How and what to watch for Alabama vs. Ohio State in the CFP National Championship Game

The Ohio State Buckeyes and Alabama Crimson Tide will put a bow on the 2020-21 college football season with the national title game on Monday, Jan. 11 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida.

Alabama comes into this game with a 12-0 record after defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 31-14 in the College Football Playoff semifinal game. The Crimson Tide went through a 10-game regular season against only SEC teams, beat the Florida Gators in the conference title and finds themselves unscathed to this point. Alabama finished with three players inside of the top five in the Heisman voting including the winner wide receiver DeVonta Smith. Quarterback Mac Jones was a Heisman finalist, and Najee Harris finished in the top five in the voting.

Ohio State had a very unique season and played just seven games to this point. The Buckeyes had three games canceled due to the coronavirus, and the Big Ten changed its rules to make sure Ohio State had a chance at the conference title. OSU didn’t play their best, but got the victory over the Northwestern Wildcats, then pulled off an upset over the Clemson Tigers in the Sugar Bowl. Justin Fields played a phenomenal game with six touchdowns, and he’s going to be the big story as he took a big hit that may impact him in this game.

Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming

You can watch Ohio State VS. Alabama in the College Football Playoff national championship on Monday, January 11 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. You can stream it via WatchESPN or the ESPN app with a cable or streaming service login.

Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends

Point spread: Alabama -9
Point Total: 75
Money line: Alabama -315, Ohio State +240

• Alabama is 7-2 against the spread in its last nine games, and Ohio State is 4-3 against the spread in its seven games this year.
• The under cashed just once in Ohio State’s last six games, and Alabama hit the under in five of its last eight games.

CFP National Championship Betting splits

Alabama: (61% of handle, 58% percent of bets)
Ohio State: (39% of handle, 42% percent of bets)

The Best Bet

The lines for this one seem pretty tight, and if it got on the other side of 10 we might lean the other way, but we’ll take the Crimson Tide to pull it out and cover. Their offensive firepower is overwhelming, and with some potential roster and COVID-19 issues for the Buckeyes they’ll have an opportunity to score on basically every possession.

Pick: Alabama -9

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