The online football betting community can barely contain it’s excitement as another round of thrilling bowl games is upon us. There are plenty of competitive matchups scheduled as well as some lopsided matchups and as usual, the best sportsbooks are putting together betting lines for all of them. One contest that could prove to be both entertaining and profitable for gambling fans is the 2016 Orange Bowl.
One thing that is different from this year’s Orange Bowl is what is on the line. Last online football betting season, the Oklahoma Sooners duked it out with the Clemson Tigers in order to determine who would advance to the College Football Playoff Championship game. In the end, the Tigers delivered a defiant 37-17 victory over the Sooners before losing to the eventual champions. This year there’s no playoff implications, just bragging rights.
In the 2016 rendition of the Orange Bowl the 10-2 Michigan Wolverines will face off against the 9-3 Florida State Seminoles. The Wolverines finished the 2016 online football betting season as the nation’s 6th best team and Florida State will be coming into this contest as No. 10 in the country. With that in mind, let’s see what the bookies have to say about this particular pairing.
NCAAF Odds – Orange Bowl – Friday, December 30th
Michigan Wolverines -7 (EV) 52½ (-110) -265
Florida State Seminoles +7 (-120) 52½ (-110) +225
Unsurprisingly, the sportsbooks have decided to side with the team with the better record. Generally speaking, bowl games are played at a neutral site but this contest should feel like a home game for Florida State. The 2016 Orange Bowl will be held at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, the home of both the Miami Dolphins and Miami Hurricanes. Whether or not the quasi-home field advantage will be enough for Florida State to beat the odds remains to be seen, but the Seminoles are certainly hopeful. Around this time most of the country will be indoors hiding from the cold, but both the Seminoles and Wolverines will be warm and toasty while they compete.
At times throughout the season the Michigan Wolverines appeared to be one of the top 10 teams in the nation. Unfortunately, when faced with tough opposition – Wisconsin, Ohio State, Iowa, the Wolverines offense failed to shine. But we’ve seen teams find unparalleled success without a flashy offense, all that’s required is a fearsome defense. Luckily enough for Wolverines fans, Michigan has just that. And now that their offense is starting to get healthy, this team could become even more dangerous. They might not be good enough to compete in the Super Bowl, but they should be able to take the Orange Bowl by storm.
At the start of the season the Seminoles were one of those teams thought to be deep in the hunt for the national title. Unfortunately, a handful of injuries crippled the team enough to set them too far back. The Orange Bowl provides Florida State the opportunity to make 2016 a success story. Will they be able to capitalize? We’ll let sportsbook fans decide that for themselves.
