Vegas oddsmakers just hopped on the Oklahoma Sooners’ bandwagon.
After every major sportsbook opened the No. 8 Sooners as underdogs in a home rematch with No. 9 Alabama in the first round of the College Football Playoff at 7 p.m. CT Friday in Norman, oddsmakers completely flipped just two days before kickoff.
Betting odds suddenly flip in Sooners' favor
As of Wednesday afternoon, most major sportsbook listed the Sooners as 1.5-point favorites over the Crimson Tide, including FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars and BetMGM. BetRivers put the spread at just one point in OU’s favor.
When the bracket and first-round matchup was announced on Dec. 7, FanDuel immediately put OU as a 1.5-point underdog before flipping the script over a week later. Most oddsmakers followed suit with those opening odds until BetMGM briefly set OU as a 1.5-point favorite on Dec. 11 before going back to Bama.
The Oklahoma-Alabama spread has been the smallest among all first-round matchups since the bracket was revealed. The next is No. 7 Texas A&M as a 3.5-point favorite over No. 10 Miami.
The biggest change between Tuesday and Wednesday was the release of the first availability report on Tuesday evening. The report favored the Sooners, especially while confirming the return of star defensive end R Mason Thomas, who was injured when OU beat Bama 23-21 earlier this season in Tuscaloosa. The Sooners were 6.5-point underdogs before that road matchup.
However, even though FanDuel now has the Sooners favored to beat Alabama on Friday, they still somehow have worse odds to get through the whole bracket and win the national championship.
As of Wednesday afternoon, OU’s title odds were at +4500, according to FanDuel, which was better than only Group of Five participants Tulane and James Madison. Bama’s odds were +2200, also better than Ole Miss and Miami. Ohio State had the best odds at +195.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.