwestern played better than I thought they would in the Big Ten Championship Game. Despite this, I truly believe that they hit Ohio State on an off day.

The Tigers are going to win this game because of their strength of schedule. The SEC is the best conference in football this season.

Statistically, Auburn has a better offense than Northwestern. When I factor in opponents, its defense is just as good as the Wildcats.

Auburn has played three teams in the top five this season. If quarterback Bo Nix can take care of the football, the Tigers will cruise to victory on Friday afternoon.