NCAAF teams
David Purdum, ESPN Staff Writer 2y

Georgia rolls past Alabama as new betting favorite to win College Football Playoff National Championship

College Football, null, Georgia Bulldogs

After an upset-filled first half of the college football season, there's a new top dog in the odds to win the College Football Playoff National Championship -- Georgia.

The undefeated and top-ranked Bulldogs catapulted past Alabama this week and are now the consensus favorites to win the national championship at U.S. sportsbooks. Georgia is 7-5 at Caesars Sportsbook, followed by Alabama at 2-1. Ohio State is next at 9-1, followed by Oklahoma (14-1), Iowa (20-1), Cincinnati (25-1) and Michigan (30-1).

The Bulldogs also climbed to the top of the AP Top 25 after rolling past Auburn over the weekend. Georgia hosts unbeaten Kentucky on Saturday. The Bulldogs opened as 22-point favorites over the Wildcats.

The Crimson Tide had been the favorites since the season kicked off but dropped back after being upset at Texas A&M as 19-point favorites on Saturday. Alabama's loss at Texas A&M was the second-largest upset of Nick Saban's coaching career. The Crimson Tide lost to Louisiana-Monroe as 24.5-point favorites in 2007, Saban's first season at Alabama.

Alabama's loss was a boon for sportsbooks. The SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas said Texas A&M knocking off the Crimson Tide produced its biggest win of the college football season so far. Caesars Sportsbook vice president of trading Craig Mucklow said A&M beating Alabama outright Saturday produced multimillion-dollar decisions in favor of the house. Among the big bets on the Crimson Tide was a $569,738.60 three-team money-line parlay on Ohio State (-1,600), Cincinnati (-7,000) and Alabama (-1,000). The bet, which was the largest college football wager this season reported by Caesars, would have paid a net $105,656.

The Crimson Tide were the 40th ranked team to lose this season, the most ever through six weeks in the history of the AP poll, according to ESPN Stats & Information. If the upsets continue, some long shots could get back into the mix. Oregon is 50-1 to win the national title at Caesars. Michigan State is 60-1, and Penn State is 80-1.

^ Back to Top ^