Alabama and Clemson will meet in the CFP National Championship for the third time in the last four years — and the Crimson Tide are once again the favorites.
Alabama has been installed as a six-point favorite over Clemson for in the championship game on Jan. 7 (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET) in Santa Clara, California.
It is the fourth straight season the Crimson Tide and Tigers will meet in the playoff. Alabama beat Clemson 24-6 in a semifinal last season, and the teams split their two meetings in the title game in 2016 and 2017.
Alabama reached the championship game for a fourth straight year with a 45-34 win over Oklahoma on Saturday in the Orange Bowl. Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban will be looking for a record seventh national championship.
Alabama has been favored in its last 53 games and 126 of its past 127. The Crimson Tide were a consensus 1-point underdog at Georgia in 2015.
Barring dramatic line movement, Clemson will be an underdog for only fifth time in the last three seasons.
The Tigers rolled past Notre Dame 30-3 in the Cotton Bowl on Saturday to advance to their third national championship game in the last four years. The Clemson route was costly for the betting public, which sided heavily with the underdog Fighting Irish. Among several large bets on Notre Dame was a $60,000 money-line wager placed Saturday morning at a William Hill sportsbook.
A betting line on a potential title game rematch between Alabama and Clemson has been available for two months. In November, the SuperBook at the Westgate Las Vegas opened the Crimson Tide as 8.5-point favorites over Clemson.
The over/under on next week’s title game opened at 57.5 at the SuperBook, but quickly moved to 59.5.