Four down, one to go. Yes, the BCS bowl fun ends on Monday night when top ranked Notre Dame battles No. 2 Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game. The Fighting Irish, despite their unblemished record, opened as a 10 point underdog and they are still hanging around that number with the latest 2013 BCS National Championship Odds showing them at +9.5. Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide are drawing -350 moneyline odds ($350 wins $100) to capture their third national championship in the last four years.

Notre Dame faced, by all accounts, a difficult 2012 slate, squaring off against the likes of Michigan State, Michigan, Stanford, BYU, Oklahoma, and USC. Despite the Irish knocking off all of those teams as well as the rest of schools that graced their schedule, they are still a near double digit underdog to Alabama.

It seems bettors are unwilling to jump on the Notre Dame bandwagon even with the SEC faltering in a number of bowl games as Florida, LSU, and Mississippi State all suffered postseason losses. Nor has Notre Dame’s top ranked defense (10.3 points, 286.8 yards per game allowed) generated much love.

The Alabama mystique, obviously, carries a lot of weight, but it remains to be seen if the team will live up to bettor expectations. This writer, for one, has some doubts considering how the Crimson Tide struggled against the three best teams they played (LSU, Texas A&M, Georgia).

The BCS National Championship Game is scheduled to kickoff at 8:00pm ET on Monday, January 7th at Sun Life Stadium in Miami; it will be broadcast live on ESPN.

2013 BCS National Championship Odds:

Notre Dame Fighting Irish +9.5 (-110), Over 40.5 (-110), -350 (Moneyline)

Alabama Crimson Tide -9.5 (-110), Under 40.5 (-110), +290 (Moneyline)

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