Cotton Bowl 2015: Latest Odds, Prediction for Alabama vs. Michigan State Playoff

For the second straight year, the Alabama Crimson Tide enter the College Football Playoff as the favorites to win the national title, according to Odds Shark.

The Tide have jumped to a whopping 9.5-point favorite over the Michigan State Spartans for the Cotton Bowl in the largest playoff spread yet, now in the second year under the CFP format. 

The four playoff teams haven't been kind to Vegas, as David Payne Purdum of ESPN.com showed:

Alabama marches to the playoff riding a 10-game win streak during which it's outscored opponents 334-115. 

The Tide have returned to championship form in archetype fashion through dominant defense. Alabama's unit ranks second overall (258.2 yards per game), first against the run (74 yards), third in scoring (14 points), fourth in pass efficiency (100.98) and sixth on third down (27.9 percent conversion). 

Michigan State is averaging 32.1 points per game and ranks fourth in the Big Ten in total offense (396.8 yards per game), but it'll face a tall task to reach those averages in what will be its toughest game yet—and arguably the most monumental in program history. 

Where the Spartans may have the edge is in grit. Their three biggest games this year—at Michigan, at Ohio State and against Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game—were all won in the final seconds.

Mike Hall of the Big Ten Network showed how well the Spartans have played in high-stakes games under head coach Mark Dantonio, a protege of Alabama head coach Nick Saban: 

Alabama opened as nine-point favorites against Ohio State in last year's national semifinal, but the Buckeyes, after narrowly getting in the playoff in the final week, went on to win the title as underdogs in both playoff games against the Crimson Tide and Oregon Ducks. 

So overcoming the odds—as hefty as they may seem—isn't out of the realm of possibility. 

But Alabama is favored for a reason, and while the Spartans will present a remarkable challenge, the Tide will reach the national title game with a win in what should be a tight tilt—one closer than many anticipate.

Prediction: Alabama 23 Michigan State 20