larger molecule vs gas phase

[Jasmeen Kaur 2D]

The professor mentioned in class that you can generalize that even when you are comparing complicated vs simple molecules like ethanol (l) versus helium (g), the gas phase will have the higher entropy. But I was looking at a past midterm question, and I saw that C8H18(l) has higher molar entropy than CH4(g) and the reasoning was that because C8H18 was a larger molecule. I'm very confused, if someone could help! Is there a certain threshold on molecular complexity? The professor mentioned that mostly gases will have a higher entropy. How do you know that C8H18 has a higher molar entropy when it is a liquid and CH4 is a gas? How much larger does the molecule actually have to be so that the phases don't determine the higher molar entropy?

[Andrew Tsai 3I]

I don't think there's a set answer. I believe on the test I would just focus on the phase changes, since I can't see the test problem you're referring to. If you go from liquid to gas then entropy is increasing.