Water coolers and sports talk radio hosts can rejoice once again this year as the BCS system has people bemoaning the lack of a true playoff system in college ball.
The Alabama Crimson Tide pulled off a tidy upset of the No. 1 Florida Gators last Saturday, moving into the Championship game.
Listed anywhere from as 5 1/2- to 7-point underdogs, ‘Bama was only getting about 30 percent of all the betting action by kick-off, according to online sportsbook SPORTSBETTING.com. As a result, bettors took a hit when the Tide defense did a number on Gator QB Tim Tebow en route to a 32-13 win.
Now Nick Saban and his team will prepare to play the Texas Longhorns, who were much less convincing in the game that earned them a ticket to the BCS title game.
Heading into last weekend ranked No. 3 by the BCS, Texas faced No. 22 Nebraska in the Big 12 title game. Texas was in a “win and you’re in the BCS” scenario, kicking off as 14-point favorites.
It was hardly a convincing win. Texas struggled throughout, managing to eke out a 13-12 win to claim the conference championship. Texas pointspread bettors were clobbered and the few moneyline bettors, who swallowed odds of up to -700 on the Horns, were incredibly lucky not to go broke.
The near-loss to the ‘Huskers didn’t matter to the BCS selection committee though as the Longhorns were given a berth to the college football championship game in Pasadena to face the Crimson Tide.
Sunday night SPORTSBETTING.com opened Alabama as a 3.5-point chalk. Money immediately flowed in on the Tide, and by Monday morning, the number moved to -5. It has since increased to -5.5 as ‘Bama money continues to pile up.
The total is set at 44.5 with about 65 percent of the action so far on the “under”. Bettors have clearly been impressed by the Tide’s defensive performance, especially against the Gators in the SEC Championship game.
Let’s look at a couple of key college football betting stats for the big game.
In the Crimson Tide’s last 10 games when favored by 6-points or less, they are 6-3-1 against the spread.
In Texas’ last eight games when underdogs of 6-points or less, the Longhorns are 6-2 straight up and ATS.
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Title: BCS Championship: Tide money rising
Duration: 0:00
Submited by: SportsBetting.com
Category: Sports Roundup
Added on: December 15th, 2009
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