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Penn State vs. Boise State Opening Odds: Nittany Lions Favored to Keep Rolling in 2025 Fiesta Bowl

C Jackson Cowart

Last Updated: December 21, 2024 3:51 PM EST • 2 min 17 sec read.

Penn State Nittany Lions defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton reacts following a sack, as we examine the opening Penn State vs. Boise State odds for the second round of the College Football Playoff.
Penn State Nittany Lions defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton (33) reacts following a sack. Photo by Matthew O'Haren / Imagn Images.

After blowing out SMU in the first round of the College Football Playoff, the Penn State Nittany Lions (12-2) opened as massive betting favorites to beat the Boise State Broncos (12-1) in the 2025 Fiesta Bowl, which kicks off on Tuesday, Dec. 31 at 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN) from State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

Penn State is favored by 10.5 points across our best college football betting sites to win this College Football Playoff quarterfinal, even with Boise State enjoying an extra week off before this second-round matchup.

The early point spread is a tick lower than what we saw in the CFP quarterfinal look-ahead odds ahead of the first round, which suggests that the Nittany Lions' first-round win did little to sway our best sportsbooks from their original position.

Fiesta Bowl opening odds: Penn State vs. Boise State CFP quaterfinal

See the college football odds from our best college football betting sites for every college football bowl game.

MarketDraftKingsFanDuelbet365
Point spreadPenn State -10.5 (-110)Penn State -10.5 (-105)Penn State -10.5 (-105)
MoneylinePenn State -360Penn State -365Penn State -380
Total (O/U)53.5 (Over -110)54.5 (Over -110)54.5 (Over -110)

Penn State vs. Boise State odds, early lines & betting analysis

Last week, the Nittany Lions were trading as 11.5-point favorites in a hypothetical matchup with the Broncos. Then they blasted SMU in a contest that was close for mere minutes early on, and the odds didn't move.

In fact, after briefly opening at 11.5, the line actually moved in favor of Boise State within minutes of Penn State's big win and was trading at 10.5 within a half-hour of that result. Could the market be taking early action on Broncos and running back Ashton Jeanty, who finished second by the Heisman Trophy odds?

I'd caution against putting too much stock in the final score of Penn State's opening-round win, given that two of its touchdowns came on sloppy throws that went the other way, but the wide margins of these early playoff games show just how big the talent gap can be when pitting two teams from different tiers.

Boise State went toe-to-toe with Oregon - the favorite by the college football championship odds - earlier this season, so if you like the Broncos to keep this one close, you may want to grab this early number before any further market movement.

When making your Penn State vs. Boise State picks and predictions, be sure to use our college football player prop odds tool, which will show you the best odds on any market with updated prices across legal sportsbooks in your area.

Don't miss our guide for how to bet on college football or this week's best sportsbook promos.

How to watch the Fiesta Bowl

  • When: Tuesday, Dec. 31
  • Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET
  • Where: State Farm Stadium (Glendale, Ariz.)
  • How to watch: ESPN
  • Weather: Indoors

Our college football bowl game opt-out tracker has you covered with the latest opt-out news and the impact on the college bowl game odds.

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Written By:
C Jackson Cowart
C Jackson Cowart is a publishing editor and lead writer for Sportsbook Review. An award-winning writer, reporter, and editor with a decade of sports media experience, "C-Jax" has worked with ESPN, Forbes, theScore, and various daily newspapers before joining the Sportsbook Review team. He's a proud graduate of the University of North Carolina, where he served as a beat writer for the Tar Heels' championship run through the NCAA men's basketball tournament in 2017. Jackson has spent the last five years covering sports betting as a predictive analyst, features writer, and industry reporter. Since joining the team in 2023, he's played a key role in Sportsbook Review's coverage of the Super Bowl, March Madness, and NBA playoffs while serving as the lead writer for the growing WNBA and NASCAR betting scenes. Though he's cashed some big bets over the years -- including Lamar Jackson to win MVP (twice) -- he's still haunted by enough second-place bet slips to wallpaper his home office. While Jackson is a committed "process over results" bettor with a keen eye for advanced stats and subtle bias in futures markets, he also embraces sports betting as a vehicle for entertainment and personal investment. He's written about everything from hot dogs to groundhogs and still hasn't forgiven his "inside source" for a sabotaged bet on the Gatorade color in Super Bowl LV.