Notre Dame is BetMGM’s biggest threat in the National Championship futures market.
Key Takeaways
- Notre Dame has odds of +650 to win the National Championship.
- The Irish are getting the most bets and the second-most money in the market.
- Ohio State, Texas, and Georgia are other heavily bet futures teams.
The online operator said on Tuesday, two days before the college football season begins, that the Fighting Irish are getting a market-high 18.5% of the bets and 18.1% of the handle, second-most money, with odds of +650 to win the playoff this year after opening at +700.
“There is a clear tier of favorites to win the College Football National Championship including Notre Dame, Texas, Ohio State and Georgia,” BetMGM trading manager Seamus Magee said. “All are popular with bettors, but Notre Dame is the most bet and biggest liability for the sportsbook. Ohio State is the best outcome for the book among the betting favorites.”
Notre Dame is always a popular betting team with the public, but the hype is especially high this year. The Irish enter Sunday’s season opener against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field ranked fourth in the AP preseason poll and favored to win by nearly three touchdowns.
The Irish last made the College Football Playoff in 2024, when they lost in the National Championship game to Ohio State. Quarterback CJ Carr is the +750 favorite to win the Heisman, and he’s getting a market-high 10.7% of the bets (tied with Texas’ Arch Manning) and 14.7% of the money at BetMGM.
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Other popular teams
The Buckeyes are a +600 favorite in National Championship odds and second behind Notre Dame with 12% of the tickets. They’re also getting 9.8% of the handle, while No. 3 Georgia (+900) is seventh with 3.2% of the money.
However, No. 2 Oregon and, with juicer odds, No. 10 Oklahoma (+3,000) make up the top three on BetMGM’s biggest liabilities list. The Ducks are third in tickets (10.2%) and handle (10.5%), behind handle-leader and fifth-ranked Texas (30.4%).
Even though No. 7 Miami and No. 9 Ole Miss aren’t among the biggest liabilities, they have both seen their odds shorten significantly since the market was first posted. BetMGM said the Hurricanes, who are getting 6% of the bets and 7.7% of the money, have gone from +2,000 to +1,100 heading into Friday’s opener at Stanford. Ole Miss opened at +4,000 but is +2,500, with just 1.6% of the tickets and 2.1% of the handle.
Notable wagers
Ole Miss does have a large payout hanging in the balance this year. One BetMGM player put down $5,000 on the Rebels to win it all at +5,000, which would win the customer $175,000.
The most notable bet released by BetMGM is a $5,000 wager on Colorado, which has a win total of 4.5, to claim the Big 12 championship. Odds of +8,000 would pay out $400,000.
BetMGM also said there’s a long-shot bet of $200 on NC State (+50,000) that would produce a $100,000 payday, as well as a $100 wager on Michigan State (+75,000).
