The college football Super Bowl of the Northeast takes place on Thursday night.

Notre Dame and Penn State are the only two college football teams that people in Philadelphia and its surrounding areas care about, and we’re about to have houses divided for the Orange Bowl, the first of two CFP semifinals.

Notre Dame is sitting as a 1.5-point favorite and the over/under is now at 45.5. Penn State is very close to an even-money underdog on the money line depending on which sportsbook you use.

The Irish and Nittany Lions are very similar teams. They both love to run the ball, do it well, and they each play excellent defense.

Notre Dame allowed 27 points in its first two playoff games and Penn State let up 24 points, so of course, the first thought is that the game will trend toward the under. The under is 2-0 in each of ND and PSU’s playoff games, but the total of 45.5 is significantly lower than what we’re used to seeing for Penn State. They’re 6-9 to the over all season, but only one of those games closed with a total lower than 47 points.


As for Notre Dame, the Irish are 3-2 to the over when the total closed at 45.5 or lower. The quarterfinal win over Georgia closed at that number and the under hit.

Penn State is 0-2 ATS and outright as an underdog this season. The instances came against Ohio State and Oregon, the second of which was dominated by Oregon’s offense from start to finish.

Notre Dame has only been favored by less than seven points once this season and that was for the quarterfinal win over UGA in which it cleared the one-point spread by 12.

The biggest trend to rely on for the Orange Bowl is the under.

DraftKings is offering a boost, BetMGM has an odds boost token available, and FanDuel has a No Sweat Same Game Parlay offer.

If you’re in New Jersey and can bet College Football player props, I’d look into Riley Leonard rushing yards and Jordan Faison receiving yards for ND. Leonard will take off a handful of times and Faison has been Leonard’s top target in the playoff so far.

As for Penn State player props, Tyler Warren receiving yards will be popular, especially if you believe PSU won’t be able to run the ball. I’d also look into Harrison Wallace receiving yards. He has at least three receptions and 35 yards in each of the last four games.

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