{"id":389146,"date":"2025-12-29T15:32:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T20:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/?p=389146"},"modified":"2025-12-29T15:32:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T20:32:30","slug":"college-football-playoff-quarterfinal-picks-2025-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/college-football-playoff-quarterfinal-picks-2025-26\/","title":{"rendered":"College Football Playoff quarterfinal picks and predictions: NCAAF best bets on Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl and more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>As the calendar flips from 2025 to &#8217;26, we&#8217;ve got four College Football Playoff matchups to look forward to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The pregame narrative:<\/strong> The Miami (FL) Hurricanes and Ohio State Buckeyes kick things off with the Cotton Bowl on New Year&#8217;s Eve, giving way to a Jan. 1 tripleheader to begin 2026. Watch out for the underdog Ole Miss Rebels in the Sugar Bowl as they rematch the Georgia Bulldogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-6c37cb08-cf64-44cf-857a-d9409b9361a5\">Check out my best College Football Playoff picks for the Dec. 31 and New Year&#8217;s Day games, featuring prop predictions on Jake Retzlaff and Malachi Toney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-&gt; <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.ca\/page?key=ej0xMzUyNDU3MiZsPTEzNjcxODMwJnA9MzEwNjg%3D\">Join NorthStar Bets to start betting on college football<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"block-c42e5bcd-3d78-44a9-a94a-015d114981be\">College Football Playoff picks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Best bet: Miami\/Ohio State under 42 points (-110)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have a ton of respect for the Buckeyes&#8217; defence, which boasts four players who could go in the first round of next year&#8217;s NFL draft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Defensively, Ohio State ranks in the top five in NCAA Division I in yards per dropback, EPA per rush and rushing success rate, according to Game On Paper.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Buckeyes have allowed 8.2 PPG, which is the best mark in the country. Not a single opponent has scored 17+ points.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Miami was on the road in the first round of the CFP, clawing out a 10-3 victory over No. 7 Texas A&amp;M. Quarterback Carson Beck was atrocious, throwing for just 103 yards on 20 attempts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-&gt; <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.ca\/page?key=ej0xMzUyNDU3MiZsPTEzNjcxODMwJnA9MzEwNjg%3D\">Go to full Miami vs. Ohio State Cotton Bowl markets<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Cotton Bowl will feature two stellar defences, as the Hurricanes certainly hold their own in that regard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Led by Rueben Bain Jr., a surefire first-round pick coming off the edge, Miami ranks fourth in opponent PPG (13.0) and 14th in yards per play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Hurricanes forced three turnovers in their first playoff game while holding Texas A&amp;M to 2.5 yards per rush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ohio State struggled to muster up offence in a 13-10 loss to Indiana in the Big Ten championship game, and I expect a similar defensive battle at Jerry World in Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key stat:<\/strong> Unders are 4-1 in Ohio State&#8217;s past five games overall, and they&#8217;re 4-1 in Miami&#8217;s five games away from home this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><a href=\"cacheembed:122463\">Embed: #122463<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"block-c1e817ca-a7f4-4be8-8332-7ac0c6f20f4b\">Orange Bowl prediction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Oregon\/Texas Tech under 52.5 points (-109):<\/strong> For teams with alumni like Marcus Mariota, LaMichael James, Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree, it might feel wrong to bet the under. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I have more faith in the defences than the offences. And it&#8217;s as simple as that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Texas Tech and Oregon rank seventh and 16th, respectively, in defensive success rate. In offensive success rate, they rank 86th and 22nd, respectively.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Both teams are allowing fewer than 17.0 PPG this season.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Both teams rank in the top five in yards allowed per play.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Oregon&#8217;s Dante Moore could be the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NFL draft if he chooses to come out. And TTU&#8217;s Behren Morton led the Big 12 in passer rating this season. So there&#8217;s strong offensive talent on both sides, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-&gt; <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.ca\/page?key=ej0xMzUyNDU3MiZsPTEzNjcxODMwJnA9MzEwNjg%3D\">Bet now on No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 4 Texas Tech<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the Ducks have finished well below this total in back-to-back games away from home. I think that&#8217;ll happen again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the Red Raiders&#8217; side, unders are 7-3 in their past 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">College football prop picks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Williams under 31.5 receiving yards (-122):<\/strong> After a superb freshman season, it seemed like the sky would be Williams&#8217; limit in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It hasn&#8217;t panned out that way, though. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Williams has just four receiving TDs and 48.9 receiving yards per game this season. That&#8217;s half as many touchdowns and nearly 20.0 yards\/game fewer than last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Williams&#8217; 48.9 YPG is still well above this prop&#8217;s line, but he&#8217;s trending in the wrong direction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>He only has four total catches in his past four games, averaging 15.8 yards in that span.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Williams failed to garner a target in the Iron Bowl, and he was held to just one catch for five yards in Alabama&#8217;s first-round matchup against Oklahoma.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In the Crimson Tide&#8217;s first-round CFP win on Dec. 19, five receivers finished with more yards than Williams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SEC passing leader Ty Simpson knows how to air it out, but he&#8217;s rarely looking for Williams these days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-&gt; <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.ca\/page?key=ej0xMzUyNDU3MiZsPTEzNjcxODMwJnA9MzEwNjg%3D\">Don&#8217;t miss out \u2014 bet on the upcoming College Football Playoff action<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sugar Bowl prediction: ATS best bet<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ole Miss +7 (-120):<\/strong> Back in October, the Ole Miss Rebels carried a two-score lead \u2014 on the road \u2014 into the fourth quarter against the Georgia Bulldogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Georgia put up 17 unanswered points from there to win by eight, but again, it did so from the comfort of home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a rematch on a neutral field, I like the Rebels&#8217; chances of at least keeping this close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Since its loss to Georgia, Ole Miss is 4-1-1 ATS (and the ATS loss was a 49-0 victory as a -50 favourite vs. The Citadel).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In their first game in the post-Lane Kiffin era, the Rebs earned a convincing 31-point victory in the first round of the CFP (as -16.5 favourites vs. Tulane).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Georgia is just 1-3 ATS in its past four games when favoured by four or more points. It&#8217;s difficult to win \u2014 and cover \u2014 against the same team twice in less than three months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>College Football Playoff picks made at 2:45 p.m. on Dec. 29, 2025.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-&gt; <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.ca\/page?key=ej0xMzUyNDU3MiZsPTEzNjY1NzMyJnA9MzExMjU%3D\">Sign up to NorthStar Bets today<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the calendar flips from 2025 to &#8217;26, we&#8217;ve got four College Football Playoff matchups to look forward to. The pregame narrative: The Miami (FL) Hurricanes and Ohio State Buckeyes kick things off with the Cotton Bowl on New Year&#8217;s Eve, giving way to a Jan. 1 tripleheader to begin 2026. Watch out for the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":389326,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sidebar_plugin_meta_block_field":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-389146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college-football"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>College Football Playoff picks: 2025-26 quarterfinal | The Boost<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Check out our 2025-26 College Football Playoff picks. 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