Some familiar teams top the odds to win the national championship as a college football season like no other takes it up a notch this weekend.
Clemson, which opens its season at Wake Forest on Saturday, is the unanimous favorite to win the national championship at sportsbooks around the nation, followed closely by Alabama. The Tigers and Crimson Tide have both made the College Football Playoff in four of the past five seasons and have met in the title game three times during that stretch.
Clemson, with star quarterback Trevor Lawrence returning, is 2-1 to win the national championship at the SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas. Alabama is 3-1, followed by Georgia at 4-1 and Florida and Oklahoma each at 12-1.
Notre Dame, which will compete in the ACC this season, is 16-1, along with Texas. Texas A&M is 30-1. LSU, last season’s national champion, and Auburn are each 40-1.
With the uncertainty surrounding the college football season, sportsbooks kept the odds to win the national championship off the board in August. Championship odds began reappearing at sportsbooks in recent weeks, but without teams from Big Ten and Pac-12, among other conferences.
Ohio State was among the title favorites, before the Big Ten announced that it was postponing its fall season. The Pac-12, Mountain West Conference and MAC also have postponed their fall seasons.
Updated odds to win the Heisman Trophy also were back on the board this week at FanDuel’s sportsbook. Lawrence is the favorite at 3-1, followed by Miami quarterback D’Eriq King (6-1) and Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler (9-1).
Clemson is a 33-point favorite over Wake Forest in Saturday’s opener. Since 2018, Clemson has been favored by 30 or more points seven times against FBS opponents, trailing only Alabama (nine) for the most in the FBS over that span, according to ESPN Stats and Information.
The Crimson Tide open their season at Missouri on Sept. 26.
