College football early odds for 2024-25 national championship
We haven’t put a bow on the 2023-24 college football season yet, but we already have odds for who hoists the national championship trophy in January of 2025.
As a reminder, the playoff format changes next year from the current four-team playoff to a 12-team playoff with first-round games played on college campuses.
So who has the best odds of making it to the championship game and winning it all next year?
Notre Dame will enter with high expectations, and it is listed fairly high, but still a considerable way from the top. Below are the teams with the best odds to win it all according to Fan Duel.
100-1: Arizona, Auburn, Louisville, Utah
Arizona, Auburn, Louisville, Utah
Almost a handful of teams came in with 100-1 odds to win next year’s national championship. If I’m taking a long shot from this group, I’d certainly consider Arizona. It moves to the Big 12 and should be among the favorites to win the conference title and receive a first-round playoff bye.
80-1: Miami
Seemingly each year on national signing day, Miami makes its case for being back as it brings in a massive recruiting haul. The wiser among us know that is the only day of the year the Hurricanes get a big national win these days. You’re better off sending whatever you’d bet on Miami to a charity because you’d just be making a donation anyway.
60-1: Kansas State
Kansas State is a solid program and should be more than OK in the new-look Big 12. However, it needs to replace a quarterback and offensive coordinator Collin Klein, who left the Wildcatst to head to Texas A&M.
50-1: Tennessee
Two years ago Tennessee upset Alabama and at one point was ranked as the nation’s top team. Can the Vols be a playoff threat again in 2024? They’ll need a far more consistent offense than they had in 2023.
50-1: Washington
It will not be a rebuild like most teams go through, but Washington should expect a significant step back in 2024 as it transitions to life in the Big Ten without all-world quarterback Michael Penix and a good amount of the talent around him.
50-1: Missouri
Mizzou has to make up for the loss of running back Cody Schrader, who finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2023. The good news for the Tigers though is, on paper, it appears they’ll have one of the most favorable SEC schedules.
40-1: Oklahoma
Year 3 for head coaches is always a critical year, and the pressure will certainly be on Will Venables after how 2023 finished for Oklahoma. Can he and the Sooners make a splash in their first SEC run? Loyalists in Norman may be buying in, but a great deal of work remains to get Oklahoma back to being a championship contender.
33-1: Southern Cal
USC was among the biggest disappointments in college football this year. It started as a preseason top-10 team, but finished 7-5. The Trojans’ Big Ten debut season will have to be done without former Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams, the likely first pick in NFL draft, too.
33-1: Clemson
After a slow start, Dabo Swinney was questioned by fans entering an early-November home contest with Notre Dame. Swinney advised naysayers to buy stock in Clemson then, and the Tigers started their current winning streak that week. Is it a sign of big things to come for Clemson in 2024?
33-1: Texas A&M
How much of a difference does coaching make? The oddsmakers seem to think quite a bit. Texas A&M was just 7-5 this season under Jimbo Fisher, yet it has relatively decent odds to hoist the trophy thanks to the hiring of Mike Elko as the new head coach. Well, that and the monstrous levels of talent they’ve attracted to Aggieland (and done little with recently).
25-1: Notre Dame
Notre Dame finished its 2023 campaign 10-3, but it was what they did in those three losses that outweighed the 10. Can the offense find a better consistency with Riley Leonard under center and Mike Denbrock calling plays? If it can, a largely returning great defense could pair nicely and help the Irish land in the playoffs.
25-1: Florida State
Do you like Florida State to load up through the transfer portal and return with revenge on its mind after being left out of the College Football Playoff this year? If so, a ticket on them will pay you 25-1.
15-1: Ole Miss
Ole Miss has been adding as much as anyone through the transfer portal, and it is coming off a couple of the most successful seasons in program history. Can Lane Kiffin help the Rebels make a jump to being champions in 2024-25?
15-1: LSU
Brian Kelly and LSU had high expectations in 2023 but didn’t reach them despite going 10-3 overall. How do the Tigers replace Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels and both coordinators? If they can steer through those waters, they’ll certainly have earned a College Football Playoff spot.
12-1: Oregon
Year 3 of Dan Lanning at Oregon will come with the Ducks in a new conference: Big Ten play begins for them. Oregon was close in 2023 but not close enough. Will it get near the same production after saying goodbye to quarterback Bo Nix? The Ducks have added former Oklahoma and Central Florida quarterback Dillion Gabriel to help.
10-1: Michigan
Michigan will lose talent, but it is in a position where they’re pretty much reloading. One question: Will their head coach stick around for 2024 or will he be in the NFL?
8.5-1: Texas
The Longhorns returned to the big time in 2023 by reaching their first College Football Playoff. Now will they learn from their loss to Washington and do some damage if they get there again in 2024?
7-1: Ohio State
The Buckeyes will be without Marvin Harrison, Jr. who is off to the NFL but they bring in veteran quarterback Will Howard from Kansas State. Can Ohio State stop the bleeding against Michigan regain control of the Big Ten again?
5.5-1: Alabama
Alabama hasn’t won a national championship since the 2020 season. That doesn’t seem that long ago, but it is the longest stretch the program has gone without one under Nick Saban. That begs the question: Do they win another with Saint Nick?
4-1: Georgia
Georgia’s only losses the last three seasons have come in the SEC Championship game — twice. Despite not making the playoff this year, the route to college football’s national championship will go through Athens again in 2024.
