We made some money with LSU’s championship win over Clemson last night, but Trevor Lawrence’s fumble alone crushed three prop bets. I could’ve been so rich I’d stopped talking to friends and family who I would then think less of because of their lack of wealth and inferior status. Oh well, maybe next year because Bovada released the 2021 college football title odds. Let’s give ourselves a head start on next season.
Here’s a look at the odds with some words of wisdom to follow:
Clemson +250
Ohio State +400
Alabama +500
LSU +700
Georgia +800
Florida +1600
Oklahoma +2500
Auburn/Notre Dame +3000
Texas/USC +3300
Texas A&M/Wisconsin +4000
Penn State +4500
Iowa/Michigan +5000
You can find the full list here, but I decided to stop when it showed Iowa and Michigan have the same odds because it made me laugh. It actually makes sense as the overvaluation of the Wolverines appears to finally have topped.
Favorite: Clemson will enter the season as the team with the best shot at a national title. If you recall, the Tigers remain in the ACC, which went 3-6 in non-Playoff bowl games. Does anyone see an in-conference team stepping to Clemson? I sure don’t, at least not next year. The Tigers do have an interesting road game with Notre Dame in November, but that’s Clemson’s regular season Super Bowl and they should be ready.
Worst value: Believe it or not, I am going with the defending champion LSU Tigers. What we saw during the 2019-20 was college football perfection from the offensive side of the ball. Did Joe Burrow have a bad series all year long? If so, he hid it well because there was nothing the Tigers could not do on offense. But now Burrow is gone, and the schedule includes road games at Florida, Auburn and Texas A&M with a home matchups with Alabama and Texas. This isn’t where I’d invest my money.
Best value: I may have to consider investing in the Florida Gators before this college football season gets going. Florida will be favored in at least 10 games next year with a home game against LSU and the cocktail party against Georgia, which is already going through a rough offseason. If the Gators win the games they should and split their two biggest games, they would be playing for a shot at the College Football Playoff in the SEC title. Dan Mullen took over a 4-7 team and got them to 10 and 11 wins his first two seasons. Let’s take that next step, fellas.
Who’s got a shot? Fans, coaches and players talk all the time about winning national championships, but there’s only a select few who can do it. Sure, teams can make the College Football Playoff but winning it all is a whole different topic. Six teams can legitimately talk about bringing home the trophy next season, and that includes Clemson, Ohio State, Alabama, LSU, Georgia and Florida. For everybody else, set your goals lower because it’s not happening.
Super longshot: If you’re a fan of throwing away your money, this pick is for you. I’ll go with Auburn here. I believe the Tigers win their first 10 games including a road win over Georgia. Then Auburn needs to win either at home against LSU or at Alabama, find themselves in the SEC title and win it to be Playoff bound. The championship would take place the day after the 10-year anniversary of Auburn’s last title.
Funniest odds: USC has the 10th best odds to win a national championship. Hilarious. Not quite as funny as Nebraska being sixth going into this season, but USC combined for 13-12 overall the last two years just brought in a recruiting class that ranked below Bowling Green. Fight on, baby. Fight on.
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