College Football Playoff picks: Broncos and Sun Devils embrace their underdog roles in quarterfinals
The College Football Playoff quarterfinals are here and six of the eight teams are no strangers to the big stage. Boise State and Arizona State are out to show they belong. They’re top-four seeds as conference champions and both are double-digit underdogs. The Broncos arrived for Tuesday’s Fiesta Bowl wearing T-shirts saying “Please Count Us Out” in capital letters. Penn State is an 11-point favorite. Texas is a 12 1/2-point favorite against Arizona State in the Peach Bowl on Wednesday. Other New Year’s playoff games are Ohio State-Oregon in the Rose Bowl and Notre Dame-Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.
Oregon defensive lineman Jordan Burch ready to face Ohio State after missing first meeting
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ask anyone on Ohio State’s offense what the biggest difference is for Oregon on defense going into Wednesday’s Rose Bowl, and the near unanimous answer is Jordan Burch. The senior defensive end did not play in the first meeting on Oct. 12 after he suffered a meniscus injury during practice leading up to the game. Burch though will be back for the top-seeded Ducks, who face the eighth-seeded Buckeyes in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal. Burch missed most of October due to knee and ankle injuries. He had 30 tackles, including 11 for loss, and 8 1/2 sacks in nine games.