The bracket for the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff is official, and the experts in Las Vegas don’t seem to think any of the first round games will be particularly close.
Sportsbooks have posted their opening lines for the four first round CFP games, and none of the point spreads are within a touchdown and extra point. The closest of the four games, Tennessee-Ohio State, opened with the Buckeyes being 7.5-point favorites. Penn State opened as 8-point favorites against SMU, Notre Dame as 8.5-point favorites against Indiana, and Texas as 10.5-point favorites against Clemson.
first look at the CFP First Round lines on @DKSportsbook.
closest opening line is Ohio State -7.5 vs Tennessee pic.twitter.com/gWJlhYXLov
— Mike Golic Jr (@mikegolicjr) December 8, 2024
For many, one of the chief concerns about an expanded playoff was the quality of games. Even in the old four team playoff format, first round games had a tendency to get out of hand. If the first round proves to be blowout-prone in the new format, the overall quality of the television product may quickly come into question.
One factor impacting the lines could be home field advantage. For the first time ever, the better-seeded team will host games from on-campus sites. So not only is the better-seeded team usually, well, better, but they’ll also have the built-in advantage of playing at home.
It’ll be interesting to monitor the fan interest in these games, whether they are competitive or not. Two first round games will be competing head-to-head with a couple of high-profile NFL matchups. Close games would certainly help the CFP craft a successful narrative when it comes to the commercial success of the expanded format.
