Surely there will be plenty of reviews done after this first College Football Playoff has played itself out. Some of the seedings took some abuse. And there wasn't very much in the way of real upset potential.

What we wound up with in this playoff "tournament" was an opportunity for some teams to rehabilitate themselves. For instance, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, one-half of Monday night's title matchup, lost to Northern Illinois, and at home to boot, early in the season. Now they have a chance to win it all.

Ohio State did the unforgivable, which was to lose to Michigan in the regular season finale. With the exception of a few diehards, a win on Monday will make up for all of that and then some.

In Monday night's CFP Championship odds, as they are found at BetOnline, Ohio State is the favorite:

Ohio State Buckeyes -9 (-105)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish +9 (-115)

Over 45.5 Points -113
Under 45.5 Points -107

Both of these teams have terrific defensive units. And as we look at this matchup, it looks as if OSU Is going to have more offense to bring to the table.

They may have the best player who'll be on the field on Monday night. Jeremiah Smith was highly regarded as the best prospect coming out of high school, and he has turned out to be perhaps the most dangerous wide receiver in the country, even as a freshman, making second-team All-American and snaring 70 passes with 14 touchdowns.

Smith was the subject of some intense scrutiny from the Texas defensive staff last time around, held to just one catch. That didn't subdue the Buckeye offense, as they still won by two touchdowns.

It's hard to tell what kind of approach ND head coach Marcus Freeman, a former OSU linebacker, will take in making Smith much less of a factor. But we know that Ohio State has enough in the way of receivers to be effective.

So yes, when it comes to balance the Buckeyes have it better. With Chip Kelly as the offensive coordinator, OSU can unleash just about any run look they want.

Notre Dame has as good a secondary as there is in the country, but they aren't necessarily as elite when it comes to stopping the run.

When you look at the Buckeyes, they have played defense as well as anyone. OSU has allowed fewer points and yards per game than any other NCAA team. They've allowed fewer yards per play than anyone. They are second stingiest among all NCAA teams when it comes to yielding touchdowns in the red zone.

And it may go without saying that OSU, which scores bigger than anyone else when it comes to their safety grades, This may be a little much for Riley Leonard to handle.

If Smith is able to get engaged, look out. In the first two games of this playoff, he caught thirteen passes for 290 yards. So unless there is a problem specifically designed to thwart him, he's going to make things work for the Buckeyes.

Ultimately, we have to give an edge to Ohio State, so we are going to go ahead and lay the points. We'll do a small play on the "over" here as well.

THE PLAYS: OHIO STATE -9 (-105) and OVER 45.5 POINTS (-113)

Do you think you’ve got some ideas for Monday night's national championship game? Well, BetOnline is where you have to spend your time!..... Remember that before the game, you can explore Prop Builder, for all the angles, or Odds Boosters, which offers enhanced payouts on pre-selected parlays, and then, after the kickoff, you can engage with all the excitement of live betting!....... Plus, they have all kinds of ways to open up an account, including sixteen different forms of crypto!