BCS Championship Game Betting Preview

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish ended the season at the top of the college football polls and first in the BCS rankings, but they'll still enter Monday night's BCS Championship Game at Miami's Sun Life Stadium as the underdog on the odds at the sportsbooks.

The Fighting Irish went a perfect 12-0 SU and 7-5 ATS during the regular season, while their title game opponents from Alabama had a single blemish at 12-1 SU and 6-7 ATS. Still, it's the Crimson Tide set as the 10.5-point favorite on the betting odds at 5Dimes.

Alabama's loss this season came back on November 10, when they were beaten 29-24 at home as a 13.5-point favorite by Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel and the Texas A&M Aggies. The Crimson Tide rebounded to win their next three games over cupcakes Western Carolina (49-0) and Auburn (49-0) before getting past Georgia 32-28 in the SEC Championship Game as a 9-point favorite on the college football odds.

Those last two games for Alabama were both OVER results, and on the season they trended just slightly to the OVER for totals bettors at 6-5-1. Notre Dame, however, was just 2-10 on the OVER/UNDER this season, with their defense allowing a nation-low 10.3 point per game. The Tide were just behind them at 10.7 points per game allowed, and at 5Dimes the OVER/UNDER for Monday night's title game is pegged at just 40.5.

On the college football team props at Bovada heading into Monday the Crimson Tide are listed as the -180 favorite to score first in the game, with the Fighting Irish a +150 underdog on that prop bet. A touchdown is the -180 favorite to be the night's first score.

With two strong defenses on the field in Miami you can get odds of +145 that there will be a defensive or special teams touchdown scored in this year's BCS Championship Game, with the OVER/UNDER on longest TD of the night at 40.5 yards. As well, at Bovada an interception is the -170 favorite to be the first turnover of the title matchup.

Alabama and Notre Dame had one common opponent this season, with the Crimson Tide beating Michigan 41-14 at home back on September 1 and the Fighting Irish slipping past the Wolverines 13-6 at home on September 22. Everett Golson had just 30 yards passing with two interceptions for Notre Dame against Michigan, while A.J. McCarron threw for 199 yards and two touchdowns for the Tide versus the Wolverines.

Kickoff for the BCS Championship Game at Sun Life Stadium on Monday night is set for 8:30pm ET. At Bovada the Crimson Tide are listed as just 10-point favorites against the Fighting Irish, while they're currently set as 9.5-point favorites on the TopBet lines.