College Football National Championship Predictions & Odds 2024: Oregon Takes Small Lead in Odds

The College Football Playoff field has been decided, and these 12 teams will begin playing on Friday, Dec. 20, with Notre Dame hosting Indiana. Oregon, Georgia, Boise State, and Arizona State earned first-round byes, while Indiana, SMU, and Clemson received the 10 to 12 seeds, respectively.

Below, I’ll check out the latest national championship odds, examine the top favorites, look at an underdog, and more.

National Championship Odds

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National Championship Favorites to Win

Oregon Ducks (+350) at FanDuel

Oregon remains undefeated after beating Penn State in the Big Ten title game 45-37. They earned the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff and have a first-round bye. 

We won’t see the Ducks suit up until Jan. 1 in the Rose Bowl. 

They’ll take on the winner of Tennessee and Ohio State. Oregon played Ohio State earlier this season and just barely beat them 32-31. 

Among quarterbacks that have at least 100 pass attempts, Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel is second in completion percentage at 73.2%. 

In addition to his 28 touchdown passes, he also has seven rushing scores. 

Oregon is 12th in total yards (446.8), 38th in rushing yards (177.3), 20th in passing yards (269.5), ninth in points allowed (18.1), 11th in total yards allowed (309), 35th in rushing yards allowed (132.7), and 10th in passing yards allowed (176.3) per game.

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Texas Longhorns (+360) at FanDuel

Texas lost to Georgia for the second time this season, this time in the SEC Championship. This loss was much closer, at 22-19 in overtime. However, Georgia was without starting quarterback Carson Beck for the second half and overtime, and he had an arm injury as time expired in the first half. 

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers completed 27 of 46 passes for 358 yards, one touchdown, and two picks. He connected with wide receiver Matthew Golden eight times for 162 yards. 

The Texas defense held Georgia to just 277 total yards of offense and 136 passing yards, but again, they played against Georgia backup quarterback Gunner Stockton for most of the game. 

Georgia running back Trevor Etienne ran 16 times for 94 yards (5.9 yards per carry) and had two touchdowns. 

Texas lands as the No. 5 seed and will host Clemson. This matchup bodes well for them, as Texas is one of the best pass defenses in the nation. 

There’s one piece of news to monitor heading into their matchup concerning wide receiver Isaiah Bond and left tackle Kelvin Banks. Both suffered ankle injuries in the SEC Championship and are questionable about playing. 

Should they win, they’ll take on Arizona State. From there, they’ll land in a matchup that could include Tennessee, Ohio State, or Oregon.

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Georgia Bulldogs (+500) at FanDuel

Georgia is the No. 2 seed in the College Football Playoff, meaning they’re also off until the first day of 2025. This is massive for them as we await more news on the Beck injury. 

It’s being reported as a potential UCL (elbow) injury, and there’s no timeline for his return. While he’ll have almost a month to get back, it’s unclear if he can play. 

Additionally, backup Gunner Stockton could be looking toward the transfer portal. 

There are a lot of questions surrounding the program at the moment. 

However, if he’s unable to return, Georgia will play the winner of Indiana and Notre Dame. Should they win that game, they’ll follow that game up against either SMU, Penn State, or Boise State. 

In Beck’s place would likely be Stockton, who showed some ability running with the ball in relief but appeared to leave a lot to be desired as a passer, completing 12 of 16 passes for 71 yards and a pick. 

A big part of Georgia’s College Football Playoff hopes rests on Beck's health, which has yet to be determined as of Dec. 11, 2024.

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Ohio State Buckeyes (+500) at FanDuel

After losing to Oregon and Michigan in the regular season, Ohio State missed the Big Ten title game but still earned the No. 8 seed. 

With that, they drew the matchup with the closest seeding and will host No. 9 Tennessee. 

Should they beat Tennessee, they’ll have a rematch back in Oregon against the Ducks. 

The Buckeyes fell just short, as mentioned above. Quarterback Will Howard didn’t slide in time, resulting in the loss. If he had slid just a second sooner, they would’ve been down around the 30-yard line and given their kicker a shot at a 47-or-so-yard field goal to win the game. 

It’s not guaranteed they would’ve won, but it was plausible. 

Ohio State boasts arguably the best defense in college football, allowing just 241.5 total yards per game. That ranks first in the nation. They’re also sixth in rushing yards allowed at 97.3 per outing. 

They will face the run-heavy Tennessee Volunteers, who are 10th in rushing yards per game (226.2).

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National Championship Underdog

Penn State (+550) at FanDuel

I’ve been riding with Penn State all year as my top underdog, and after the bracket reveal, it’s hard not to stick with them. 

They draw SMU first. A win there, and they’ll move on to Boise State. 

There’s one roster move to be aware of: backup quarterback Beau Pribula has entered the transfer portal and will not be with the team.

Penn State is 11th in rushing yards allowed (103.8), fifth in total yards allowed (282.2), and 12th in passing yards allowed (178.5) per game. 

SMU is 18th in passing yards per game, with Kevin Jennings at 270.4 per game. If they beat them, which will be a home game for Penn State, their run defense will have its toughest task of the season: wrangling Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, who could very well break the single-season rushing yards record against them. 

