On Friday Night, the Alabama Crimson Tide picked up a massive victory over the Oklahoma Sooners on the road to stay alive in the hunt for the College Football Playoff National Championship. The game was far from pretty for Kalen DeBoer's team as they fell behind 17-0 early, but they've punched their ticket to the Rose Bowl.
The Rose Bowl will be played on January 1st meaning that Alabama has plenty of time to clean up their mistakes, and they'll need it as they face the top-ranked Indiana Hoosiers. Curt Cignetti's team has shown little to no flaws, and with all the time they've had to get healthy they should come out firing.
Indiana opens as sizable favorites against Alabama in the Rose Bowl
After the Crimson Tide punched their ticket to Pasadena to face Indiana in the Rose Bowl, the oddsmakers went to work setting a line for the game. The initial line has been set as FanDuel Sportsbook made the Hoosiers a 6.5 point favorite over the Crimson Tide. The points total has been set at 48.5 points.
All odds are subject to change
Considering where these teams have been in the college football landscape, to see Curt Cignetti's team open as a sizable favorite over a blue blood is wild to see.
The biggest concern for Indiana will be the long layoff, as it will be 26 days between games for Indiana, which may be the worst thing for an Indiana team that was firing on all cylinders. The long layoff does, however, allow Curt Cignetti's team to get healthy while Alabama had to play another physical game against Oklahoma.
Kalen DeBoer's team, on the other hand, will benefit greatly from the extended time off, as they've been riddled with injuries. Two of Alabama's biggest weapons hardly played against Oklahoma, as Jam Miller and Josh Cuevas are still working back from injury.