2017 College Football Playoff National Championship Game: Money Line, Point Spread Standing Pat

TAMPA, FL – Since the first lines were published on New Year’s Day, all of the major Las Vegas sportsbooks show very little movement on their lines for the 2016-17 College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

As of the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 5, most of the major books have Alabama favored by 6.5 points over Clemson in the rematch of last year’s National Championship Game, according to Vegas Insider, a sports gambling information website. Only the Mirage-MGM line favored Alabama by 7 on its last reported time of 3:08 p.m. Eastern.

The money line also has Clemson anywhere between +180 to +220 in the game, which is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 9 at 8 p.m. at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium. Alabama is currently sitting anywhere from -220 to -260 on the money line.

Most of the books are showing very little movement on the point spread, according to the Las Vegas Line Movements page on VegasInsider.com. None of the lines have dipped below a 6-point spread nor gone over a 7-point spread at any time during the past five days.

The same holds true for the money line on the National Championship Game. While there’s more of a gap in the numbers on the money line between most of the major Las Vegas books, most of the books show very little movement on their individual lines.

As mentioned in an article on thespread.com, bookmakers set and move their point spreads and money lines not by which team they think will win but to encourage an equal amount of money wagered on both sides.

Longtime sports fans of the Tampa Bay area may remember the late Chris Thomas, the WFLA-TV sports anchor and WDAE sports radio host, educating his listeners on the same concept. With even money on both sides, it not only helps the bookmakers arrive at an equal take against the betting pubic, but also helps the legitimate sportsbooks determine if illegitimate action suddenly takes place (such as a huge amount of money being bet at the last minute).

The point spread and money lines are subject to change until the National Championship Game begins.

Image via Daniel Ramireez, Flickr, used under Creative Commons