College Football Championship Odds: Alabama Steady on Top, Florida State Drops
The Alabama Crimson Tide, USC Trojans and Ohio State Buckeyes entered the 2017 season as the top three favorites to win the national championship. After picking up wins in their opening games, these they remain the top favorites on the board.
Alabama still leads the pack at odds of +260 to win the national championship at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The Crimson Tide picked up a statement win in their 24-7 victory over the Florida State Seminoles and will now have the rest of the first half of the season to work out their kinks against un-ranked opponents.
Ohio State (+575 to win the championship) has slipped slightly ahead of USC (+700), which had a poor performance at home in a 49-31 win at home against Western Michigan.
One team's statement win is another team's missed opportunity. In addition to failing to upset the Crimson Tide to establish themselves as a national threat, the Florida State Seminoles also lost starting quarterback Deondre Francois to a season-ending injury.
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The Seminoles entered Week 1 at +750 to win the national championship, and have now plummeted down to +2500, joining a handful of other fringe contenders at that price including LSU, Georgia and Wisconsin.
While Florida State dropped significantly after just one week, Oklahoma State is on the rise. Going off at +3300 during the preseason, the Cowboys shot up to +1800 with their 59-24 win over Tulsa. With that victory, Oklahoma State improved to 9-1 SU and 6-4 ATS over its last 10 games.
An October road game against Texas suddenly looks less daunting after the Longhorns' weak performance last Saturday, and the Cowboys get Oklahoma at home in November in a game that could have major playoff implications.
Oklahoma (+1400), Penn State (+1400), Michigan (+1400), Auburn (+1800) and Clemson (+2000) round out the current list of top contenders to win the national championship.
Oklahoma is on the road against Ohio State this week as a 7.5-point underdog on the betting lines and Auburn is on the road against Clemson, so these two teams could see a shake-up in their odds in either direction with a loss or a big road upset.
