2020-21 National Championship Odds: Clemson Is the Early Favorite

A wild and exciting 2019-20 college football season ended with the LSU Tigers beating the Clemson Tigers 42-25 to win their first national title since 2007. Despite losing, Clemson will once again be a powerhouse with Trevor Lawrence returning for his junior year and the team has the best recruiting class for the upcoming season. For those reasons, they are the early favorites to win the 2020-21 national title at +250.

Online sportsbook Bovada has the Clemson Tigers as the +250 favorites, followed by the Ohio State Buckeyes at +400, the Alabama Crimson Tide at +500, the LSU Tigers at +700, the Georgia Bulldogs at +800, the Florida Gators at +1600 and the Oklahoma Sooners at +2500 to round out the top teams on the oddsboard.

Why Is Clemson The Early Favorite?

Head coach Dabo Swinney has put together quite the program recently, making the College Football Playoff in each of the last five seasons, advancing to the national championship game four times and winning two titles. Clemson has the No. 1 recruiting class in 2020-21 with six five-star recruits, including the top-ranked recruit, defensive tackle Bryan Bresee.

Not only will the Tigers have a great new crop of young players to start the next wave, but they are also bringing back junior QB Trevor Lawrence, the projected first overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. All Lawrence has done as a starting QB is go 25-1 and appear in two national championship games, winning one. Although the offense will look a little different without running back Travis Etienne and wide receiver Tee Higgins, there’s no doubt that the Tigers will still be in contention to win yet another national title in 2020-21.

What Team Is Providing Better Value Than Clemson?

Although it’s not a sleeper pick, the Ohio State Buckeyes at +400 are a team that should be competing for the national title in a year’s time. Similar to Clemson, Ohio State is returning its starting QB, Justin Fields, who was a 2019 Heisman Trophy nominee and finished the season with an impressive 41-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Additionally, the Buckeyes have the fourth-best recruiting class for the 2020-21 season, including bringing in the top-ranked wide receiver in Julian Fleming and the top-ranked offensive lineman, Paris Johnson Jr. There are weapons all around Fields and this OSU team should be one to watch in 2020-21.

Some people may be looking at LSU for a wager on the heels of a tremendous 2019-20 campaign that led to a national title. I would be a little hesitant, though, as starting QB Joe Burrow, the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner and projected first overall pick in the upcoming NFL draft, will not be with the team and it will be Myles Brennan leading the charge. The Tigers will still have a very strong running game with former five-star recruit John Emery Jr. leading the way, but in an always tough SEC with an unproven QB, it’s hard to lay a wager at +700 at this point.

Odds as of January 14 at Bovada

What is a Futures Bet for NCAA Football Teams?

When it comes to big events for any sport, you can bet months in advance. In this case, a futures bet is a wager made on which team will win the national championship. Each week, oddsmakers will update the odds to reflect how a squad is doing. If a team is plagued with injuries, their chances of making it to the NCAA football final game slim down. A surging squad will see their odds skyrocket.

Understanding College Football Championship Odds

When you go to a college football sportsbook, you’ll see the betting lines laid out like this:

Unlike a traditional straight-up bet where there’s a clear favorite marked by the minus sign (-), ‘Bama is the fave since they have the lowest odds. The rest are considered underdogs.

If you believe that LSU has the greatest odds of winning the championship, and you bet $50 on them, you’d get a payout of $275 – your original $50 is returned along with your winnings of $225. On the other hand, if you’re looking at Georgia and think they’re going to turn it around and win it all, that same $50 would give you $750 – you get your $50 back, plus your prize of $700. Our odds calculating tool will show you how much you’d win based on the odds and amount bet.

When you see futures odds that you like, it’s best to jump on them early. As mentioned above, betting sites will adjust the odds as we get closer to bowl season and teams move up and down in the standings.