UPDATE: Alabama to face Oklahoma in Miami, favored by 14.5

As expected, the Alabama Crimson Tide were seeded number one by the College Football Playoff committee, and they will play the #4 Oklahoma Sooners on December 29. As the top seed, the Tide got to choose between Dallas and Miami for the venue, and getting Oklahoma out of their familiar surroundings was a no-brainer. Forcing Kyler Murray and the wide open Oklahoma spread to play against a bigger Alabama team on grass should work in the Tide’s favor as well.

As you might expect, Alabama is heavily favored:

Sportswriters are salivating already over the chance to talk up an on-field matchup between Tua Tagovailoa and Kyler Murray. Whichever passer comes in second in the Heisman vote will be branded as an aggrieved party looking to make a statement. In reality, this game will likely come down to Alabama’s ability to trap the diminutive Kyler Murray in the pocket and bat down some passes with their tall defensive front. Six-foot-seven Raekwon Davis will be particularly important in this regard, and super-athletic Quinnen Williams will have an opportunity to put on a show wrangling Murray.

Needless to say, Alabama fans still talk about unfinished business with Oklahoma after the ambush in New Orleans five years ago, where Trevor Knight played the game of his life to take down the Tide. This should be a fun one.

Roll Tide.

UPDATE 1:37pm: Vegas expects a very high scoring affair. This projects a final score of about 47-33.