Well, Alabama may have fallen to fifth in the national rankings of college football after losing to unranked Texas A&M on Saturday, but they’ve only slid to second (and not by much) in the sports betting odds to win the national championship. Why? It’s not like there is another titan in the SEC West to slow them down. Yes, they go to Mississippi State next week, and the Iron Bowl this year sends them to Auburn, but home dates with LSU and Arkansas remain eminently winnable, and the loss this week should be the cure for what Nick Saban has referred to as a lack of intensity. So Alabama is still extremely likely to win the SEC West, and if they knock off Georgia there, they’re in the playoff — and when they go to the playoff, they tend to win it. So while Alabama’s loss is shocking, because they’re Alabama, they’ll still get another chance if they want it. We can’t really say the same thing about #3 Cincinnati, an AAC team that is just one loss (or maybe even a bad half) out of falling out of the top four and giving way to a Power 5 team.
Check out the latest college football odds as well as our thoughts on some contenders.
NCAA News: Updated Odds to Win the National Championship
Team Odds
| Georgia | +130 |
| Alabama | +200 |
| Ohio State | +1000 |
| Oklahoma | +1500 |
| Iowa, Cincinnati | +2000 |
| Michigan | +3000 |
| Oregon, Michigan State | +5000 |
| Penn State | +6600 |
| Oklahoma State, Ole Miss | +8000 |
| Clemson, Texas A&M, Arizona State, Kentucky | +10000 |
| N.C. State, Pitt, UCLA | +15000 |
| Florida, West Virginia, BYU, Coastal Carolina, Auburn, USC, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Iowa State, Utah, Wisconsin | +20000 |
The good news for Georgia is that it doesn’t seem to matter if they have their starting quarterback. Even when J.T. Daniels is out, Stetson Bennett comes on and puts up terrific numbers. This team is really all about the defense; Auburn put together a 17-play, 68-yard drive — and had to settle for a field goal. That kind of soul-crushing defense makes Georgia an old-school team, and it will help them finally get by Alabama in a meaningful game.
Iowa has picked off ten passes in their last two games, including four against Penn State in that comeback win. In that game, Iowa held the ball for 36 minutes, and the real story was their punting game, as they pinned Penn State inside the 11 yard line four times. If Iowa is unbeaten heading into the Big Ten Championship, we’ll be hearing a lot more about the mysteries that still surround their offense.
Cincinnati continued to cook against Temple, as they limited the Owls to just three points and kept them at a 23% conversion rate on third down. Quarterback Desmond Ridder has to be front and center in the Heisman Trophy conversation. Now that they are in AAC play, Cincinnati has to run the table to stay in College Football Playoff chatter. The only ranked team they have yet to play is SMU, and the Mustangs will play that game up in the Queen City, putting the odds even more in Cincy’s favor.
Ohio State certainly has bounced back from that loss to Oregon. C.J. Stroud threw for five scores and 406 yards this past week against Maryland, giving him 10 touchdowns over the past two contests. The next big date on the Buckeyes’ schedule is October 30, when they face Penn State for what could determine the Big Ten East champion.
Oklahoma was down 21 points to Texas after a quarter. Then Lincoln Riley benched Spencer Rattler and put freshman Caleb Williams over the offense. The gutsy decision worked, as the Texas defense just folded. Williams delivered a high-octane offense; the problem is still Oklahoma’s defense, which gave up a ton of points. At one point we will have to ask whether rolling unbeaten through a Big 12 schedule is really a sign of an elite team, given Oklahoma’s recent spate of humiliations in the College Football Playoff semifinals.
College Football Betting Odds
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