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Rose Bowl preview: Will Notre Dame engage in track meet with Alabama?

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Alabama and Notre Dame meet in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day with a trip to the College Football Playoff National Championship on the line.

Here's everything bettors need to know about the highly anticipated clash.

Notre Dame vs. Alabama (-19,5, 65.5), 4:00 p.m. ET

If it were up to SP+, Florida - not Notre Dame - would get the fourth and final playoff spot. The Fighting Irish dipped all the way back to No. 9 per the advanced metric's power ratings after losing to Clemson in the ACC title game 34-10.

Other than that, Notre Dame had seemingly been perfect.

The defeat to Clemson is still the only blemish on the ledger for Notre Dame, which lost the yards-per-play battle for just the second time all year. The Fighting Irish finished the season with a plus-16.5 average scoring margin, all while playing the eighth-toughest schedule in the country.

Brian Kelly and Co. are underdogs for just the third time all year. The program hasn't been great in this spot in particular, going just 3-7 against the spread the last 10 bowl games as a 'dog.

Notre Dame played a handful of above-average teams this year, but Alabama's a different animal. The Crimson Tide won all 10 games during the regular season by at least 15 points, then hung 52 on Florida in the SEC title game. The offense, which is averaging close to 50 points per game in the toughest conference in college football, is led by a pair of Heisman finalists in quarterback Mac Jones and wide receiver Devonta Smith.

Head coach Nick Saban's cashed 21 of the last 27 team total overs in neutral-site games, minus playoff or BCS contests.

Notable betting trends

  • Notre Dame is 6-1 ATS the last seven versus teams with winning records
  • Notre Dame is 4-0 to the under the last four against the SEC
  • Notre Dame is 5-2 to the under the last seven as an underdog
  • Alabama is 7-0 ATS the last seven after failing to cover
  • Alabama is 4-0 to the under the last four semifinal games

Best bets - 1H under 33.5

The only teams capable of taking down Alabama are the ones that aren't afraid to match pace. Florida went toe to toe with the Tide in a 52-46 loss in the conference title game; Ole Miss, another potent offense that operates at a breakneck tempo, was the closest during the regular season in a 63-48 shootout.

How fun would it be to watch Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book drop back 50 times and utilize a skill corps that's been quietly spectacular this season? Unfortunately, that's just not the program's style. The biggest edge is in the trenches for the Fighting Irish, who run the ball on 57.7% of offensive snaps and rank No. 21 in the nation in rush yards per game.

Kelly will learn that he has to throw on Alabama, but how late in the game will that be? I just can't see a scenario where this turns into a track meet, especially early.

Alabama's offense is terrifying. But the Tide usually save all their juice for the title game, as they've gone under in four straight semifinals.

I'm predicting a lower-scoring game throughout, but the safer play's on the first-half total.

(Odds source: theScore Bet)

Alex Kolodziej is a betting writer for theScore. He's a graduate of Eastern Illinois who has been involved in the sports betting industry for 12 years. He can quote every line from "Rounders" and appreciates franchises that regularly wear alternate jerseys. Find him on Twitter @AJKolodziej.

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