Rose Bowl Betting 2024 Odds, Predictions, Preview

The Penn State Nittany Lions defeated the Utah Utes 35-21 in the 2022 Rose Bowl.

Check out last year's coverage here below and tune back in with us soon for the 2024 Rose Bowl Odds, Picks and Predictions.

The Granddaddy of Them All will be the final bowl game before the College Football Playoff National Championship Game next week. The Penn State Nittany Lions and Utah Utes each played in a memorable game the last time they were selected to play in the Rose Bowl. Penn State lost a back-and-forth thriller to USC in the 2017 Rose Bowl despite a legendary performance from Saquon Barkley.

Meanwhile, Utah blew multiple two-score leads on its way to a 48-45 loss to Ohio State in last year’s bowl game as C.J. Stroud and Jaxon Smith-Njigba had record-setting outings. Here’s hoping that carries over to this year’s iteration of the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Prudential.

This year’s Rose Bowl will be played on Monday, January 2, 2023, at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.  

Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Utah Utes Betting Prediction

It took over 100 years for Utah to make its first Rose Bowl appearance, and now the Utes are making their second trip to Pasadena in as many years. They want to make the most of it after last year’s heartbreak, so look for Kyle Whittingham’s squad to be even more focused against Penn State.

The Nittany Lions had a very quiet 10-2 campaign, and they are a solid team, but the Utes should be able to score their first major bowl victory since the 2008 Sugar Bowl.

Score Prediction: Utah 29, Penn State 21
Best Bet: Utah -1.5

Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Utah Utes Betting Odds

Rose Bowl Betting Resources

• Date: Monday, January 2, 2023
• TV-Time: ESPN, 5:00 p.m. ET
• Venue: Rose Bowl Stadium
• Location: Pasadena, California
• Expert Picks

Penn State Nittany Lions Betting Analysis

The Nittany Lions were blown out by both Michigan and Ohio State, but they took care of business against everyone else on their schedule including Auburn and Purdue. Sean Clifford has been an above average quarterback during his time in Happy Valley, and the four-year starter completed 63.6% of his passes for 2,543 yards (7.7 YPA) with 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions. However, he won’t have his top option on the perimeter in the Rose Bowl as Parker Washington opted out of the game in order to declare for the NFL Draft.

Mitchell Tinsley and tight end Brenton Strange will likely be the primary targets for Clifford with Washington out. Tight end Theo Johnson and KeAndre Lambert-Smith are players to watch in the red zone.

Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen split the carries in the backfield after Keyvone Lee was sidelined for most of the season with an injury. Singleton ran for 941 yards (6.3 YPC) and 10 touchdowns, while Allen ran for 830 yards (5.3 YPC) and nine TDs.
Penn State ranked 11th in Defensive SP+ this season. Elite cornerback Joey Porter Jr. is a three-time all-conference award winner at the position, but he decided to opt out of the Rose Bowl in order to prepare for the NFL Draft. Everyone else on this defense is slated to play though, including All-Big Ten selections like Abdul Carter, P.J. Mustipher, and Kalen King.

Utah Utes Betting Analysis

Cam Rising is still developing, but he had a strong sophomore season under center for Utah. Rising completed 66.2% of his passes for 2,939 yards (8.1 YPA) with 25 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He was only sacked eight times behind an excellent offensive line that had multiple all-conference selections, and that helped Rising run for 409 yards and six touchdowns.

This offense depends on tight ends more than any other offense in the league. However, Brant Kuithe suffered a season-ending injury in late September, and Dalton Kincaid decided to opt out rather than risk injury in the bowl game. Devaughn Vele is the leading returning receiver with 50 receptions for 595 yards and five touchdowns, and tight end Thomas Yassmin should see a heavy workload with Kuithe and Kincaid absent.

Utah has a very good ground game. The Utes ran for almost 3,000 yards this season as five different players had at least 360 rushing yards. Top running back Tavion Thomas opted out of the Rose Bowl to prepare for the NFL Draft, but Micah Bernard, Jaylon Glover, and Ja’Quinden Jackson have all flashed for moments.

The Utes rank 21st in Defensive SP+ coming into bowl season. Utah has done a very good job stopping the run with the size up front, but the secondary has left something to be desired. That means Clark Phillips III’s decision to opt out after leading the team with six interceptions is a very big blow. Junior Tafuna and Karene Reid are sophomores that will be asked to play a much bigger role after being named Second Team All-PAC 12 picks.

Rose Bowl History

The Rose Bowl dates as far back as 1902 and began in 1916 with the matchup hosting schools from the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences. This traditional matchup ended with the bowl started to participate in championship and semifinal matchups. During years the Rose Bowl is not used as a venue for the postseason, then it reverts back to the original bowl tie-ins. This game takes place at the Rose Bowl from Pasadena, California and is usually played on New Year's Day. 

USC has the most appearances (34) and wins (25) in Rose Bowl History, including an epic 52-49 shootout against Penn State which netted the most total points in the history of the 'Granddaddy of them all'. The 59 points scored by the Oregon Ducks in the 2014 season was the most ever in Rose Bowl history.

The Pac-12 got back in the win column in the 2019 installment as Oregon rallied past Wisconsin for a 28-27 win. 

The Rose Bowl is part of the College Football Playoff rotation and was part of three semifinal matchups played in 2014, 2018 and 2021. The first two easily went 'over' in those semifinal games, but the 'under' hit in Alabama's rout of Notre Dame in 2021.

• Oregon 59 Florida State 20
• Georgia 53 Oklahoma 48 (2OT)
• Alabama 31 Notre Dame 14

In 2022, it was back to a traditional Big Ten vs. Pac-12 matchup, and it was a classic. Ohio State outlasted Utah by a 48-45 count, with Buckeyes WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba setting an all-time bowl record with 347 receiving yards on 15 grabs with three touchdowns.