- Alabama has the shortest odds (+250) to win the College Football Playoff.
- With closer odds to win the SEC, the Georgia Bulldogs are an elite team in their own right.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The College Football Playoff will feature the Orange Bowl and the Rose Bowl as the semifinal games in 2021. The favorites to make it to those games are, in some order, the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Clemson Tigers.
These four schools are constant contenders, although it’s worth noting that there has always been an upset that caused one of these schools to not make the Playoff in any given year. In other words, even though these four schools are constant favorites, they have not all four made the playoff in the same year - yet.
Still, Sporting News projected the following semifinal matchups for the 2021-2022 College Football Playoff:
- Capital One Orange Bowl: Ohio State vs. Alabama
- Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: Oklahoma vs. Clemson
Out of these two games, they had Alabama winning over Ohio State, and Clemson winning over Oklahoma. So, are we really headed for another Alabama-Clemson showdown in the College Football Playoff Finals? The online sportsbooks say that it is a distinct possibility.
2021-2022 NCAA National Championship Winner
- Alabama +250
- Clemson +400
- Georgia +500
- Ohio State +600
- Oklahoma +600
However, when perusing the odds, it’s notable that Alabama has a serious secondary contender in their own conference.
The Georgia Bulldogs have gone slightly under discussed when considering the powerhouses of college football, but they’ve been a consistently elite team under Kirby Smart.
SEC Conference Winner 21/22
- Alabama -175
- Georgia +250
- Texas A&M +800
- LSU +1200
- Florida +1700
- Auburn +1800
In fact, despite being the top team on the odds boards in terms of odds to win the National Championship, Alabama is the least likely of the four teams that Sporting News had in the Playoff to win their own conference.
Oklahoma and Ohio State edge out Alabama in terms of in-conference odds, at -200 and -225 respectively to win their conferences.
Clemson is expected to run roughshod over a weak ACC, and has -900 odds to win their conference.
The reason why? Alabama has to contend with Georgia, and despite the Tide being the preseason favorite, the sportsbooks are showing some healthy respect for the Dawgs.
So why is everyone so sure that the Bulldogs won’t be able to pull it off? Well, betting on Georgia means betting against one of the great trends in college football - Nick Saban’s record against former assistants.
Many online gambling fans are familiar with his dominance, with 23 wins and zero losses against former assistants.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart worked for Saban as a defensive coordinator, and Saban has bested him every time they’ve matched up has head coaches. It’s hard to argue with 23-0.