Spread, odds and projections for Clemson-Alabama’s national championship clash
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the opening line for the College Football Playoff national championship had Alabama as the clear favorite over Clemson to repeat as national champions.
According to the Action Network, at least one sportsbook had Alabama as a nine-point favorite to start last Saturday, when it became clear that the Crimson Tide and Tigers would be meeting for the fourth consecutive season. In Las Vegas, the early consensus had the spread at Alabama by seven.
Since then, however, the line narrowed, going as low as -4.5 for Alabama at some books. As of Monday afternoon, however, the vast majority of spreads seem to have settled at Alabama as a 5.5-point favorite.
The average over/under for the total score of the game currently stands at 57.5 points, per Vegas Insider.
According to FanDuel, 58 percent of bets the site has tracked have been on Alabama
From a non-betting perspective, simulations of the game have it incredibly close — FiveThirtyEight’s prediction model gives Alabama a 51 percent chance of winning, Clemson a 49 percent chance. ESPN’s Power Football Index has the split at 51.4 percent Alabama, 48.6 percent Clemson. Fox Sports’ simulation has Alabama winning 55.7 percent of the time.
Over on CBS Sports, 11 college football experts were asked for their prediction of the game, with six tipping Alabama to win and five going with the Tigers. Of ESPN’s 17 experts, just three went with Clemson.
Spreads (as of Jan. 7)
Bovada: -6 Alabama
BetOnline: -5.5 Alabama
Vegas Insider: -5.5 Alabama
Westgate: -5.5 Alabama
Caesar’s: -5.5 Alabama
Wynn: -5.5 Alabama
Unibet: -5.5 Alabama
This story was originally published January 5, 2019 at 2:32 PM.
