Thursday was a national holiday for sports bettors, particularly those with a heavy interest in college football.
The Golden Nugget in Las Vegas released more than 100 “Games of the Year” lines for the sport, prompting a rush of bets from serious gamblers.
Hidden among a flood of tweets relaying changing lines and four-figure tickets was this nugget: Clemson is a two-point favorite over Alabama in the 2019 College Football Playoff championship game.
The game must take place for the wagers to have action. But if that seems silly to post in May, consider that the two programs have met in the College Football Playoff in four consecutive years, including three times in the national championship game.
But Clemson won, 44-16, on Jan. 7, claiming two of the last three national titles. It was perhaps Alabama’s most infamous postseason loss of the Nick Saban era.
The Tigers return sophomore QB Trevor Lawrence, and the Tide return junior QB Tua Tagovailoa. It’s possible that those two will be the No. 1 overall picks in the 2021 and 2020 NFL Draft, respectively.
Since this line is a single game, unlike futures odds, it isn’t an indicator of how likely either team is to make the national championship. So the Golden Nugget is making a statement that Clemson is flat-out better than Alabama as a team (and as a program) in 2019.
South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews also offered a prop on the national championship winner. You can take Clemson-Georgia-Michigan (+140), Alabama-Oklahoma-Ohio State (+150) or The Field (+280).
“We wanted to separate Alabama and Clemson because we think they’re clearly the two best teams,” Andrews told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I’d say it’s probably likely (one of those two teams wins the title).”
The calendar turns to June this weekend. There are a maximum of six more NBA games. Preseason college football magazines are starting to arrive on newsstands and in mailboxes.
The return of football is still a waiting game, but “talking season,” as Steve Spurrier used to call it, is heating up.
Will Nick Saban win another national championship, breaking a tie with Bear Bryant for most all-time? Will Dabo Swinney make it clear to the world that Clemson has surpassed Alabama? Or will another national power break up the stranglehold those two teams have put on the rest of college football?
We’ll start to find out in less than three months.