BCS Championship Game Odds – Quick Review of Auburn’s Season

If you’re analyzing the BCS Championship Game Betting Odds, you could probably use a little background on the teams, and it is for that reason that we offer a quick review of Auburn’s season, so that we can see where they have been. Where are they going?

Well. I guess that’s for you to judge. The Tigers take on the Oregon Ducks for the whole ball of wax on Monday night, with game time scheduled for 8:30 PM ET at the University of Phoenix Stadium (natural turf) in Glendale , AZ. In the BCS Championship game odds, Auburn is favored by two points, with an over-under of 74 points.

BCS Championship Game Odds

Auburn Tigers (13-0 SU, 9-3 ATS) vs. Oregon Ducks (12-0 SU, 6-4-1 ATS)

Live at University of Phoenix Stadium

Glendale, AZ

Monday, January 10 — 8:30 PM ET

TV: ESPN

BCS Championship Game Betting Odds

Auburn -2

Oregon +2

Total 74

Auburn started the year without a while lot of expectations. They were ranked #23 in the country, and I’m not sure a lot was going to be revealed in the opening game against Arkansas State, a middle-of-the-road team from the Sun Belt Conference.

But it was the coming out party for Cam Newton, who had won the quarterback job in fall practice and rambled for 171 yards, including two touchdowns, and threw for 186 yards.

Then, in visiting Mississippi State, which eventually made it to the Top 25 and massacred Michigan in the Gator Bowl, the Tigers held on for a 17-14 win. This was perhaps not overly impressive to observers, although not many people really forecast what Dan Mullen was going to be able to do with his program.

The next game did not do much to cement Auburn as a national power, although it did begin to show their fortitude to the people who are now looking at those BCS Championship Game odds. Auburn fell behind 17-0 to Clemson, which was not anything special in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

They came all the way back to score a 27-24 win in overtime. Then it was time to face a ranked opponent – Steve Spurrier’s South Carolina Gamecocks, and it was yet another one of those games where Auburn had to battle for 60 minutes.

This time they took advantage of some miscues the Gamecocks made in the fourth quarter, putting two TD’s on the board for a 35-27 win, which marked their fourth straight win.

After rolling over Louisiana-Monroe by a score of 62-3, in a game that functioned as an avenue by which to pad stats, Auburn went back to being the "cardiac kids" once again, needing a field goal from Wes Byrum late in the game to win by a 37-34 count.

At this point, Auburn was undefeated, and ranked seventh, but perhaps not considered overwhelming enough by many to be a true contender for a national title.

Their BCS Championship Game odds may have started to change with a 65-43 win over Arkansas (eventual Sugar Bowl participant), which marked the highest two-team point total in an SEC game that did NOT go to overtime. Admittedly though, Arkansas was without its quarterback Ryan Mallett, for much of that game.

Beating LSU, which came into the game with an undefeated record, was very big. The 24-17 score did not indicate how awesome the offensive performance was. Auburn gained 526 total yards in the game.

Auburn had moved up the ladder by this time, and as the #3 team in the country, they scored a 51-31 win over Ole Miss in a donnybrook in which they were exposed to Rebel quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who had been Oregon’s starting quarterback last season. After that stretch, then came a breather against Chattanooga, with a 62-point outburst that is relatively meaningless from our perspective.

Against Georgia the Tigers’ defense was permissive, allowing Aaron Murray to throw for 273 yards, and they were knotted up after 30 minutes. But they were able to execute an onside kick to begin the second half, and that started things rolling their way, in a big way.

The 49-31 final was a clear indicator to those now perusing the BCS Championship Game odds that this was a team intent on simply out-scoring opponents, if that’s the way it had to be.

Then it was perhaps the most dramatic game of their season, and the most amazing comeback in college football all year. In the traditional rivalry game known as the "Iron Bowl," Auburn fell behind by a 24-0 margin to the Crimson Tide, which could have gained an awful lot of satisfaction with a win over this in-state foe, having played themselves out of the national title picture.

But Cam Newton and the Tigers kept chipping away, and Auburn had complete control in the second half, outscoring the Tide 21-3. The 28-27 win served notice that this team was not out of any game, against any team.

The SEC title game may have seemed like an anti-climax to some, but it was the game Auburn needed to get through to the BCS and this title opportunity. In the rematch, the Gamecocks were never really in it.

Newton was nearly flawless, with 335 yards passing and four TD’s, plus two rushing touchdowns. It was 21-7 at the end of the first quarter, and ended at 56-17, punching Auburn’s ticket and making people start to think about the BCS Championship Game odds, where they are a two-point favorite.

Bet the BCS Championship Game odds at BetOnline Sportsbook!