The highly anticipated start of another season of college football season under the four-team playoff format for a national championship is just a few weeks off. Bovada has set the betting odds to win this year’s national title and the following is a brief look at a few of the teams at the top of the list.
Ohio State Buckeyes +275
The Buckeyes’ improbable run to last season’s national championship after losing two starting quarterbacks does not appear to be a fluke in the betting public’s eyes. They head into the 2015 season stacked with talent on both sides of the ball and ready to pick-up where they left off after going 14-1 straight-up and a profitable 10-5 against the spread. Interestingly enough, the Buckeyes were just 6-5 ATS in 11 games last season as favorites and a perfect 4-0 as underdogs. They closed as six-point underdogs in their stunning 42-20 romp over Oregon in the national title game.
Alabama Crimson Tide +700
The Crimson Tide have been perennial favorites to win a national championship under the expert guidance of Nick Saban at head coach, but they are now heading into their third season following their last title run so the pressure has been dialed-up a bit on this team. They ran into a wall against the Buckeyes in a 42-35 loss as 7.5-point favorites in the national semifinals of last season’s first ever college football playoff and the competition just to win the SEC always remains fierce. Derrick Henry is back to lead the running game and Alabama also returns some key pieces of a defense that was ranked sixth in the nation in points allowed (18.4).
TCU Horned Frogs +700
TCU could be the most-hyped team in the nation coming into a new season behind Heisman hopeful Trevone Boykin at quarterback. Last season the Horned Frogs were ranked seventh in the nation in passing yards and second in scoring on their way to a stellar SU record of 12-1. While they missed out on one of the four spots in last year’s playoffs, their chances this season could all come down to a Nov. 27 showdown against Baylor at home. The betting public continues to lower TCU’s odds as we get closer to opening day, so if you are going to jump on the bandwagon you should do it soon to maximize the value in the numbers.
Auburn Tigers +900
Auburn is coming off a down season for this program after going 8-5 SU with a 4-4 record in conference play, but it is safe to say that the Tigers have reloaded for another run at a national title after coming-up just short against Florida State in the championship game the season before. Nick Marshall has moved-on so they will have to replace quite a bit of production in both the passing and running game, but much like Alabama, the talent level at Auburn on both sides of the ball remains high. This year it could all come down to the Iron Bowl matchup against the Tide on Tigers’ home field on Nov. 28.
The Best of the Rest
Once you get past the first four teams on this list the betting odds start to really fall off with the USC Trojans listed as +1600 fifth-favorites. Next on the list is a trio of contenders at +2000 including Michigan State, Notre Dame and Baylor followed by Clemson and Oregon at +2200. Florida State has been listed at +2500 odds to win the national title with Georgia, LSU and Oklahoma rounding-out the top 14 teams in the nation at +2800. To get up to the minute odds to win the National Championship from Bovada Sportsbook Click Here.
