The 2023 NCAA Football season has arrived, bringing excitement to fans and to sports bettors ready to enjoy Saturdays and Sundays full of college football games in addition to National Football League games.
Here’s a look at the favorites to win the 2024 NCAA Football Championship and some of the big bets already being placed at sportsbooks.
The NCAA Football Favorites: While college football fans still don’t have a video game to play or a way to simulate the upcoming season like NFL players do with the latest Madden game, fans will be debating who will be this year’s champion for weeks to come.
Here are the current odds to win the 2024 NCAA Football Championship from DraftKings Inc DKNG.
- 1. Georgia: +220
- 2. Alabama: +600
- 3. Michigan: +750
- 4. Ohio State: +750
- 5. LSU (Louisiana State University): +1100
- 6. USC (University of Southern California): +1600
- 7. Clemson: +1800
- 8. Florida State: +2000
- 9. Penn State: +2200
- 10. Texas: +2200
The top four teams at the end of the season and conference championships will play in the NCAA Football Playoff series, with two semifinal matchups and a final game. All three games air on ESPN, a unit of Walt Disney Co DIS.
Georgia enters the season as the favorite and it would mean winning the championship in three straight seasons, something that hasn’t been accomplished in the modern era. Minnesota accomplished the feat in the 1934, 1935 and 1936 seasons.
The Georgia Bulldogs won last year’s championship game as the No. 1 seed over No. 3 seed Texas Christian University (TCU) in convincing fashion, winning 65 to 7. Georgia beat Ohio State to reach the championship game and TCU beat Michigan to advance to the finals.
Georgia was 12-0 in last year’s regular season and finished 15-0 overall counting the postseason.
Bettors should of course take note of the past history of teams trying for a three-peat and also the pre-season rankings.
Georgia was ranked third in the AP poll to start the season last year and TCU came in unranked before making it all the way to the championship. Ohio State and Michigan were ranked second and eighth in the preseason respectively.
Big Bets on Championship: If Georgia can’t three-peat, which team could it be that takes home the 2024 NCAA Football Championship?
Bettors are beginning to place big bets on several teams.
BetMGM, which is a joint venture between MGM Resorts International MGM and Entain, announced a huge bet on Alabama, the second favorite to win the title game.
A bettor placed a $205,500 wager on odds of +600 for Alabama to win the championship. The bet would payout $1,438,500 for a profit of $1,233,000, making the bettor a millionaire.
Alabama has won three championships in the College Football Playoff era over the past nine seasons. Head coach Nick Saban has seven national titles counting his time at LSU and Alabama and the College Football Playoff and BCS era.
BetMGM also reported its seeing strong action on University of Colorado, a team now led by head coach and former NFL player Deion Sanders.
A bettor at BetMGM placed a wager of $4,500 on Colorado to win the Pac-12 at odds of +10,000. Another bettor placed a $1,000 wager on Colorado to win the National Championship at odds of +25,000 and another bettor placed a $1,000 wager on Colorado quarterback, and Sanders’ son, Shedeur Sanders, to win the Heisman Trophy at odds of +12,500.
BetMGM has also seen a heavy portion of its bets on Michigan to win the National Championship.
FanDuel, a unit of Flutter Entertainment PDYPY, reported its biggest bet on the title game as $10,000 bet on USC at odds of +1600.
While these are large bets, they don’t come close to the $6 million that famous bettor Jim McIngvale, known as Mattress Mack, placed on Alabama previously.
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