The Alabama Crimson Tide finished the regular season as the unanimous No. 1 team in the country after a dominant 11-0 SU and 8-3 ATS campaign. The Crimson Tide will look to keep things rolling when they face the No. 4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Rose Bowl on Friday night in Arlington.
- Date/Time: January 1, 4 p.m. ET
- Stadium: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
- TV Coverage: ESPN
- Sportsbook Odds: Alabama -20 | O/U 65 (Line History)
- Notre Dame vs Alabama Matchup Report
Rose Bowl Odds Analysis
The line on the Rose Bowl has remained steady with the Crimson Tide going off as 20-point favorites. Early action on OVER 65 points has moved the Sportsbook line up slightly to 65.5 points. The UNDER is 4-1 in Notre Dame’s last five games against SEC opponents.
Notre Dame News & Notes
The Fighting Irish had a 16-0 SU and 10-6 ATS winning streak snapped in the ACC championship game against the Clemson Tigers when they lost handily by a final score of 34-10. Despite the ugly loss, the College Football Playoff selection committee determined that Notre Dame was still worthy of a playoff spot over the 8-1 Texas A&M Aggies.
So Notre Dame is now tasked with bouncing back from its worst game of the season against the best team in the nation on Friday. Kyren Williams was held to just 3.3 yards per carry in the loss after averaging 5.4 yards per carry over the Fighting Irish’s 10-0 SU and 5-5 ATS start to the season. Establishing the running game and keeping Alabama’s potent offense off the field is probably Notre Dame’s best shot at keeping an upset within reach.
Alabama News & Notes
Alabama’s defense had a rare off-day against the Florida Gators in the SEC championship game. The Crimson Tide gave up 46 points to the Gators, more than they had surrendered in their previous five games combined.
But the outcome of the game was never really in doubt: Mac Jones went 33-for-43 with 418 passing yards and five passing touchdowns, Najee Harris rushed for 178 yards and scored five touchdowns, and DeVonta Smith caught 15 passes for 184 yards and two majors.
The No. 1 team in the nation finished the regular season averaging 543.9 total yards and 49.7 points per game. Alabama’s elite talent on both sides of the ball leaves plenty of room for error, which is shown in the team’s staggering average margin of victory of 30.2 points.
Betting Pick: OVER 65 points
Before scoring only 10 points against Clemson, Notre Dame had averaged 40.7 points per game over its previous six. With Alabama’s offense sure to put up a ton of points, the Fighting Irish won’t need to do much to send this one OVER the posted total.
- Alabama is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games.
- Notre Dame is 1-8 SU in its last 9 January games.
- The OVER is 13-7 in Alabama’s last 20 bowl games.
