Less than a day after Alabama lost to Clemson in the 2016-17 College Football Championship Game, the Tide was marked as the favorite to win the 2017-18 College Football Playoff crown by Bovada.
Forget less than a day after, how about less than 12 hours after the Crimson Tide lost to the Tigers, Alabama is already the favorite to win next year! That has to be some sort of record. Then again, this is Nick Saban’s program we are talking about.
Here are the top ten teams with the best odds to win the title next year, according to Bovada:
Alabama +400, Florida State +700, Ohio State +750, Oklahoma +900, USC +900, Michigan +900, LSU +1200, Louisville +1600, Clemson +1600, and Texas +2800.
According to ESPN, Alabama also has the best odds to win in the Westgate SuperBook. The Tide lead the way at 3-2 followed by FSU at 7-1, while Oklahoma, Ohio State, and USC all have 8-1 odds.
The odds of some other notable teams at Westgame include Michigan and LSU at 12-1, Texas at 25-1, Oklahoma State, Penn State, and Auburn at 30-1, and Notre Dame sitting at a whopping 60-1.
Part of the reason why Alabama has a solid shot at making it back to the title game and winning is quarterback Jalen Hurts and the majority of the Crimson Tide’s better offensive players aren’t leaving. However, on defense, Saban will be losing five senior starters. On top of that, Alabama has the best incoming recruiting class according to ESPN, with 18 of the country’s Top 300 recruits heading to Tuscaloosa.
Meanwhile, the newly-crowned champion Clemson Tigers have 18-1 odds according to Westgate, and will be losing a lot of their best players, including junior quarterback Deshaun Watson. Ohio State caught a break this month, as their quarterback J.T. Barrett has decided to stay.
The 2017-18 Championship game will be played on January 8th at the brand new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, The semifinal games will be the Rose and Sugar Bowls.
[ESPN]
