The first round of the College Football Playoff was dominated by favorites, as the home chalk covered every game against opponents that summarily appeared rattled by the road environment and showed self-destructive tendencies.

Of the first-round matchups, only No. 12-seeded Clemson (+11.5) came close to covering the spread in what was a one-score game most of the way against No. 5 Texas. However, the Longhorns broke a late touchdown for a 38-24 final margin that cleared the number.

In other matchups, No. 8 Ohio State (-7) rolled No. 9 Tennessee 42-17, No. 6 Penn State crushed No. 11 SMU 38-10 and No. 7 Notre Dame (-7.5) dominated No. 10 Indiana 27-17 in game that wasn't as competitive as the final score indicates.

Will this trend continue in the CFP quarterfinals? The matchups feature a pair of two-score home underdogs as No. 4-seed Arizona State (+13.5) hosts Texas and No. 3-seed Boise State (+11) welcomes No. 6 Penn State. The other showdowns include a rematch between top-seeded Oregon (+2.5) and Ohio State, along with No. 2 Georgia (-2) hosting No. 7 Notre Dame. 

Below, SportsLine assistant managing editor Nagel provides his top ATS selection for the first round of the CFP, along with his top value plays to win it all and another exotic future wager that he believes has value upside. 

Nagel is a Nevada-based handicapper with more than 25 years of experience in the sports wagering industry. SportsLine's assistant managing editor has covered the wagering industry on a variety of platforms and has won numerous sports handicapping contests. He finished the regular season on a 9-4 on his college football picks and has generated a profit of more than $1,000 to SportsLine members. For championship weekend, he released two-unit plays on Georgia (+3) against Texas and Boise State (-3.5) against UNLV. Georgia beat Texas outright 22-19 in the SEC title game, while Boise State rolled to a 21-7 win in the Mountain West title game to give Nagel's followers two easy winners!. Anyone who has followed him is WAY up!

Now, he's turned his attention to the College Football Pllayoff (see the latest college football lines for each game this week on our college football odds page) and is revealing his top value selections below. . You ABSOLUTELY need to see who he is backing before locking in any college football picks.

Which bets does Nagel like the best in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff? ... Join SportsLine right now to see the College Football Playoff value selections from the analyst who profited more than $1,000 this season!