In possibly the most highly anticipated BCS championship game to date, the 12-1 Crimson Tide of Alabama shoot for a second consecutive national title when they take on 12-0 Notre Dame.
BCS Championship Game betting: Alabama vs. Notre Dame odds preview
Alabama is favored to win the BCS championship and with good reason. Their strength of schedule and big-game experience justifies the 10-point spread over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
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The game goes live Monday, Jan. 7 at Sun Life Stadium (8:30 pm ET, ESPN) and has already seen the early BCS championship game odds pushed from a point spread of -8.5 to -10 in favor of the Crimson Tide.
Alabama began this season as a 5/1 shot to repeat as national champs. The Tide then won their first nine games, including a 41-14 drubbing of Michigan, a 52-0 whitewash of Arkansas, a 38-7 win over a ranked Mississippi State outfit and a come-from-behind 21-17 victory at No. 5 LSU.
Alabama then suffered its only defeat of this season when it became a victim of Johnny Football and his Texas A&M Aggies by a 29-24 score in Tuscaloosa. More BCS title game odds, history and preview material here.
The Tide then finished their season by beating Western Carolina and Auburn by identical scores of 49-0, then outlasted Georgia to win the SEC championship game, 32-28. And with help from elsewhere Alabama was back in the BCS title game.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame went off this season getting 25/1 to win the national championship. The Irish then began with a win over Navy in Ireland, later won at Michigan State, beat Michigan, then got some luck of the Leprechauns in beating Stanford and BYU. Notre Dame then earned big kudos from the skeptics when it went into Norman and came away with a 30-13 victory over Oklahoma.
The Irish then got extremely lucky in an overtime win over Pitt, in the form of a missed Panthers FG that would have handed Notre Dame its first loss of the season. The Irish then finished with victories over Boston College, Wake Forest and USC, earning a shot at their first national championship in over 20 years.
The Irish have stumbled in bowl action, going just 2-8 ATS in its past 10 post-season games according to Notre Dame bowl history.
Statistically speakingm Alabama outgained opponents this season by a 439-236 YPG margin, and outrushed foes, 225-80. The Irish outgained opponents, 421-288, and outrushed them, 203-93.
These teams played one common foe this season; the Tide totally dominated Michigan in Week 1 at Cowboys Stadium, while two weeks later Notre Dame out-uglied the Wolverines, 13-6, in South Bend.
Bettors who think the Irish might win this BCS title game outright can get Notre Dame at upwards of +300 on the moneyline at some college football betting outlets.
BCS Championship Game Pick: Alabama has the advantage in big-game experience, while Notre Dame gets to play the underdog role. In this meeting of alleged college football titans, we take the defending champs to win easily. Courtesy of PickShark.com.
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