The College Football Playoff Selection Committee released their first rankings on Tuesday night, and for at least the time being, there wasn’t much for anyone to be upset about, and oddsmakers were pretty much in lockstep.
The Top 9 teams with the best National Championship odds all had a spot in the initial bracket, including the two undefeated favorites from the Big Ten in Ohio State and Indiana.
Let’s break down the latest college football odds for the first version of the playoff field and see if there is any value to be found.
College Football Playoff odds
The favorites
The Ohio State Buckeyes and Indiana Hoosiers stand alone at the moment, and it was not surprising to see them as the Top 2 teams in the initial CFP rankings. The Buckeyes and Hoosiers have the best odds to win the natty at +220 and +450, respectively.
Ohio State is the favorite because it is the defending champion and has been relatively dominant. However, Indiana has also performed well, demolishing its competition and boasting one of the better wins so far this season, defeating Oregon in Eugene.
The SEC
Not surprisingly, a handful of SEC teams were among the first field for this year’s CFP. The undefeated Texas A&M Aggies lead the way at No. 3, followed by the Alabama Crimson Tide at No. 4, the Georgia Bulldogs at No. 5, and the Mississippi Rebels at No. 6, with the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners on the outside looking in.
Among the four in the field, it’s Alabama with the best odds to win it all at +750, followed by A&M at +900. Georgia at +1400 and Mississippi at +1900 appear to hold the better value at the moment.
The Big 12
The once-overlooked Power 4 conference is now clearly ahead of the ACC in terms of how the committee views these two. The undefeated BYU Cougars sit at No. 7 with the one-loss Texas Tech Red Raiders just behind at No. 8. The Utah Utes sit at No. 13 in the rankings, but outside of the Playoff.
While it’s BYU leading the way for the moment, oddsmakers clearly think the Red Raiders have the best shot of making some noise in the playoff with their title odds sitting at +1900, while BYU and Utah are both at +10000.
The rest
It’s looking like a tough year for the ACC. Its top-ranked team is the 8-1 Virginia Cavaliers, which is ranked No. 14 and would only be in the field thanks to winning the conference. The Miami Hurricanes, despite having two conference losses, still has the best natty odds of anyone in the ACC at +10000.
Keep an eye out for a team like the Duke Blue Devils, who only have one conference loss and is +22500 to win it all.
It's another year of not having a standout Group of Five team. The Memphis Tigers currently hold the honor as the top G5 team, but this is a group that lost to UAB. So, this spot is wide open.
