Ohio State vs. Alabama Total Prediction
Ohio State and Alabama have dynamic offenses but the over/under for Monday night’s National Championship Game is sitting at 75 points. Will these two teams still cash the over or is there smarter money on the under? Kickoff for tonight’s national title game is set for 8:00 p.m. ET from Miami, FL.
Game Snapshot
499 Ohio State Buckeyes (+8.5) at 500 Alabama Crimson Tide (-8.5); o/u 75
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL
8:00 p.m. ET, Monday, January 11, 2021
TV: ESPN
Ohio State Buckeyes Game Notes
Ohio State junior QB Justin Fields (ribs) says he “will be good by Monday night.” Fields’ rib injury clearly did not end up holding him back against Clemson, but he’d certainly liked to play healthy rather than not. During interviews on Thursday, the star QB insisted that he will be “good” to play healthy by Monday night. It’s unlikely that Fields (6’3/228) will be totally, completely healthy given how bad the shot he took looked, but so long as it’s not too agitating, he may be comfortable enough to dice up the Alabama defense the same way he did Clemson’s. Fields will need another career-best performance in order to outgun the Alabama offense.
Alabama Crimson Tide Game Notes
Alabama senior WR DeVonta Smith has been awarded the 2020 Heisman Trophy. Smith was the only finalist this year to not be a QB. A skinny 6-foot-1, 175-pound WR, Smith posted one of the most electric wide receiver seasons the college football world has ever seen. Smith snagged 105 passes for 1,641 yards and a whopping 20 touchdowns, leading the country in all three categories. In fact, Smith had about 450 yards more than the next-closest wide receiver to him. Though he may not be the biggest or strongest wide receiver, Smith’s knack for getting open no matter the route on top of his fantastic speed and YAC-skills leave little mystery as to how he was able to put up a season like this. Smith is the first Heisman winner since Desmond Howard in 1991.
Ohio State vs. Alabama Betting Prediction
It’s either the over or no play for me tonight on this total. The over is 4-1-1 in the Buckeyes’ last six games overall, is 4-1-1 in their last six games coming off a win and is 5-0-1 in their last six games after accumulating more than 450 total yards in their previous game. On the other side, the over is 4-0 in the Crimson Tide’s last four bowl championship games, is 19-7 in their last 26 games after allowing less than 20 points in their previous game and is 22-9-2 in their last 33 neutral site games. With the way these two teams can score, I’m not taking the under.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME OVER/UNDER PREDICTION: OHIO STATE/ALABAMA OVER 75
