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With the notable exception of Friday night’s Alabama-oklahola According to Showdown, bettors are in no rush to place bets on the opening week of this season’s College Football Playoff.
The presence of the two Group of Five representatives – 11th-seeded Tulane and 12th-seeded James Madison – in a matchup in which they are significantly underdogs has taken much of the shine off the first round.
seeded sixth mississippi BetMGM Sportsbook has a 17 1/2-point favorite over Tulane, and No. 5 Oregon is a 20 1/2-point favorite over James Madison.
“It’s not as hyped and exciting as it was in years past,” said Joey Feazell, head of football at Caesars Sportsbook. “But I’m sure when we get to the next round, it will be exciting and we’ll make big gains there.”
There could be a number of interesting contests in the quarterfinals on New Year’s Eve and Day, but there is a real possibility that this weekend will end with a few contests.
“We are still waiting for big action,” said BetMGM trading manager Seamus Magee.
Crimson Tide-Sooners almost tossup
The most anticipated matchup of the week is eighth-seeded Oklahoma’s home match against the ninth-seeded AlabamaThe betting lines swing back and forth as to which team is the favorite,
The Sooners were favored by 1 1/2 points at BetMGM as of Thursday afternoon in their third meeting in 13 months. Oklahoma won the first two games and will be at home for this match.
CBS SportsLine handicapper Bruce Marshall said there are major question marks on both offenses. Bama’s running game has not fared well against top competition and had minus 3 yards rushing in the Southeastern Conference title game loss to Georgia. Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer has struggled to find his rhythm since returning from injury.
“The rematch thing makes you look a little bit like Alabama here, but I don’t know that they look like they’re a threat to go deeper than this round,” Marshall said. “They may get it, but they have to play much better than they did last month, certainly much better than the performance they had against Georgia. There was no point in that effort. There was no reason for them to be as flat as they were in that game.”
The Buckeyes are still the team to beat
second seed Ohio State Might have lost the Big Ten title game IndianaThe Hoosiers were given the top seed, but the odds are still in favor of the Buckeyes.
BetMGM has the Buckeyes listed at +225 to win the national championship; Indiana is right behind at +275. Third-seeded Georgia is in second place at +500.
Bookies have seen this film. Ohio State missed the playoff last season after a blowout loss to Michigan, but then went on to win the national championship in the postseason. Every win was by double digits.
“Ohio State is the No. 1 team to bet on by a wide margin, but they’ve been priced very low all year,” Magee said. “My prediction is Ohio State over Indiana. You saw Ohio State lose to Michigan last year, they lost to Indiana this year, but you see what this team is capable of doing come playoff time.”
Ole Miss a mystery without Kiffin
Lane Kiffin wanted to remain coach of Ole Miss in the playoffs after taking the LSU job, but was told his services were no longer needed at Oxford.
What this means for the fate of the rebels is hard to know. They were considered borderline national championship contenders under Kiffin, but other than an expected win in the first round, how far the Rebels would go is uncertain. They are listed at 25-1 to win the title at BetMGM – behind eight other teams.
Marshall said it may be difficult to replicate the growth of quarterback Trinidad Chambliss under Kiffin.
Marshall said, “Kiffin was so involved in those mechanics and play calling, (his absence) might have really hurt Ole Miss a little bit.” “It can work both ways. They can really galvanize and circle the wagons around (coach Pete) Golding, but I think the nuances of play caller without Kiffin might hurt Chambliss a little bit.”
rest vs rust
All four schools that received first-round byes had lost in the quarterfinals the previous season when the CFP went to a 12-team format for the first time.
The biggest downside to getting a bye is having to wait about three weeks to get on the field for a game and maybe not be as sharp.
However, Feazell did not believe that theory.
“This is talking about a one-year trend,” Feazell said. “We’re (only) talking about four games where it happened last year. … I think getting the bye is still an advantage, especially given the time to prepare depending on the coach.”
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