2025 NCAA Football Championship Odds: Is This the Buckeyes’ Year?
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Swinging Johnson
- November 10, 2024
The college season is drawing to a close, and soon we will receive a bevy of bowl announcements and find out which teams are entering the reformatted College Football Playoff. But before betting on it at the top-rated sportsbooks, let’s look all the way down the road and determine which teams have the best shot at winning a national championship.
New CFP Format
For the first time, the CFP will tap a dozen teams to enter the postseason tournament, with the five highest-ranked conference champions receiving an automatic bid while the remaining spots will be awarded to the next seven best teams in the nation. We should also note that the top four conference champions will receive a first-round bye, and the No. 5 team will play No. 12, No. 6 will play No. 11, and so on.
The higher-seeded team will host the games, and the four winners in the opening round will play the four conference winners on December 31st through January 1st. The four semifinalists will then play bowl games on January 9th and 10th, with a National Championship game in Atlanta scheduled for January 20th.
This means there will be much less controversy about excluding a top-tier team from the CFP as the tournament has expanded from only four teams to 12 this year. It will also mean more football for the fans and a CFP finale that will occur later in January than ever before.
Big Ten – Conference Winner Odds
Ohio State Buckeyes (+300)
It’s been 10 years since the Buckeyes claimed a national crown, but they seem to be in the mix every season before bowing out. Yet, once again, they are one of the top contenders for the title, and after thrashing Purdue, 45-0, they will travel to lightly regarded Northwestern before a major showdown at the Shoe with the Cinderella story of the Big Ten, Indiana.
The Buckeyes will end their season against Michigan, a team that has fallen from a national champion to a sub-.500 pretender. Ohio State will win at least two of those three games, but should they sweep the board, they could very well be your No. 1 team in the nation at season’s end.
Oregon Ducks (+375)
The Ducks were far from perfect on Saturday against Maryland, but Dillon Gabriel launched three touchdown strikes to defeat the Terps, 39-18, and kept their undefeated season alive.
Oregon has two games left against middling conference rivals, Wisconsin and Washington, which means they are likely to remain at or near the top of the rankings before the College Football Playoff.
SEC – Conference Winner Odds
Texas Longhorns (+450)
The Horns took no prisoners in their 49-17 victory over the Gators on Saturday. Quinn Ewers put on a passing masterclass with five touchdowns and 333 yards through the air while freshman Jerrick Gibson moved the chains on the ground with one touchdown, 100 rushing yards and a 6.3 yards per carry average.
Texas will hit the road and take on Arkansas next week before welcoming lowly Kentucky to Austin before wrapping up against No. 14 Texas A&M.
Georgia Bulldogs (+750)
There is little doubt the Dawgs will tumble from their No. 3 perch in the rankings after a surprising setback to a gritty Ole Miss squad on Saturday. It was the team’s second loss of the season and the second time they failed to succeed on the road against a powerful conference foe, with a loss to Alabama the other occasion.
Their upcoming game against one of the best teams in the nation, Tennessee, will likely tell the tale as to whether they will or will not be included in the CFP this season. It would be a stretch to see a 9-3 team (assuming Georgia beats UMass and Georgia Tech) get one of the coveted 12 spots, but Georgia’s reputation alone could have enough cachet to get them in the postseason tournament.
Alabama Crimson Tide (+800)
The Tide had one of their most dominating performances of the season when they rolled on by No. 15 LSU, 42-13, in hostile territory no less. It was a big, easy win for Alabama down on the Bayou, and quarterback Jalen Milroe ran like a man possessed, picking up four rushing touchdowns on 185 yards, giving him a 15.4 yards per carry average.
The 6’2” junior out of Katy, Texas, only connected on 12-of-18 passes for 109 yards with no aerial strikes, but his feet did all the talking, and his performance will likely propel the team up the rankings and into the top 10 again. Alabama has three very winnable games remaining on their schedule, with Mercer, Oklahoma, and Auburn on tap for the Tide.
Should the Tide win those three contests, they would end with a 10-2 mark, and if they wrangle a spot in the conference championships and win the SEC, a top four national ranking could be in the cards.
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
