Repeat champs? Clemson will win College Football Playoff again, according to oddsmakers
The Clemson Tigers may have lost their entire starting defensive line in the NFL draft, but the oddsmakers still think they’ll come out on top in 2020. The extremely early odds have pegged Clemson as the favorite to repeat as national champions.
If they can pull it off, they’ll probably have to go through the Alabama Crimson Tide once again, according to Super Book USA.
Updated @CFBPlayoff title odds via @SuperBookUSA:
Clemson 2-1
Bama 5-2
Georgia 7-1
OhioSt 10-1
Mich, OU 14-1
LSU, Texas 25-1
ND, Wash 30-1
UF, Oregon, Neb, A&M 40-1
Auburn 60-1
Wisconsin 80-1
FSU, Iowa, Miami, MissSt, PennSt, USC, Utah, WashSt 100-1
MichSt, OkSt, TCU, VT 200-1— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) April 29, 2019
After that, you might be surprised by the next couple teams. While Notre Dame and Oklahoma made it to the College Football Playoff last season, they aren’t next on the odds list.
Instead, Georgia and Ohio State have higher odds to win it all in 2020. Oklahoma isn’t far behind at 14-1. Notre Dame is a little farther down at 30-1.
Then again, maybe you should have expected some turnover at the top. According to NCAA.com, Clemson, Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State are the top four teams in college football heading into the season. Oklahoma ranks fifth and Notre Dame ranks ninth on their list.
While Clemson did lose talent in the draft, the team will return mostly the same offense that dropped 44 points on Alabama. It helps that quarterback Trevor Lawrence — who led the team to a College Football Playoff win as a freshman — will be back. He’s already considered a possible Heisman candidate.
Tua Tagovailoa leads Heisman odds
In a reverse of the championship odds’ top 2, Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa sits at No. 1 and Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence sits at No. 2 in SuperBook’s Heisman odds.
New Heisman odds via @SuperBookUSA:
Tua 5/2
Lawrence 7/2
Fields, Hurts, Martinez 8/1
Taylor 16/1
Ehlinger, Fromm 20/1
Herbert 25/1
Dillon, Etienne, Jeudy, Patterson 40/1
Daniels, R. Moore, Mond 50/1
Bowman, Book, Costello, Dobbins, Ross, Swift 60/1— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) April 30, 2019
Tagovailoa was considered the overwhelming leader for the award for most of last season, until Kyler Murray swooped in over the final weeks. Both Tagovailoa and Lawrence return their top three wide receivers, so this could one heck of a race.
Dual-threat quarterbacks Justin Fields (Ohio State), Jalen Hurts (Oklahoma) and Adrian Martinez (Nebraska) tie for third at 8-to-1, while Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor is the top rusher in the group.
To find a non-quarterback or running back, you’d have to go down to 40-to-1 odds where Alabama wide receiver Jerry Jeudy resides.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
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