Very Early BCS National Championship Preview

We are just under a month away from the BCS National Championship, but it is never too early to look at the odds for such a big game.

It will be Auburn and Florida State that will collide in Pasadena, Calif. on Jan. 6, 2014 .  Both these team’s had a long road to the BCS title game.

Florida State had the more typical route as they simply dominated all their competition this year.  Under the helm of freshmen quarterback Jameis Winston, the Seminoles have beaten teams by an average of 42 points a game this season. Winston has thrown for 3,820 yards yards and 38 touchdowns with only 10 interceptions. He is no doubt the key to Florida State’s success.

Auburn is a team that no one expected to be here.  The road that they took to the BCS National Championships was so rocky and tumultuous that many are calling this game their destiny.  They lost nine games last year and yet have only one blemish on their record this year. However, many believed that blemish may have eliminated them from the BCS National Championship game. However, after consecutive upset victories in November over Alabama and Georgia and destroying Missouri in the SEC title game, the Auburn Tigers find themselves in the National Championship.

Florida State will be looking to slow down the tempo of this game.  Auburn likes to play quick, fast paced football.  The Seminoles defense will need to stop the run and keep their offense on the field.  Winston will simply chip away the clock by going for long and methodically touchdown drives.  This will stifle Auburn’s uptempo style.

Auburn will try to establish the run, and they have been successful in the past in doing so even against team’s that have “the best” defenses.  Prior to meeting Auburn in the SEC title game, Missouri on average allowed only 119 rushing yards a game. Auburn steamrolled them with 545 rushing yards. They also put up nearly 300 rushing yards against Alabama.  They will need to do the same against Florida State.

On defense Auburn, to put it bluntly, is going to want to knock the crap out of Winston.  It is easy to forget that Winston is a freshmen quarterback.  A freshmen quarterback who is playing for an O-line that average over 2 sacks a game.  Auburn will need to knock Winston out of his comfort zone and keep him out of it all game if they hope to slow him down.

Auburn finds themselves in familiar territory in the odds.  They are the underdogs with a -8.5 point spread. This is only the early odds and it could change. The moneyline and over/under has yet to be released by most sports books.

The BCS National Championship is on Monday, January 6. You can catch the game on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. ET.

All Odds Courtesy of Bovada.