The Texas vs. Washington CFP Sugar Bowl matchup will take place at 8:45 p.m. ET on New Year’s Day. With the total sitting at 61.5 points, will the Longhorns and Huskies combine for enough scoring to cash the over tonight in New Orleans?
Game Matchup & Betting Odds
281 Texas Longhorns (-4.5) vs. 282 Washington Huskies (+4.5); o/u 61.5
8:45 p.m. ET, Monday, January 1, 2024
Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, LA
TV: ESPN
Texas vs. Washington Public Betting Information
As of this writing, our CFB Public Betting page shows that 63% of bets are on Washington. That said, this page is updated frequently so make sure that you click on the link provided so that you’re getting the most updated information.
Texas Longhorns Game Notes
Xavier Worthy (leg) is available for Monday’s College Football Playoff semifinal game against Washington, Josh Newman of The Salt Lake Tribune reports.
Worthy injured his leg during the Big 12 Championship Game against Oklahoma but was able to return to practice last week. With the junior wideout set to play Monday, Texas will have its top target available. Worthy has tallied 73 catches for 969 yards and five touchdowns across his previous 13 appearances this season.
Washington Huskies Game Notes
Michael Penix completed 18 of 33 passes for 204 yards, two touchdowns and one interception during Saturday’s 24-21 victory versus Washington State.
Although Penix will be the Heisman favorite if Washington can beat Oregon next week, his stock is falling after a string of adequate but unspectacular performances. The Huskies got lucky at the end of this game, and Penix’s receivers looked like more viable Heisman candidates in the narrow victory.
Texas vs. Washington Betting Trends
The Longhorns are 5-0 SU in their last 5 games
Texas is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games
The Huskies are 5-0 SU in their last 5 games
Washington is 3-5-1 ATS in its last 9 games
Texas vs. Washington Betting Prediction
Take the over. TAKE THE OVER. I put that second statement in all caps because this is my favorite play of the bowl season. The total for this college football playoff semi-final is sitting at 61.5. Are oddsmakers telling us that both of these teams can’t get into the mid-30s? I could see both teams getting into the mid-40s.
Let’s start with Texas. The Longhorns played 13 games this season, including the Big 12 Championship. Out of those 13 games, they were held to under 30 points only twice: at TCU and at Iowa State. The Longhorns scored 29 points in a 29-26 win over TCU and 26 points in their 26-16 victory against the Cyclones. In every other game, Texas scored at least 30 points.
As for Washington, the Huskies also played in 13 games this season, including the Pac-12 title game. Out of those 13 games, the Huskies scored at least 30 points in all but three games: vs. Arizona State (15-7), at Oregon State (22-20) and versus Washington State in the Apple Cup (24-21). In that 15-7 win over the Sun Devils, the Huskies turned the ball over four times. In their 22-20 win over Oregon State, the game was played in poor weather that caused issues for Penix and his receivers.
As for the Apple Cup, hey, credit Washington State. The Cougars played their rivals tough that day. It happens.
Circling back to tonight’s matchup, these are two good offenses led by two excellent coaching staffs that had over a month to prepare for this game. Texas has a stout defense, but Penix and Co. will light up a weaker Longhorn secondary. On the other side, the Longhorns can score in multiple ways and while Washington put together some excellent defensive efforts this season, we’re not talking about Michigan here.
So yeah, take the over. Take the game over, the first half over, the team total overs…take the over.
Texas vs. Washington Prediction: OVER 61.5