After weeks and months of great college football action, we are down to one game remaining to decide the champion for this season. The National Championship Game will go on Monday, January 7 and will feature a pair of teams that have developed some real familiarity since the college football playoffs came into being 5 years ago. It is almost hard to believe that this will be the 4th time that the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Clemson Tigers will have met in the postseason, but that is exactly where we are at.
The Tide won last year in the semi-final game, while the other two games were for all the marbles. It is Alabama who holds the edge in those previous meetings, winning 2 of 3, but in terms of their National Championship match-ups, we are looking at an even split. Alabama comes into this one as a 6-point favorite, with the point total set at 59 ½. Let’s take a quick look at how to bet this game.
How to Bet the 2019 NCAA Football National Championship Game
Kendall Joseph on facing Alabama again for the national championship:
“It’s big but we’re just focused on trying to win it for Clemson and the #ClemsonFamily. It’s great playing an amazing opponent but for us, it’s about pride.” pic.twitter.com/AhtA4nwARk — Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) 2 de enero de 2019
- When: Monday, Jan. 7, 8 PM ET
- Where: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, Calif.
- TV: ESPN
- Live Stream: WatchESPN
- Radio: TuneIn
- 2019 National Championship Odds: Alabama Crimson Tide -6 (Total 59.5)
Betting SU on the National Championship Game
- Clemson is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
- Alabama is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Given that Alabama is the defending champions and have won this thing 5 times in the last 9 years, it is perhaps no surprise that they are in as the favorite for this one. As it stands at the moment, you can get Alabama SU at odds of -220, which is not a terrible price, while those of you intent on playing Clemson will get very good odds of +180 if the Tigers are able to pull out the win.
Neither of these two teams has dropped a game this season, a first in their match-ups, so something is going to need to give here. While these two appear evenly matched, I think that from top to bottom, Alabama is just that bit better, which is why I am taking them to win SU.
Betting ATS on the National Championship Game
- Clemson is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games
As we have already mentioned, there are a lot of similarities between these two teams this season, and that is certainly true against the spread, with both teams going 8-6 ATS in their 14 games this season. There are a couple of areas where Clemson have the edge, though, as they have covered in 7 of their last 9 games, while also going 5-1 ATS in games played away from home.
Despite all of that, you need to remember that the closest anyone got to beating Alabama this season was in the SEC Championship Game, where Alabama overcame Georgia to win by 7 points. With that in mind, I have to take Alabama to cover at odds of +100.
Betting O/U on the National Championship Game
- The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Clemson’s last 5 games
- The total has gone OVER in 10 of Alabama’s last 15 games
We are looking at two of the best offenses in college football going head to head here, as these two combined for an average of 92 PPG this season.
That said, it is worth remembering that they also have the top defensive units in the nation, so I don’t really see a scenario where these two aren’t able to make some big defensive stops along the way. Clemson saw just 6 of their 14 games go OVER this season, while Alabama was 9-5 O/U. This one is going to be close in terms of the point total, I believe, but I am taking it to go slightly OVER.
