For the first time this year, the Ohio State Buckeyes are not the favorite to win the College Football Playoff at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook. That role belongs to the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Alabama is now the 5-2 favorite at the SuperBook, followed closely by the Buckeyes at 11-4, Clemson at 7-2 and Notre Dame at 8-1. Those four teams topped last week's College Football Playoff rankings, with Clemson at No. 1. Oklahoma is next at 10-1, followed by Oklahoma State at 12-1, Iowa at 20-1 and Florida at 25-1.
Ed Salmons, head football oddsmaker at the SuperBook, says he would make Alabama a "3- or 4-point favorite" over Ohio State right now on a neutral field. Salmons moved the Crimson Tide into the role of favorite because they appear to have an easier path to the playoff than the defending champion Buckeyes.
Alabama hosts Charleston Southern on Saturday, before finishing the regular season at Auburn. The Crimson Tide will likely face SEC East champion Florida in the conference title game.
The Buckeyes opened as 13.5-point home favorites over Michigan State this week. They'll close the regular season against Michigan and potentially a Big Ten championship game against Iowa.
The new playoff rankings will be released Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN and WatchESPN .
Oklahoma, on the strength of its win at Baylor, improved from 20-1 to 10-1 at the SuperBook. The Sooners' 44-34 upset of Baylor produced the biggest loss of Saturday for the MGM sportsbook. Oklahoma opened as a 4.5-point underdog to the Bears, but money poured in on the Sooners all week, dropping the line to as low as Baylor -1.5.
"I was telling [assistant manager] Jeff [Stoneback] earlier in the week that I didn't want to lose to Oklahoma here, but we just couldn't stop the money," MGM vice president of race and sports Jay Rood said.
The Sooners host TCU this week before ending the regular season at Oklahoma State.
Notable big game lines
(Courtesy of Westgate SuperBook)
Oklahoma -4.5 at Oklahoma State
Ohio State -6.5 at Michigan
Alabama -13.5 at Auburn
Florida State at Florida -5.5
Notre Dame at Stanford -2.5