College Football Betting – Rose Bowl Breakdown

Rose Bowl: Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Southern California Trojans 4:30 ET

It’s the “Granddaddy of Them All” in Pasadena, California, and BetOnline Sportsbook customers will have another chance to boost their sports betting bankroll in the New Year’s Day Rose Bowl between the Penn State Nittany Lions (11-1, 7-3-1 ATS) and the Southern California Trojans (11-1, 6-6 ATS). This will be the 95th installment of the grand game in Pasadena, CA.

This will be the fourth straight season that has ended in a Rose Bowl appearance for the USC Trojans. They’re 3-1 SU and ATS in those four games, and have outscored their opponents by an average of 19.8 points per game. Penn State will be playing in its first Rose Bowl since 1995, when they beat Oregon 38-20. These two teams have only met once before in a Rose Bowl, which came way back in 1923. The two teams last met in Happy Valley back in 2000 where the Trojans beat Penn State outright as 1.5-point underdogs, 29-5.

Though Penn State was better known for its defense this season, the team scored 45 or more points in seven games. QB Daryll Clark paced a unit that ranks 15th in the NCAA at 452.2 yards per game and 11th in points at 40.2 per game. The defense was also outstanding, ranking 5th in total yards allowed (263.9) and 4th in points per game (12.4). The unit ranked in the Top-25 in almost every major defensive category. It should come as no surprise that sports betting fans of the Nittany Lions had a fantastic 7-3-1 season. PSU was a perfect 4-0 SU and 3-0 ATS out of conference this season, and outscored its four foes by an average of 40.2 points per game.

If the Nittany Lion defense was fantastic in 2008, the USC defense was as close to perfect as you could ask for. The unit ranks in the Top-5 in the land in every major category, which includes 1st in yards (206.1), 1st in pass defense (122.8), 5th in rush defense (83.2), and 1st in points per game allowed (7.8). Only Stanford and Oregon State scored more than 10 points on the unit, and it pitched a total of three shutouts during their regular season campaign.

QB Mark Sanchez threw for 2,794 yards and 30 touchdowns in his junior season. RBs Joe McKnight, Stafon Johnson, and CJ Gable combined to rush for 1,891 yards and 19 scores overall. USC bettors had a tremendous season outside of Pac-10 play, going 3-0 SU and ATS against its three non-conference foes, outscoring them by an average of 37.3 points per game. As less than three-touchdown favorites this season, the Trojans went 2-1 ATS.

USC currently sits as nine-point favorites per the current football betting lines at BetOnline.com. With these two fantastic defenses, it should come as no surprise that CFB bettors bought the opening ‘total’ of 46.5 down to where it currently resides at 45.

The NCAAF betting trends point towards another low scoring affair, as USC is 21-7-1 for ‘under’ bettors in its L/29 games, and the Nittany Lions have played to the low side of the ‘total’ in 5 of their L/6 bowl games. It also cashed in 4 of the L/5 times PSU was the decided underdog.

Will JoPa’s Nittany Lions defend the Big 10’s honor in a BCS Bowl game, or will the Trojans cruise to another comfy pointspread bowl game cover in their own backyard? Kick off the 2009 BCS Bowl betting season in style with BetOnline Sportsbook and place your college football wagers on one of the biggest games the bowl season has to offer!