Projecting further, say they clamp down on the SMU passing attack and slow down Boise State—they then face either Indiana, Notre Dame, or Georgia. 

These are all winnable games, especially if Beck is out for Georgia. These three games could land them in the championship, and at +550, I’m willing to take that risk. 

This is a lot of projection, but they have arguably the “easiest” stretch on paper.

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Top 12 National Championship Teams in 2024

Oregon

Oregon has a first-round bye and has shown it has the offense and defense to go all the way, as evidenced by its undefeated record to this point. 

Texas

Texas has a fantastic pass defense, but they’ve had trouble against higher levels of competition. Will they be able to slow down Clemson’s passing attack? 

Georgia

Georgia's biggest question is Beck's health. Without him, this could be a short run for the Bulldogs. 

Ohio State

Ohio State will look to use their stellar defense to slow down the run-heavy Volunteers and quarterback Nico Iamaleava. 

Penn State

Penn State is at home to start things out, and its defense will attempt to slow down the potent SMU offense, which made it to the ACC title game in its first season in that conference. 

Notre Dame

Notre Dame has an excellent pass defense, allowing just 157.9 yards per game (third). They’re also 11th in rushing yards per game, at 224.8. We’ll see if they can overpower Indiana’s nation-leading run defense. 

Tennessee

Tennessee’s rushing attack is in for a tough game on the road against Ohio State, but Tennessee has a top-four defense in terms of points allowed, surrendering just 14.9 per contest. 

SMU

SMU draws Penn State in the opening round. They rank 23rd in total yards per game at 430.4 and, as mentioned, pass for 270.4 per game, which is 18th best. 

Indiana

Indiana allows just 76.2 rushing yards per game, which leads the nation, but will they be able to slow down Notre Dame? Will this game be more like their blowout loss to Ohio State, or will they remain competitive? That remains to be seen. 

Arizona State

Arizona State's offense is run-heavy, rushing for 198.8 yards per game (18th) compared to a mere 224.4 passing yards per outing (64th). Their defense ranks inside the top 28 in points allowed (21.3), total yards allowed (333.2), and rushing yards allowed (117.8). 

Clemson

Clemson sneaks in as the No. 12 seed after winning the ACC title. They beat SMU 34-31. They’re 14th in passing yards per game at 275.3, but their defense has left a bit to be desired, ranking 56th in total yards allowed at 363.1 per game. 

Boise State 

Boise State earns a first-round bye, and Jeanty is just 132 yards away from breaking Barry Sanders’ single-season record. He’ll have a chance to do it against either Penn State or SMU on Jan. 1.  

National Championship History

Since 2014, the College Football Playoff has been the primary way of deciding the national champion. However, this Playoff has always been four teams. In 2024, that’s changing. It’s now 12 teams instead of four, which will allow more programs a shot at bringing home the title. This will certainly result in some underdogs winning a championship more often than in the past. 

The Crimson Tide have the most appearances with eight and won the most games with nine. 

Here are all of the national champions since the Playoff was introduced. 

How to Bet on the National Championship

In betting on the national championship, you’ll be wagering on the dedicated futures betting market. There are other markets you can wager on that indirectly apply to it, like conference winners, but the only true way to wager on who will win the national championship are futures and when the day of the actual game comes, moneyline, point spread, totals, parlays, props, and more.

Where to Bet on the National Championship

College sports betting is available in all legal sports betting states, but there are some prohibited markets. 

I’ll touch on that below and list the top online sportsbooks for wagering on the national championship and college football as a whole. 

• Arizona (AZ): Cannot wager on college player props.

• Colorado (CO): Cannot wager on college player props.

• Connecticut (CT): You cannot wager on teams based on Connecticut unless they’re in a tournament. 

• Delaware (DE): Cannot wager on in-state teams

• DC: Cannot wager on DC-based teams or any college games occurring in the region. 

• Illinois (IL): Cannot wager on college player props. You can wager on in-state teams if done at retail sportsbooks. 

• Indiana (IN): Cannot wager on college player props.

• Iowa (IA): Cannot wager on college player props.

• Kansas (KS): No restrictions.

• Kentucky (KY): No restrictions.

• Louisiana (LA): No restrictions.

• Maryland (MD): No restrictions.

• Massachusetts (MA): You cannot wager on teams based in Massachusetts unless they’re in a tournament. 

• Michigan (MI): No restrictions.

• Mississippi (MS): Cannot wager on college player props. 

• New Jersey (NJ): Cannot wager on in-state teams

• New York (NY): Cannot wager on games involving New York-based schools or player props. 

• North Carolina (NC): No restrictions. 

• Ohio (OH): You cannot bet on college player props.

• Pennsylvania (PA): Cannot bet on college player props. 

• Tennessee (TN): Cannot wager on college player props, including live college player props. 

• Vermont (VT): You cannot wager on teams based in Vermont unless they’re in a tournament. 

• Virginia (VA): Cannot wager on college games that include Virginia teams. 

• West Virginia (WV): You cannot bet on college player props. 

• Wyoming (WY): No restrictions.

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