Data drop! Some numbers, nuggets and trends for bowl season which I find interesting...

Miami has lost 9 of its last 10 bowl games and is 2-10 ATS in its last 12 bowl games. Oklahoma State has covered each of its last four bowl games, three coming as an underdog.

This is the first time since 2011 Texas is favored in a bowl game...

Wisconsin has won five of their last six bowl games with the only loss in that span a one-point loss to Oregon last year in the Rose Bowl. Each of Wake Forest’s last five bowl games have been one-possession games (6, 3, 3, 8, 6)...

Mike Leach coached teams are 1-9 ATS in their last ten bowl games (4-6 SU). Included in those ten games are four outright losses and a 1-7 ATS mark as a favorite. In the last five years, Leach’s teams have averaged 19.6 PPG in bowl games (28 is the high in that span)...

This is just the 3rd time in 15 bowl games Northwestern is favored...

There have been only two bowl games with a larger point spread than the CFP Semifinal between the Tide and Fighting Irish - 2020 Appalachian State -21.5 vs North Texas and 2017 FAU vs Akron. Those two both covered and won by a combined 106-31 margin...

This is the largest underdog Notre Dame has been since losing 38-3 as a 32.5-point underdog vs USC in 2008. Since that game, the Irish have been a double-digit dog nine times and covered six. Two of the three non-covers came vs Clemson in the CFP and ACC Championship Game...

Alabama is 3-6 ATS in CFP games, failing to cover each of its last three games...

Dave Doeren has coached in six bowl games. Five have been decided by more than 17 points. That's counter to Kentucky’s last three bowls, which have been decided by a combined 11 points...

Jimbo Fisher is 6-1 with a favorite in a bowl game - the only loss coming with FSU vs Houston in 2015. His teams are 4-3 ATS in those seven games...

12 of TCU’s last 14 bowl games have been one score games. 7 were decided by a FG or less...

This is Ryan Day’s 24th game as Ohio State head coach. He’s been an underdog twice - the two games vs Clemson...

Despite not facing a team ranked in Top 40 in Adj Off EPA, Ohio St is just 22nd in Adj Def EPA. The Buckeyes now face their toughest opponent of the year.
Adj OEPA rank
Indiana 42
Penn St 52
Nebraska 59
Northwestern 71
Rutgers 92
Michigan St 111
< Clemson: 10th

Since a 2016 loss at Syracuse, Clemson has won 43 straight games as a favorite of at least a TD. Only five of those games were decided by single digits...

Since 2013, Ohio State is 5-3 in bowl games. The Buckeyes are 0-3 vs Clemson and 5-0 vs everyone else...

Since 2012, Clemson is 9-3 in bowl games. The Tigers are 3-3 vs SEC foes Alabama and LSU and 6-0 vs everyone else. Clemson is 10-2 ATS in those 12 games. Amazingly, Clemson has been favored only twice in those 12 games...

This is just the second time Iowa State has been favored in a bowl game - the other was in 2012 - a game the Cyclones lost 31-17 to Tulsa. All three Iowa State bowl games under Matt Campbell have gone under the total - by 12.5, 3 and 27.5 points - an average of 14.3 PPG...

In its last 19 games as an underdog, Oregon is 7-12 ATS (5-4 under Mario Cristobal). All seven of the covers were also outright wins. Included in those wins are wins in each of the last two Pac-12 title games and the Rose Bowl...

Since UCF upset Auburn in 2017, AAC bowl underdogs have lost six straight on the field by an average of 27.3 PPG with five of the six by at least 14 points. None of the six covered...

Both Big Ten teams - Indiana and Northwestern are favored over their SEC Bowl opponent - Ole Miss and Auburn. Dating back to the 2015 season, Big Ten teams are 4-11 SU and ATS vs SEC teams in Bowl Games...

The last three SEC teams which were bowl underdogs vs Big Ten opponents won outright - Kentucky over Penn State, Florida vs Michigan and South Carolina vs Michigan...

Oregon and Colorado are the only Pac-12 teams playing in a bowl this year. Last year the Pac-12 posted a 4-3 mark in bowls. The conference had gone 4-12 in its previous 16 bowl games...

All 5 Big 12 teams are favored in bowls. In the last 2 years, there have been 14 Big 12 bowl teams. Only 1 was favored. TCU over Cal in the 2018 Cheez-It Bowl (Yes!). Big 12 teams have been favored just 5 times in its last 22 bowl games. All 5 of those teams won and 4 covered...

Since 2013, Air Force, Army and Navy are 11-2 both outright and ATS in bowl games. That includes four outright wins in five games as an underdog...

Favorites covered all three CFP games last year for the first time in the six year history of the CFP...

In the last three years, there has been just one upset in a CFP game - Clemson over Alabama in the 2018 Championship Game (favorites covered six of the nine games). In the first three years, five of the nine games were won by the underdog...

Favorites have covered five of the six semis over the last three years. The only favorite which didn’t cover was Alabama vs Oklahoma in 2018 a game the Tide led 28-0 17 minutes into the game.