Water coolers and sports talk radio hosts can rejoice once again this year, as the BCS system has people bemoaning the lack of a true playoff system in college ball.
The Alabama Crimson Tide pulled off a tidy upset of the No. 1 Florida Gators last Saturday, moving into the Championship game. Listed anywhere from as 5.5-point underdogs up to +7, ‘Bama was getting only about 30% of all the betting action by kick-off, according to online sportsbook SPORTSBETTING.com. Bettors took a hit when the Tide defense did a number on Gator QB Tim Tebow enroute to a 32-13 win.
Now Nick Saban and his team will prepare to play the Texas Longhorns, who were much less convincing in their BCS title berth showcase.
Coming into last week ranked No. 3 by the BCS, Texas were set for one of the national championship spots, facing the No. 22 Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Big 12 title game. Texas was in a “win and you’re in” scenario, kicking off as 14-point favorites.
It was hardly a convincing win, as Texas struggled throughout, but they did manage to eke out a 13-12 win to claim the conference championship. Texas bettors were never really in a spot to cover the two touchdowns all game and moneyline bettors were fortunate to get even the straight up win.
The near-loss to the ‘Huskers didn’t matter to the BCS selection committee though as the Longhorns were given a berth to the college football championship game in Pasadena to face the Crimson Tide.
Sunday night SPORTSBETTING.com opened Alabama as a 3.5-point fave. Money immediately flowed in on the Tide and by Monday morning the number moved to -5. It has since gone up to -5.5 as ‘Bama money continues to show up.
The total sites at 44.5, with about 65% of the action so far favoring a play on the “Under”. Bettors have clearly been impressed by this team’s defensive performance all year, but particularly in that matchup with the Gators in the SEC Championship game.
Let’s look at a few numbers for the big game.
Bowl Game Trends
- In the Crimson Tide’s last 10 games when favored by 6-points or less, they are 6-3-1 against the spread.
- In Texas’ last eight games when underdogs of 6-points or less, they are 6-2 straight up and ATS.
We’ll be breaking this game down and all the bowl games over the next few weeks, plus tracking all the betting action on the games.
The bowl lines are up and the betting has begun for what should be another exciting December and January of NCAA football action.
Good luck.
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Bovada Sportsbook •
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