Hardly any college football game is bigger or better than the Rose Bowl. So, let’s take a deeper dive into some Rose Bowl odds, shall we?

The 2023 Rose Bowl is a college football bowl game that is scheduled to be played on January 2, 2023, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

Every college football bettor understands the importance of this game. It isn’t just it’s own standalone honor—though it’s also that. It is, in some years, part of the college football playoff and a determining factor for the National Championship. Its popularity at the sportsbooks is off the charts, which makes it a must-play for gamblers if only so they don’t miss out on all the extra wager types available to them.

Of course, you shouldn’t enter the Rose Bowl fray without first understanding the stakes, who could make the cut and knowing the odds. That means it’s a good thing you came here, to us. We’re about to cover it all.

Best Rose Bowl Betting Sites

Rose Bowl Futures

Too many people think Rose Bowl betting consists of finding any ol’ sportsbook and signing up. This doesn’t have to be wrong. Every online gambling site offers Rose Bowl lines. But you need to find a landing spot that optimizes the wagering experience.

Does the sportsbook in question promise a quick registration process? How’s their customer service? Do they process quick deposits? And payouts? Do they consistently update their college football betting odds in real time? This all needs to factor into the equation.

Worry not, though. You’re not expected to cover all this ground on your own. Below, we’ve compiled a list of the best online sportsbooks that’s not just great for Rose Bowl spreads, but all college football lines:

College Football Rose Bowl Odds

Rose Bowl Odds

Unlike other professional sports, the end-of-the-year competitions don’t always offer futures. The pool of competitors is too big, and the stakes from team to team vary.

Everyone sets off trying to make the college football playoff, which includes two bowl games on a rotating basis. The other bowl games are assigned participants based on who doesn’t make that. So, if you want to bet on the big picture, you have to focus on college football futures and National Championship futures.

Still, one thing you can be sure of is that we’ll have the Rose Bowl’s odds for you as soon as they publish right here. Look at the table below if you want to place college football bowl bets. The odds were last updated on December 13, 2023:

Rose Bowl Odds Bovada BetOnline BetNow
Michigan Wolverines -115 -120 -120
Alabama Crimson Tide +106 +106 +100

Some top prospects have already opted out in favor of protecting their health and preparing for the 2022 NFL draft. The number of players going that route will only increase if the season moves closer to the prospect pageant, which typically takes place in the spring, right around when a delayed college football season would begin.

Just keep this in mind as you monitor the college football landscape and try to figure out which schools potentially have a crack at the Rose Bowl. The odds you see when they’re initially published are most likely going to swing a great deal before the actual field settles.

Click here if you are looking for NCAAF odds on the regular season, playoffs or other bowls.

The Rose Bowl and the College Football Playoff

Rose Bowl College Football Playoff

The Rose Bowl is among the handful of college football bowl games that helps decide who's playing in the National Championship. However, this isn't the case every year.

Six bowl games make up the college football playoff field—they're known as the New Year's Six—and they change on a rotating basis. Two get the nod each year so that they all register as a semifinals matchup once every three seasons. In addition to the Rose, you have the following:

Knowing which bowl games will be part of the college football playoff ahead of time doesn't do much for bettors. Everyone is still at the behest of the national rankings. Only the top four seeds gain entry into the bracket, and the criteria by which they're judged is incredibly ambiguous.

The responsibility for these rankings falls to an impartial committee. Aside from knowing they meet a few times a year to update the top-25 schools, we don't actually know much. They weigh everything from the strength of schedule to advanced analytics and raw records, but to what degree, no one's sure.

This has led to some controversial moments, particularly for future bettors. There are occasions when certain undefeated programs are left out of the top four, and those who tabbed them as college football playoff locks are then plum out of luck.

Be on the lookout for this format to change. It'll help you with your futures betting. There may come a time when the college football playoff panel is forced to abide by a set of criteria or opens up the final field to six or eight teams. Whatever the change, you'll need to know about it and account for it while scouring the odds.

What Happens When the Rose Bowl Isn't Part of the Playoff?

Not much changes about the Rose Bowl when it doesn't determine who heads to the National Championship. 

The stakes are still incredibly high. Winning this game is just a cut below the National Championship in any given year. The payout is $35 million, split between both schools, with the winning university receiving a lion's share of the prize pool.

This puts the Rose Bowl—and every other game in the New Year's Six collection—more than a cut above all the secondary bowl games. For reference, the latter group includes all of the following:

Bettors make out quite well as a result of this distinction. Sportsbooks will always treat the Rose Bowl like its own championship, which opens a world of options we'll get into now.

Rose Bowl Betting Strategies

Rose Bowl Betting Tips

As we're always quick to remind our readers, there is no universal Rose Bowl betting strategy. You need to find the one that's right for you and the types of wagers you intend to make.

All of that said, there are a few rules and tricks of the trade to live by. Chief among them: Get the best college football bowl bets in early once the game lines come out. Oddsmakers will always make semi-significant adjustments based off the opening action, usually when it comes to the spread or over/under, and these moves can make it harder for sports gamblers to spot potential market opportunities.

Equally important: Pay attention to the Rose Bowl props and live betting sections. 

Most sites increase the number of options for each at your disposal. The props become more nuanced. You're not just betting on spreads and moneylines by quarters and by halves. You're not even just wagering on team-specific events. You can invest in player props, such as how many touchdowns the quarterback for Alabama will throw. Or you can work specific stat lines, such as the over/under on the number of first downs the two teams will combine for during the second half.

Many of these extra wager types carry over to the live betting section. Where the secondary bowl games will usually only offer basic mid-game lines, the Rose Bowl will offer live props in addition to the roll game odds. There's no one Rose Bowl betting trend used to take advantage of these college football bowl betting lines, but just having the bet-type diversity gives gamblers a chance to make extra money or adjust pregame wagers that don't look like they'll pan out.

Long story short: Try out Rose Bowl props and live betting. You'll thank us later.


Rose Bowl Betting FAQs

Meet the author

Eric Uribe

Eric has been passionate about sports since he was 10 years old. He brings over 10 years of sports journalism experience to his expert coverage of sports betting. Hailing from the US, Eric leverages his diverse expertise covering sports at all levels – from high sch...