At least as far as one wagering website is concerned, the New Year’s Day semifinal games aren’t expected to be tight affairs. And the SEC rep will be hoisting the new College Football Playoff trophy the night of Jan. 12.
Monday, Bovada.lv released its opening lines for the two semifinal games as well as the odds for which team will claim the 2014 national championship. On the former front, No. 1 Alabama opened up as a 10-point favorite on No. 4 Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl, while No. 2 Oregon is listed as a nine-point favorite in the Rose Bowl against No. 3 Florida State.
Riding a 29-game winning streak, FSU hasn’t lost a game by nine or more points since its last setback, a 37-26 decision Nov. 24, 2012, to Florida. Prior to that, the Seminoles’ last loss by that margin or more came Sept. 17, 2011, a 23-13 loss at home to Oklahoma.
OSU has lost three games in the three years under Urban Meyer, and two of those -- 35-21 to Virginia Tech on Sept. 6 of this year, 34-24 to Michigan State in the 2013 Big Ten Championship game last December -- have come by double-digit margins.
As for Bovada‘s title odds, Alabama is a slight favorite over Oregon, with the Tide at 11/10 and the Ducks at 7/4. Relatively speaking, FSU and OSU are considered longshots, with the latter at 13/2 and the former at 7/1.
When it comes to the exact matchup in the CFP title game? These particular Vegas odds agree wholeheartedly with the predictions of the CFT crew:
Alabama vs Oregon -- 5/8
Alabama vs Florida State -- 7/2
Ohio State vs Oregon -- 4/1
Ohio State vs Florida State -- 12/1