College Football Rankings 2011: AP Top 25 Poll vs. Vegas Oddsmakers

The Associated Press Top 25 poll was released Saturday, and professional handicappers will notice some big differences between the order found in the rankings and what's being found on the odds boards in Las Vegas sports books.

Oklahoma grabs the top spot for the 10th time in program history and is also the betting favorite across the board (+410).  The Sooners received 36 of 60 first-place votes, and head coach Bob Stoops is in the driver's seat to reach the 2012 BCS Championship game at the Louisiana Superdome on Monday, Jan. 9, 2012.

The oddsmakers also agree on the No. 2 spot, as the Alabama Crimson Tide (+604) lead a group of eight Southeastern Conference schools to make the initial poll.  Head coach Nick Saban returns for his fifth year in Tuscaloosa and will rely heavily on a defense that led the SEC in scoring defense (13.5 points per game) a year ago.

Oregon (+1183) grabs the No. 3 slot after losing last year's national championship game to Auburn, but the lines maker has No. 6 Florida State (+1021) as the third choice in terms of betting.

One of the main reasons for this difference is the opening schedule for the two teams, as the Ducks begin the season against the No. 4 LSU Tigers (+1536) at Cowboys Stadium on Sept. 3, while the Seminoles will undoubtedly be 2-0 heading into their marquee matchup against Oklahoma on Sept. 17.

Boise State (+1294) is the highest-ranked non-BCS conference school at No. 5 and gives backers a legitimate shot of at least making the championship game if it walks away with a win over No. 14 TCU (+3333) on Nov. 12 at Bronco Stadium.

Stanford (+2897) and Heisman Trophy-candidate Andrew Luck check in at No. 7, but six teams below the highest-ranked Pac-12 Conference squad have shorter odds to win it all in New Orleans.

Those six teams are: No. 10 Nebraska (+2492), No. 11 Wisconsin (+2115), No. 13 Virginia Tech (+2623), No. 16 Notre Dame (+2429), No. 18 Ohio State (+2702) and No. 22 Florida (+1969)