Alabama opens as TD(ish) favorite on Clemson

The confetti has barely stopped flittering its way down as we ring in yet another New Year, but that doesn’t mean the sports books aren’t still hard at work.

New Year’s Eve, Clemson, following a competitive first half, took Oklahoma to the woodshed in the second half to secure a convincing 37-17 win in the Orange Bowl. In the second half of the College Football Playoff doubleheader, Alabama eschewed any type of first-half parsing in routing Michigan State 38-0 in the Cotton Bowl.

With those two results, the second CFP national championship game is set: Alabama vs. Clemson a week from Monday in Glendale Arizona. And, according to BookMaker Sportsbook, the Tide will open as a 6.5 favorite on the Tigers, the only undefeated FBS team in the country.

Below is the book’s explanation:

We saw a pair of one-sided games in the semifinals. The Clemson win was more impressive, although not terribly surprising. Alabama beat a vastly inferior squad as the Spartans were the lowest rated team among the four in our eyes. We didn’t want to open on the key number so we could let the action dictate which direction we went. The expected shift is Alabama, and we’ve already moved some juice after opening at -6.5 (-110). The namesake, the pedigree, most is going to be Alabama money.

That said, expect that line to shrink in the 10 days between now and the kickoff of what should be a very, very intriguing title game.