Alabama and Oregon have opened as betting favorites for their national semifinal matchups in the College Football Playoff.
The Tide and the Ducks concluded the regular season with convincing win in their respective conference championship games -- Alabama with a 42-13 win against Missouri while Oregon avenged its only loss of the season in a 51-13 rout of Arizona -- and seemed to be locks for the top two spots in the final rankings, while an intense debate raged on the order of No. 3 through No. 6.
Florida State and Ohio State got the nod, as you know by now, and both open as underdogs to their semifinal foes. According to RJ Bell of Pregame.com, this is the first time in 50 games that the Seminoles not been favored.
College Football Playoff Odds, via Pregame.com:
Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. Ohio State (+10)
Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Florida State (+7.5)
Alabama (+125) is also a slight favorite over Oregon (+160) to win the national title. Both teams are far ahead of Ohio State (+700) and Florida State (+800).
