Posted on 12/31/2007 4:30:00 PM

NCAA Football Betting – Chick-Fil-A Bowl Auburn at Clemson

By Charles Jay

LAST POINTSPREAD RESULT: Auburn beat Alabama again in the "Iron Bowl," a 17-10 victor in covering the spread as a six-point home favorite, permitting only 225 yards from the Tide. Clemson concluded its regular season with a 23-21 road win over arch-rival South Carolina, failing to cover the three-point spread.

LAST MEETING: These teams haven't played since January 2, 1998, when Auburn scored 15 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to pull out a 21-17 win right here in the Peach Bowl.

ABOUT AUBURN :

The Good News -- Auburn ranks fifth in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 16.7 points per game. They are also 8th in total defense. The team only had 19 sacks, but defensive end Quentin Groves, projected as a first-round NFL draft choice, should be rested from a tow injury that hampered him for most of the season.

The Bad News -- Brandon Cox was not especially productive at quarterback, throwing for 1869 yards, 9 TD's and 12 INT's this year. The War Eagle was 101st in total offense, and reached 30 points just once in SEC play (against Vanderbilt).

ABOUT CLEMSON:

The Good News -- This Tiger team has the sixth-ranked defense in the country, allowing 298 yards a game. James Davis (992 yards) and CJ Spiller make up an electrifying backfield combo. And Cullen Harper was outstanding as the triggerman for Tommy Bowden's offense, completing 67% of his passes for 17 touchdowns and six interceptions.

The Bad News -- Clemson had some problems in big games, losing to Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, and Boston College - the last of which precluded them from advancing to the ACC title game. Clemson is missing seniors Jermaine Billie, Christian Capote and Nick Watkins from its defense, all of whom are academically ineligible.

Here are some college football betting TRENDS relative to this matchup:

* CLEM has covered four of its last six games

* CLEM is 4-9 ATS as a favorite in away games

* AUB is 9-5 ATS in its last 14 games away from home

* AUB has covered 13 of its last 17 as an underdog

THE BOTTOM LINE: The more explosive team here is Clemson, because of the greater ability of QB Harper to stretch the field and the return abilities of CJ Spiller. And Auburn is breaking in a new offensive coordinator - Tony Franklin (formerly of Troy). He's putting some spread packages into the game plan, which shouldn't confuse Cox and could be beneficial from another angle. The insertion of Kodi Burns into the lineup as a "slash" type quarterback has sometimes injected life into the offense. Auburn has made its bones against a higher level of opposition. And Clemson's losses on defense can not be ignored. Tommy Tuberville is rarely caught unprepared for these kinds of games, and his team has always performed well away from home. Auburn is dangerous getting points (13-4 ATS last 17), and only LSU, South Florida and Georgia tallied more than 20 points against its defense, so the wise play may be to take the points with AUBURN, the 2.5-point underdog in the BetUS college football betting odds.

WHAT: The Chick-Fil-A Bowl (formerly the Peach Bowl)

WHO: Auburn Tigers (8-4 SU, 6-5 ATS) vs. Clemson Tigers (9-3 SU, 6-5 ATS)

WHEN & WHERE: December 31, 7:30 PM ET at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta (artificial turf)

BETUS COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING LINE: CLEMSON -2.5, Total: 46.5

NCAA football betting is coming to an end, and BetUS sportsbook already has tons of college football Bowl Game odds and NCAA football lines available for those of us who can't wait. Bet on the 2008 BCS National Championship winner. Bet NCAA Football Futures in our sportsbook today in the Future / props section!

(Charles Jay of TotalActionExtra.com loves to help people pick winners. He is a regular contributor to the BetUS.com Locker Room)