After the University of Alabama jumped the Clemson Tigers in late-September of the 2019 college football season, the Crimson Tide still sit atop of the odds as the favorites to win the College Football Playoff National Championship in January.
After a narrow victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels on September 28, the Clemson Tigers only received 18 first-place votes the following day. Alabama, on the other hand, received 29 first-place votes after steamrolling Ole Miss by 28 points.
Despite staying undefeated, the Tigers were still passed over as the #1 team. The last time a #1 team won their game but still fell from the top spot was Ohio State on November 7, 2015.
With both teams on byes this past weekend, the top two spots between them remained unchanged. Nevertheless, Bama holds the best odds at +240 to win the national title. Clemson is still a close second with +250 chances.
At the beginning of the season, Clemson was the championship favorites, posting +180 odds. Simply put, the Tigers went from a 35.71% chance of winning the championship to a 28.57% chance.
Ironically, although Alabama is now the favorite ahead of Clemson, their odds actually dropped from +220 at the start of the 2019 season to the current +250, going from 31.25% chances to 29.41%.
One reason for the settling of Clemson and Alabama’s odds is the emergence of other championship-caliber teams.
Ohio State also jumped a team in the odds, going from the fourth-best odds at +900 to claiming the third-best with +425. Averaging over 50 points per game and not allowing any opponent to score more than 10 this season, the Buckeyes’ 19.05% national championship chances are no surprise.
Despite dropping from the third-best to fourth-best odds, the Georgia Bulldogs now have +550 chances of winning the title. Before the season began, Georgia only had +750 odds. Sliding from 11.76% championship odds to 15.38% is huge in a race that was only predicted to have two real contenders.
In just a matter of a few weeks, there has been a shift in the college football playoff odds. However, if one of the top teams were to lose or another powerhouse emerged towards the end of the season, there is the possibility of a seismic shift in the odds.
A complete list is provided below for the teams with the best odds to win the College Football Playoffs.
Odds to win the 2020 College Football Playoff
Odds found at BetOnline
- Alabama +240
- Clemson +250
- Ohio State +425
- Georgia +550
- LSU +750
- Oklahoma +850
- Wisconsin +2000
- Auburn +8000
- Penn State +6000
- Texas +10000
- Florida +5500
- Oregon +10000
- Notre Dame +15000
- Michigan +15000
- Utah +20000
- Washington +20000
- Iowa +50000
- Baylor +40000
- Boise State +50000
- Michigan State +45000
- Central Florida +65000