College football odds: Alabama remains national title favorite
The Alabama Crimson Tide are 20–0 straight up and 13–7 against the spread over their last 20 games. After winning the national championship in 2015, the Crimson Tide are favored to win the title again in 2016.
Alabama is going off at +160 on the odds to win the national championship at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The Crimson Tide have been one of the most dominant teams in the nation thus far with an 8–0 SU and 6–2 ATS record, and they have a valuable bye this week to prepare for next Saturday’s road game against LSU.
Jalen Hurts has given Alabama a valuable offensive weapon at quarterback to go along with the team’s elite defense.
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Despite dropping a game on the road to Penn State, the Ohio State Buckeyes are still considered the biggest threat to Alabama’s repeat hopes at +450 to win the national title. If Ohio State can avoid any more slip-ups as expected, the Buckeyes would be able to take over control of the Big Ten with a win over Michigan.
Since losing to Ohio State 42–13 at home last season, Michigan (+600 to win the national championship) is 8–0 SU and 5–3 ATS according to the OddsShark College Football Database. Ranking in the top three nationally in both scoring offense and scoring defense, the Wolverines are arguably the most complete team in the nation.
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If Michigan picks up its first loss of the season at Ohio State in its final game, the playoff committee will have a tough decision on its hands when it comes to an 11–1 Wolverines team.
Two currently undefeated teams that figure to be strong contenders for playoff spots are Clemson (+700) and Washington (+900). Both have received excellent quarterback play from Deshaun Watson and Jake Browning, respectively, and both have scoring defenses that rank in the top 10 in the country.
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If Clemson can survive this week’s road test against Florida State, it would be in excellent position to finish atop the ACC.
Other potential playoff contenders include Louisville (+900), LSU (+2000), Oklahoma (+3300), Nebraska (+4000), West Virginia (+4000), Auburn (+4000) and Baylor (+5000). Nebraska, West Virginia and Baylor all enter Week 9 road games with undefeated records.
