Georgia third among College Football Playoff championship betting favorites
ATHENS — Georgia ranks third among CFP championship contenders to win the national title, per the FanDuel Sportsbook.
Ohio State is the betting favorite, at +250, while top-seeded Indiana — which beat the Buckeyes 13-10 in the Big Ten championship game — is second at +270.
The No. 3-seeded Bulldogs (12-1) received a first-round bye and open play in the CFP quarterfinal Sugar Bowl in the Caesars Superdome at 8 p.m. on Jan. 1 against the winner of the first-round game between Tulane (11-2) and Ole Miss (11-1).
Georgia’s odds of winning the national title are +550 — not considerably greater than they were at the start of the season (+700, per DraftKings.com) behind favorites Texas and Ohio State.
The Rebels, led by first-time head coach Pete Golding after Lane Kiffin’s departure for LSU, beat the Green Wave 45-10 earlier this season and are a 17.5-point favorite to beat Tulane again when the teams play at 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 20.
The Bulldogs are on the same side of the 12-team CFP bracket as playoff favorite and No 2-seed Ohio State (13-0) and could face the Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., on Jan. 8 with a win in the Sugar Bowl.
Ohio State plays in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31 against the winner of the first-round game between No. 7-seed Texas A&M (11-1) and No. 10-seed Miami (10-2) that will take place at noon on Dec. 20.
Based on the odds, Georgia got the easier quarterfinal game as the No. 3 seed than Ohio State did as the No. 2 seed. Texas A&M carries +1600 championship odds, and Alabama has the same title-winning odds as Ole Miss (+2000).
Here’s a look at the opening betting lines on the first-round games and the CFP championship odds, from FanDuel.com:
CFP First-Round betting lines
- Alabama (-2.5) at Oklahoma, at 8 p.m., Dec. 19
- Miami at Texas A&M (-3.5), at noon, Dec. 20
- Tulane at Ole Miss (-17.5), at 3:30 p.m., Dec. 20
- James Madison at Oregon (-21.5), at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 20
CFP Championship odds
- Ohio State +250
- Indiana +270
- Georgia +550
- Texas Tech +850
- Oregon +850
- Texas A&M +1600
- Alabama +2000
- Ole Miss +2000
- Miami +2200
- Oklahoma +4500
- James Madison +40,000
- Tulane +75,000
About the Author
Mike is in his 10th season covering SEC and Georgia athletics for AJC-DawgNation and has 25 years of CFB experience. Mike is a Heisman Trophy voter and former Football Writers President who was named the National FWAA Beat Writer of the Year in January, 2018.
