Oregon’s blowout of Indiana on Friday caused sportsbooks to significantly adjust the point spread on the College Football Playoff National Championship against Miami.
The Hoosiers opened as 7.5-point favorites against Miami for the Jan. 19 championship game to be played on the Hurricanes’ home field at Hard Rock Stadium. Indiana had been listed as a 5.5-point favorite against Miami in early point spreads available ahead of the semifinals at DraftKings and other sportsbooks. When the line was re-posted Friday night, Indiana had emerged as a touchdown favorite.
The 2-point adjustment, via the key number of 7, reflects how impressive Indiana was in its 56-22 rout of Oregon on Friday in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Over the past 10 seasons, teams favored by 7.5 points have won 75 percent of games by a stretch, according to ESPN Research.
Miami advanced to the championship game with a thrilling 31-27 victory over Ole Miss in Thursday’s Vrbo Fiesta Bowl. The Hurricanes were installed as +260 underdogs to beat Indiana outright.
Early bets on DraftKings were balanced on Saturday morning.
This is one of the most improbable championship games of the BCS/CFP era. Indiana entered the season about 150-1 to win the national championship and received little interest from the betting public. The Hurricanes started the season 40-1 to win the title and attracted four times as much money from bettors as had been wagered on Indiana at the BetMGM sportsbook.
Since 2014, only two teams with preseason title odds of 40-1 or higher have reached the championship game (Ohio State in 2014, Washington in 2023), according to SportsOddsHistory.com.
