College Football Playoff picks: Broncos and Sun Devils embrace their underdog roles in quarterfinals
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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 got off the plane for their Fiesta Bowl game against Penn State wearing T-shirts saying “Please Count Us Out” in capital letters. Penn State is an 11-point favorite, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Boise State quarterback Maddux Madsen said the shirts are the team's response to chatter about the Broncos' worthiness as the No. 3 seed.
“A lot of people didn’t feel like we deserved it,” Madsen said. “But, really, what did we do to not?”. The Broncos are 12-1, their only loss by three points at No. 1 seed Oregon in September, and they beat UNLV twice to earn the Group of Five playoff spot.
Texas is a 12 1/2-point favorite against Arizona State in the Peach Bowl. The Sun Devils, like the Broncos, have embraced the underdog role — “just more fuel to the fire,” quarterback Sam Leavitt calls it. ASU, winner of three games last season and picked last in the Big 12 this year, is 11-2 and coming off a lopsided win over Iowa State in the conference title game.
“As we progressed throughout the year and kept proving people wrong, and now people see the product that we have, I’m a little confused by the score predictions,” Leavitt said. “But I’m super hyped about it. Opportunity is all you can ask for. Now I get an opportunity to go play on the biggest stage and do what we do.”.
