The opening round of the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff is officially in the books and it’s on to the national quarterfinals on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
With the College Football Playoff national quarterfinal matchups formally set, FanDuel Sportsbook updated the betting odds for the eight remaining programs still in the running to win the 2024 National Championship.
Check out FanDuel’s latest odds to win the College Football Playoff National Championship:
The fifth-seeded Longhorns overtook No. 1 seed Oregon as FanDuels’ odds-on favorite to win the 2024 National Championship after downing ACC champ Clemson 38-24 last Saturday. Texas saw it’s odds jump from +360 before the opening round games and could indicate plenty of betting love for the Longhorns.
The Longhorns (12-2), last season’s Big 12 champion, will face this year’s Big 12 title winner in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on New Year’s Day in the same location it fell in overtime to Georgia in the SEC Championship game on Dec. 7: Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The other big riser from Vegas oddsmakers were the eighth-seeded Buckeyes (11-2), which finally looked like the talent-loaded preseason No. 1 team they were billed to be. Ohio State showed it was a legit national championship contender by decimating ninth-seeded Tennessee, 42-17, in last Saturday’s primetime showdown from Columbus.
The Buckeyes, who advance to a rematch vs. undefeated and No. 1 seed Oregon, saw their betting odds jump from +500 before the first-round games, indicating a surge in optimism about Ohio State‘s chances to win it all behind an alledged $20 million roster.
Ohio State’s jump in the betting odds necessitates a drop for the still-perfect Ducks (13-0), who rolled through its first season in the Big Ten to claim a first-round by as conference champs. While resting up during the opening round action, Oregon dropped from the national favorite at +350 to having the third-best odds.
The undefeated Ducks enter the New Year’s Day Rose Bowl as 2.5-point underdogs despite having edged out the Buckeyes 32-31 during their regular-season meeting Oct. 12 in Eugene. But Oregon still has Heisman Trophy finalist Dillon Gabriel leading a high-powered offense that led the Big Ten averaging nearly 450 yards per game this season.
The SEC Champion Bulldogs (11-2) face the most uncertainty among the four automatic byes after losing senior starting quarterback Carson Beck to a season-ending elbow injury in the first half of the SEC title game earlier this month. Still, oddsmakers don’t appear very concerned about Georgia‘s new starting quarterback, Gunner Stockton, who spearheaded a second-half rally past Texas to win the league championship on Dec. 7.
The second-seeded Bulldogs’ odds actually improved slightly from +500 before the opening round action, and could indicate high hopes among bettors that Georgia has what it takes to end Notre Dame‘s 11-game win streak in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 from New Orleans (8:45 pm ET, ESPN).
The sixth-seeded Nittany Lions (12-2) saw their odds also get a nice bump from +550 after the opening round, where Penn State absolutely destroyed No. 11-seed SMU last weekend in Happy Valley. Penn State put on a clinic in the game, outrushing the Mustangs 189-58 thanks to 160 combined rushing yards and three touchdowns from the backfield duo of Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton.
If the Nittany Lions’ potent ground attack is once again on its game, New Year’s Eve’s Vrbo Fiesta Bowl could be a horserace against Mountain West champion Boise State (12-1), which is led by dynaic Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty at tailback. Jeanty averaged 192.08 rushing yards per game this season and will be attempting to break Barry Sanders‘ NCAA single-season rushing record vs. Penn State.
Outside of undefeated Oregon, the seventh-seeded Fighting Irish (12-1) remain college football’s hottest team with an 11-game win streak after downing in-state rival Indiana, 27-17, in a first-round home game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.
And while Notre Dame flashed serious star potential by rolling out to a 27-3 fourth quarter lead over the Hoosiers, Vegas oddsmakers don’t seem too high on the Irish’s chances against second-ranked Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day. That said, Marcus Freeman and company have already beaten one SEC team in hostile territory with a season-opening road win (23-13) over Texas A&M.
This is where there’s a giant chasm between the real contenders and the pretenders, at least in the eyes of Vegas oddsmakers. The Big 12 champion Sun Devils (11-2) actually saw their odds drop slightly from +6000 after sitting out the first-round action.
Arizona State, which is led by powerful running back Cam Skattebo, will face the fifth-seeded Longhorns in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at 1 pm ET, Jan. 1 from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
As the lone Group of Five team left in the field, the Mountain West champion Broncos remain the biggest betting longshot. And their odds actually dropped precipitously from +6000 before the opening round.
Despite what oddsmakers think, No. 3 seeded Boise State (12-1) still has college football’s best running back in Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty, who is just 132 yards shy of breaking Barry Sanders‘ NCAA single-season rushing record of 2,628 yards set in 1988.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
