CFP National Championship 2016: Latest Odds for Final Matchup Before Semifinals

It's hard to find a bigger contrast than the two semifinals of the College Football Playoff.

Earlier in the day, Clemson and Oklahoma will do battle in a game that may see both teams push the 40-point barrier. The Tigers and the Sooners have each spent the regular season boasting prolific offenses, each featuring Heisman-contending quarterbacks. They're also both a bit deficient on the defensive side, prone to lapses that allow lesser opponents to stay in games.

Neither Alabama nor Michigan State has that problem. Lapses came for both teams in big ways. The Tide allowed Ole Miss to nearly blow up their season in a 43-37 upset in Week 3. The Spartans allowed 39 points in their controversial one-point loss to Nebraska.

Otherwise? It's largely been smooth sailing. Alabama hasn't allowed more than 16 points in a game since October and has allowed 20 just twice all season. Michigan State hasn't been as prolific overall but has been dominant when it counts. The Spartans held their final four opponents to 16 points or less, including two Top-Five teams (Ohio State, Iowa).

When the winners meet in the CFP National Championship Game, there's a near-guarantee of stylistic clashes. 

Clemson, which enters as a 3.5-point underdog despite the nation's lone remaining unbeaten, is led by Heisman second runner-up Deshaun Watson. The sophomore threw for 3,512 yards and 30 touchdowns against 11 interceptions during the regular season while emerging as one of the nation's biggest dual threats. His 887 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground probably would have won him the Heisman if there weren't so many elite candidates.

"You've got to keep him contained," Oklahoma linebacker Dominique Alexander said of Watson, per Jake Trotter of ESPN. "He's one of the top players in the country. He played for an undefeated team this year. To keep him contained, everybody has got to do their job. We've got to make more plays on him than he does on us."

Oklahoma has prepared for Watson by using former starter Trevor Knight as a scout-team quarterback. Knight has played the role of Watson in practices, using his speed to form a threat on the edges. While it's hard to replicate Watson's true dual-threat status—Knight is a below-average (at best) passer—Alexander said it's been helpful.

Brett Deering/Getty Images

"Trevor is mobile and he can run and he's a great athlete," Alexander said. "Seeing a guy like Baker being mobile like that and then being able to have a guy like Trevor, practicing against him, being mobile like that, that's something great to see every day, as well."

"Baker" of course, refers to Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield, who had himself quite the 2015. A former Texas Tech walk-on, Mayfield posted 3,389 yards and 33 touchdowns against five interceptions, with an additional 420 yards and seven touchdowns as a runner. He finished fourth in the Heisman voting.

“He’s a Heisman-type guy,” Tigers defensive coordinator Brent Venables said, per Gary Ahern of USA Today. “When you talk Heisman Trophy-worthy that’s another level. It’s one thing to throw a guy’s name out there and the next to have a 12-, 13-game resume that’s shows it’s justified, not talk.”

Mayfield is helped out by a dual running threat of Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon. Both young stars are averaging more than six yards per carry and have combined for more than 2,000 yards on the ground. Perine, a sophomore, has three straight 100-yard games and has scored 12 touchdowns over his last six.

In the other game, Alabama knows a bit about being carried by its running backs. While quarterback Jake Coker has taken to a caretaker role, it's been Derrick Henry who emerged as college football's biggest difference-maker. The Heisman winner bowled over the competition for 1,986 yards and 23 touchdowns, including a two-game stretch when he carried the ball 90 times in wins over Auburn and Florida.

“As the game progresses, people wear down,” the Michigan State co-defensive coordinator Harlon Barnett said, per the Associated Press (via the New York Times). “You get tired of hitting that big back. Boom. Again. Here he comes again. Boom. Again and again and again. And so you have to have the mental toughness to be able to say: ‘Hold on. We’re going to hold up, and we’re going to keep smacking him. Keep hitting him.’"

Alabama enters understandably as 9.5-point favorites. Not only do the Crimson Tide boast Henry, but they also have the nation's best defense. Football Outsiders' FEI ratings put Alabama first against both the run and the pass, and the Tide rank in the top five in points against and yards allowed. Opponents have completed less than 50 percent of their passes, thrown more interceptions (16) than touchdowns (13) and been sacked 46 times. 

The Tide are also one of two teams (Boston College) that have not yet allowed 1,000 rushing yards. Opponents are gaining 2.4 yards per attempt and have touched paydirt an NCAA-low six times.

Suffice it to say Alabama is deserving of its favorite status. Michigan State has made its way to the playoffs by winning ugly, but this Tide team is another animal.

Odds via Oddsshark