College football fans and gamblers rejoice, somehow, some way, we made it to bowl season! The upcoming bowl season will look different with just 37 games scheduled compared to 46 last year (understandably so due to the pandemic), but just making it this far calls for a celebration.
As for the main event, aka the College Football Playoff (CFP) field, the four-teams were announced on Sunday: No. 1 Alabama will face No. 4 Notre Dame in the Rose Bowl and No. 2 Clemson will square off against No. 3 Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl. That latter is a rematch of last season's semi final at the Fiesta Bowl, in which the Tigers defeated the Buckeyes 29-23.
Which leads us to the odds for the semifinal matchups. Per the Westgate SuperBook, top-ranked Alabama opened as a massive 20.5-point favorite over No. 4 seed Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are the biggest underdogs in CFP history. On the other side, No. 2 Clemson is a 7-point favorite against No. 3 Ohio State.
While there was some concern that the Golden Domers would drop out of the playoff after getting steamrolled 34-10 by Clemson on Saturday, they were able to secure the fourth spot. Alabama took care of business against a tough Florida team in the SEC. The Crimson Tide never trailed in the SEC Championship Game, outsourcing the Gators, 52-46.
Ohio State cemented its playoff spot with a narrow victory over Northwestern. Unlike the Crimson Tide, the Buckeyes did not have a lead in the Big Ten Championship Game until late in the third quarter. There were definitely some uneasy OSU fans, but the Buckeyes got the job done.
As for the odds to win it all, Alabama opened as the favorite per the SuperBook. Reasonably so, as the majority of analytics sites have them ranked No. 1. For example, ESPN's Football Power Index estimates the Crimson Tide are about 6.4 points better than any other team in the country, with the Buckeyes second.
Here are their updated odds to win the College Football National Championship:
Alabama -200
Clemson +275
Ohio State +1000
Notre Dame +2500
Lastly, here are some fun facts about each of the top four teams. Since the playoff format began in 2014, Alabama has been in six of the first seven playoffs. So has Clemson, as this year makes it six straight appearances for the Tigers. Ohio State will be in the CFP for the fourth time (after the 2014, 2016 and 2019 seasons), while Notre Dame is making its second Playoff appearance (2018).
This year of all years, anything can happen. New Year’s Day can’t get here fast enough!