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Rose Bowl odds: Penn State opens as slim betting favorite over Utah

The 109th Rose Bowl will feature two teams who suffered heartbreaking losses in their last game in Pasadena.

Theo Johnson #84 of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates with KeAndre Lambert-Smith #1 after catching a pass for a touchdown against the Michigan State Spartans during the first half at Beaver Stadium.
Theo Johnson #84 of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates with KeAndre Lambert-Smith #1 after catching a pass for a touchdown against the Michigan State Spartans during the first half at Beaver Stadium.Read moreScott Taetsch / Getty Images
    by Devin Jackson, Action Network
    Published 

The 109th Rose Bowl game is set: the No. 11 Penn State Nittany Lions (10-2, 8-3-1 ATS) will face off against Pac-12 Champion No. 8 Utah (10-3, 8-5 ATS) in the “granddaddy of them all.” It’s the first ever matchup between the programs.

Both teams are no stranger to the game — this will be the Nittany Lions’ fifth appearance, while the Utes are making their second appearance all time, which also happens to be their second Rose Bowl game in a row.

Utah, which entered the Pac-12 Championship game Friday night as 2.5-point underdogs against USC, opened as the slight 1.5-point betting underdog against Penn State at FanDuel when the two teams meet in Pasadena at the beginning of January.

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Penn State opened as a betting favorite for the 11th time this season.

The Nittany Lions last appeared in the Rose Bowl following the 2016 season, when James Franklin’s Big Ten championship team was snubbed from a college football playoff berth. According to OddsShark, Penn State entered that game as 7.5-point underdogs and covered the spread in a narrow 52-49 defeat to USC.

Utah, meanwhile, played in a thrilling shoutout against Ohio State last season in the Rose Bowl. The Utes entered the game as a four-point underdog and failed to cover in a 48-45 loss.

» READ MORE: Penn State will face Pac-12 champion Utah in the Rose Bowl

Penn State is 2-1 under Franklin in New Year’s Six bowl games since the iteration of the College Football Playoff in 2014. In that same time frame, the Nittany Lions covered in all three of those games: as 6.5-point favorites in the Cotton Bowl against Memphis following the 2019 season; as three-point favorites in the Fiesta Bowl against Washington; and the aforementioned Rose Bowl following the 2016 season.

This will be Utah’s second New Year’s Six bowl game since 2014. Both teams will be looking to put a stamp on their season and re-write their histories at the Rose Bowl.

Penn State vs Utah Rose Bowl game odds (via FanDuel)

  1. Point spread: Utah (+1.5) @ Penn State (-1.5)

  2. Moneyline: Utah (-106) @ Penn State (-113)

  3. Total: 47.5 points

  4. Game info: Monday, January 2, 2023 at 5 p.m. on ESPN

» READ MORE: Full sports betting coverage from The Philadelphia Inquirer

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