With the first matchup of the 2025-26 College Football Playoff now in the books, we now know which program will match up against the Indiana Hoosiers in the upcoming Rose Bowl. Following an improbable comeback in the first-round game on the road against the Oklahoma Sooners, the Alabama Crimson Tide now survive and advance in the CFP bracket.
For the Rose Bowl, DraftKings Sportsbook‘s opening odds list Indiana as -6.5 favorites with -250 odds to win on the Moneyline. Meanwhile, Alabama holds +205 odds to win outright. The game total is set at O/U 49.5 combined points.
2026 Rose Bowl odds analysis
Of course, it’s unsurprising to see Indiana enter this Rose Bowl as somewhat strong favorites to win outright. The Hoosiers secured a bye week for the opening round as the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff picture after downing the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Big Ten Championship, so they’ll be rested and mostly healthy for their first game of the postseason. After a perfect 13-0 campaign heading into this next contest, it’s easy to grasp the outright dominance Indiana showed on both sides of the football — which is why it’s a smidge surprising to see the team listed as just a 6.5-point favorite here. With freshly crowned Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, the sky feels like the limit for this Hoosiers squad that ranked top five in the nation in both points for (39.3) and opponent points allowed per game (11.8).
Granted, it’s a lot more difficult to not believe in this Alabama group after watching the first-round performance the SEC competitor put on tape. The Crimson Tide hit the road to open the College Football Playoff as a 1.5-point underdog heading into Norman, Oklahoma. For a time, it appeared the Crimson Tide may get blown out and flat-out embarrassed in primetime on the national stage after falling behind 17-0 to open that contest. However, Ty Simpson and the offense woke up soon after to score 27 unanswered points and take the lead throughout the second and third quarters. The Alabama defense allowed just seven points during the second half, shutting down an attack that largely got whatever it wanted through the opening portion of the night. Given that showing and the poise shown under pressure, the Tide may actually be better than their three-loss record indicated.
The 2025 Rose Bowl — the Granddaddy of Them All — kicks off at 4 p.m. EST on Thursday, January 1.
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