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The Alabama Crimson Tide have been the No. 1 team in America during every poll and College Football Playoff Selection Committee update all season, and they’ll look to stay undefeated when they face the Florida Gators on December 19th in the SEC Championship Game.
Here are the opening odds from DraftKings Sportsbook for the SEC Championship Game:
Opening odds
Point Spread: Alabama (-14.5) vs. Florida
Moneyline: Alabama (-590) Florida (+350)
How they got here
The Tide rolled over everyone all season, going 9-0 before the expected evisceration of Arkansas this coming weekend as 32-point favorites. The statistics are a bit mind-blowing: They’ve averaged 8.1 yards per play while holding opponents to just 5.0, their average margin of victory is 30.9 points per game, and Devonta Smith has caught 80 passes for 1305 yards already. They’re a machine.
Florida has been terrific behind Heisman Trophy favorite quarterback Kyle Trask, who has thrown 322 passes for 3,243 yards this season. In recent years it’s been the Gator defense that has been stalwart, but this year they’ve been outstanding while with the ball. They average 7.3 yards per play with an 8-1 record heading into this weekend’s game with LSU, and tight end Kyle Pitts is likely off to the NFL following his 36 catches for 641 yards and 11 touchdowns in just seven games this year.
Bowl implications
The winner of this game is in the College Football Playoff semifinals, full-stop. But the loser will have a case as well, particularly if it’s close. Florida sits at No. 6, and so a close loss would give them only two on the season: One to Alabama, and one by less than one score to Texas A&M on the road.
If Bama loses, they’ll have played one of the toughest schedules in America and their only blemish would be to another Playoff team. They’d have a case as well, but it would be between a New Year’s Six and College Football Playoff appearance.
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