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What Impact Will The College Football Playoff Have On Las Vegas Books?

Clemson football head coach Dabo Swinney walks on to the field during a pizza party celebrating Selection Sunday at Memorial Stadium, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015, in Clemson, S.C.
AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt

Clemson football head coach Dabo Swinney walks on to the field during a pizza party celebrating Selection Sunday at Memorial Stadium, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015, in Clemson, S.C.

College football's regular season has more or less wrapped up.

And with that, we got the final rankings for the second College Football Playoff on Sunday.

Number one seed Clemson will play number four seed Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, while number two Alabama will play number three Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl.

But what does the Playoff mean to Las Vegas sports books?

And, is it becoming a betting event to rival other college sports tournaments, like March Madness?

According to Art Manteris, the vice president of sports book operations at Station Casinos, putting all the bowl games together does beat March Madness in terms of money.

"We always hear about the NCAA basketball tournament being such a huge event when looked at overall but I would argue that bowl season is quit a bit bigger," Manteris said.

The only thing that really rivals it is the Super Bowl. 

Nick Bogdanovich, the director of trading for William Hill, said if the college football championship went from four teams to eight, it would make even more money. 

"If you could get to eight teams, it will be even better, trust me," he said. "It just builds up to a climatic ending."

Both agree that with the rise of mobile wagering, quality bowl games and the change to a championship game has made for a bigger take by Nevada's sports books. 

Bogdanovich said most people love to watch and wager because you never know what is going to happen. 

"That's what everybody loves about sports is that there is always unknowns and there are always surprises and there is always such high drama," Bogdanovich said.

As for who will win, Bogdanovich favors Clemson and Manteris would put his money on Alabama. 

Nick Bogdanovich, director of trading, William Hill;  Art Manteris, vice president, sportsbook operations, Station Casinos

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Casey Morell is the coordinating producer of Nevada Public Radio's flagship broadcast State of Nevada and one of the station's midday newscast announcers. (He's also been interviewed by Jimmy Fallon, whatever that's worth.)