College Football Oddsmakers See Big Ten Teams As Title Contenders But Not Pac-12

With the Big Ten, Pac-12 and Mountain West all reversing course and deciding to play fall sports, the race to make the 2020 College Football Playoffs and vie for a national title has gotten more competitive.

No longer is the championship virtually guaranteed to be won by a team from the SEC, ACC or Big 12. Ohio State is given as good of a chance as anyone to win the CFP Championship Game on Jan. 11, 2021.

Ohio State has +250 title odds at FanDuel Sportsbook, making the Buckeyes co-favorites with Clemson. Alabama is third with +350 odds.

Either Clemson or Alabama has competed in each of the last five national title games. LSU defeated Clemson for last year’s championship. LSU has +5000 odds after losing Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow to the NFL.

There is thought to be a sizable gap between the top three contenders and the rest of the sport. No other team even has +1500 odds or better to win the championship and there is no clear favorite to grab the fourth and final spot in the playoffs.

Florida and Georgia both have +1600 title odds out of the SEC. Oklahoma is the Big 12 favorite with +2000 odds. Texas and Texas A&M both have +2500 odds.

The Big Ten’s decision to play fall football could result in a few of the conference’s teams contending for the postseason. Penn State is a contender with +3000 odds. Wisconsin (+5000) and Michigan (+6000) could potentially make a run, as well.

Notre Dame (+4000), Auburn (+6000) and Miami (+6000) are in the mix.

An eight-game schedule that starts on Oct. 23 is expected to be enough for the Big Ten to be in contention for the College Football Playoff. The Pac-12’s decision to play came later, making it more difficult for the conference to be represented in the postseason.

The Pac-12 season won’t start until Nov. 6, forcing each team to play a seven-game schedule in just as many weeks. That leaves the conference with no wiggle room in the case that games are postponed because of positive coronavirus tests.

More than 20 college football games have already been postponed due to the coronavirus.

FanDuel doesn’t currently have any championship odds for Pac-12 schools. USC was the top-ranked team from the conference in the preseason AP Top 25 poll, coming in at No.19.

The Mountain West starts an eight-game schedule the same weekend as the Big Ten. No team from the conference is thought to be a national title contender.