CFP National Championship on the Line Tonight – January 8

The CFP title all comes down to this. Tonight, at NRG Stadium in Houston, the No. 1-ranked Michigan Wolverines will take on No. 2 Washington in the CFP national championship game. Kickoff is set for 7:45 p.m. ET. You can watch one of a number of telecasts on the ESPN family of networks. 

Michigan made the CFP final after beating Alabama 27-20 in the Rose Bowl last Monday. The game went to overtime where Wolverines RB Blake Corum scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 17-yard run. Michigan’s top-ranked defense then stopped Alabama on a 4th-and-3 to win the game and advance. 

Washington advanced to the CFP title game with a win over Texas in the Sugar Bowl. Three consecutive scores to start the second half put the Huskies up 34-21 before the Longhorns rallied to make it respectable. Texas kicked a field goal with 1:09 remaining in the game but failed to recover the ensuing onside kick. Washington ran out the clock to win and advance to tonight’s game.

CFP Line & Odds

Michigan opened as a 6.5-point favorite for tonight’s CFP title game. The line is now 4.5 as the public has been hammering Washington. Several of our Sports Hub expert handicappers have picks for this game in our database already. There will be more to come to throughout the day. If you want to see who our guys are on, you’ll need a SportsHub membership. 

Michigan has been the better team against the spread going 8-5-1 ATS for the season. The Wolverines have been even better over the latter portion of the season going 8-2 ATS in their last ten games. Washington is 7-6-1 ATS for the season and 4-2 ATS in its last six games. Interestingly, Michigan is 14-0 SU in its last 14 games as a favorite and Washington is 5-0 ATS in its last five as an underdog.

Playing the CFP Total

Tonight’s total is set at 56.5 right now. The total for the CFP national championship opened at 53.5 and has inched upward. A lot of that is due to public bettors who tend to favor the Over. Both teams do have high-powered offenses and score a lot of points. Washington and QB Michael Penix Jr. average 37.6 points per game in their pass-heavy offense. Penix leads the nation in passing yards with 4,648. He also has 35 touchdown passes. 

Michigan is a run-heavy offense that averages 36 points per game. Blake Corum, who scored the winning touchdown against Alabama in the semifinal, has rushed for 1,111 yards and 25 touchdowns. QB J.J. McCarthy has thrown for 2,851 yards and 22 touchdowns. What really makes Michigan go is its defense. The Wolverines rank No. 1 against the pass and No. 1 in scoring defense. Michigan has allowed an average of 10.2 points per game this season. 

For more on the best bets for tonight’s CFP title game, visit our college football bowl picks page. There is a wealth of information about tonight’s game including the best ATS, moneyline, and totals picks. 

The Best Handicappers in the Industry

Once again, the best sports handicappers on the planet got it done last night. In yesterday’s Sports Hub Top 5 there were three of our very own SportsHub experts. Jimmy Liu, Logan Wilson, and Evan Lewis are three of the best and you can only find them here at Sports Hub. Among the three of them, they went 4-0 and won $1000 yesterday. That’s the kind of action that any bettor would love to see. And you can. Just join Sports Hub.

Here’s yesterday’s top cappers.

• Liu & the new guy: Jimmy Liu and a relatively new capper here at Sports Hub, Reggie Garrett, both went 4-0 and won $400 yesterday. Jimmy is on a recent tear, going 8-1 over the last three days and earning $690. For the week, he’s up $1047!

• Evan & Logan: Both of these guys went 3-0 and earned $300. Over the last three days, Evan is 5-2 and has added $385 to his bankroll. Logan has been in our top-5 several times over the last month. That’s why he’s up $1039 over the last 30 days.
• Our friends at Gambling911.com: We have a solid relationship with the guys over at Gambling911.com and it was nice to see their success yesterday. They went 3-0 and added another $300 to their bankroll. 
• Rest of the top-10: There were three more Sports Hub experts among yesterday’s Top 10. The Sports Hub Insider, Neal Harris, and James Acker combined to go 8-2 and earn $595. 

NFL Playoffs Set, CFP Title Decided Tonight

In addition to tonight’s CFP final, the NFL postseason field is now set. The Buffalo Bills pulled off a miraculous comeback to win their fourth straight AFC East title and earn the No. 2 seed in the AFC. The Pittsburgh Steelers got in with a win on Saturday and a Jacksonville loss yesterday. In the NFC the Green Bay Packers earned the seventh and final seed with a win yesterday. The wild card round gets underway next Saturday.

With the NFL regular season ending yesterday, today is Black Monday. That’s the day when teams that underachieved typically fire their head coach. So far, we have two that are gone.

• Falcons fire Smith: Arthur Smith went 21-30 as Atlanta’s head coach over the last three seasons. Yesterday, Smith went off on New Orleans head coach Dennis Allen after the Saints scored a late touchdown. Guess your team should have played some defense, Art.
• Rivera out: After a 4-13 season, Ron Rivera is out as head coach of the Washington Commanders. In four seasons, Rivera’s teams went 26-40-1 in his four seasons. New owner Josh Harris has hired two prominent executives – former Vikings GM Rick Spielman and former Golden State Warriors GM Rob Myers – to help with the overhaul of the franchise.

• Incentives: Jadeveon Clowney recorded his ninth sack of the season yesterday and earned a cool $750K bonus in the process. A number of NFL players earned performance-based bonuses yesterday.
• Jackrabbits: South Dakota State repeated as FCS national champions with a 23-3 win over Montana yesterday. It was the Jackrabbits third trip to the title game in the past four seasons.

CFP Title Game Heads Tonight’s Schedule

Tonight’s CFP national title game is the big one on the schedule tonight. Make sure you visit Sports Hub for more content on the game and check out our picks database which is filling up nicely with expert handicapper picks for the big game. The CFP championship is not the only thing on the sports schedule. 

Let’s check it out.

1. CFP national championship: Michigan faces Washington tonight with the winner claiming college football’s national title.

2. NBA: There are six games on the NBA schedule tonight. Phoenix is in Los Angeles to face the Clippers in the NBATV game.
3. College basketball: The college basketball season heads into conference schedules. There are only 13 games tonight, but get ready. March Madness will be here before you know it.
4. NHL: Four games are on the NHL schedule tonight. The in-state Pittsburgh-Philadelphia matchup at the Wells Fargo Center in Philly is on the NHL Network tonight.
5. Soccer: There are only 11 soccer matches around the world today. Wigan Athletic faces Manchester United in the English FA Cup.
6. Tennis: The ASB Classic and Adelaide International for both men and women continue today. The Hobart International also continues for the women today. The preliminary rounds of the Australian Open for both men and women continue today.

When you come back tomorrow, we’ll have a CFP national champion. Who will it be? Get yourselves on the right side of the action with Sports Hub. We’re here all day long providing you great content and, most importantly, CFP picks. Visit our picks database throughout the day to see how the pros are betting this one. Good luck!