NCAA
Who’s the favorite to win the 2024-25 College Football Playoff? National championship betting odds
In this year’s NCAA college football season, only four teams are left in the race to follow Michigan as national champions.
Having ousted the No. 1 seed in the previous round, the Ohio State Buckeyes are the bookmakers’ favorites to be crowned 2024-25 national champions, as the NCAA College Football Playoff heads into the semi-finals this week.
The Buckeyes face the Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl Classic on Friday, a day after the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Penn State Nittany Lions battle it out in the first of the CFP’s last-four clashes.
The winners of the two semi-finals will meet in the National Championship Game later in January, with Atlanta hosting the title decider.
2024-25 College Football Playoff semi-finals - full schedule:
Thursday, January 9: Penn State vs Notre Dame (Orange Bowl)
Friday, January 10: Texas vs Ohio State (Cotton Bowl Classic)
What are Ohio State’s College Football Playoff betting odds?
After two comprehensive victories so far in the revamped, 12-team College Football Playoff, the 12-2 Buckeyes have been given moneyline odds of between -115 and -125 to win this year’s national championship, according to betting information published by the comparison website Oddschecker.
Following a 42-17 victory over the Tennessee Volunteers in the first round, Ohio State claimed a similarly emphatic triumph over the top-seeded Oregon Ducks in the quarter-finals on January 1. Quarterback Will Howard supplied three touchdown passes in the first half in Pasadena, as the Buckeyes won the Rose Bowl for the 10th time in their history, beating the Ducks 41-21.
What are Texas’s College Football Playoff betting odds?
A team that last won the national championship in 2014, Ohio State now takes on a Texas team that is valued at between +380 and +475 to win the championship. The 13-2 Longhorns, whose most recent national title came in 2005, edged past the Arizona State Sun Devils in the quarter-finals, in a Peach Bowl clash that required two overtimes on New Year’s Day. Before that 39-31 win in Atlanta, Texas saw off the Clemson Tigers 38-24 in the first round.
What are Texas and Ohio State’s Cotton Bowl records? What is their head-to-head record?
Making its fourth all-time appearance in the Cotton Bowl Classic, Ohio State is rated at -225 to -245 to beat Texas, a team making a record 23rd appearance in the Texas event. The Longhorns (+185 to +195) are 11-time Cotton Bowl victors, most recently in 2003; meanwhile, the Buckeyes, who are appearing in the Cotton Bowl for the second straight year, have won the game twice, in 1987 and 2017.
The Cotton Bowl Classic will be the fourth all-time matchup between Ohio State and Texas. As things stand, the Longhorns leads the head-to-head series 2-1, having won the teams’ most recent meeting, a 24-21 victory in 2009.
Texas vs Ohio State: what time, where to watch?
Played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Friday’s Cotton Bowl Classic kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT. Viewers in the United States can watch the game on ESPN, and can stream the network’s live coverage on the online platform fubo, which offers new users a free trial.
What are Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff betting odds?
Notre Dame, whose last claimed national title was back in 1988, is priced at between +375 and +450 to be crowned national champions this season. Marcus Freeman’s team eliminated the No. 2 seed on their way to the College Football Playoff semi-finals, earning a 23-10 Sugar Bowl win over the Georgia Bulldogs in the last eight on January 2. Earlier, the 13-1 Fighting Irish beat the Indiana Hoosiers 27-17 in the first round.
What are Penn State’s College Football Playoff betting odds?
Last national champions in 1986, the Penn State Nittany Lions are viewed by the bookmakers as the least likely of the semi-finalists to claim the CFP crown: James Franklin’s men are priced at between +500 and +560 to succeed the Michigan State Wolverines as US title holders. The 13-2 Nittany Lions have made it to the semi-finals by beating the SMU Mustangs 38-10 in the opening round, before a 31-14 quarter-final triumph over the Boise State Broncos, the No. 3 seed, in the Fiesta Bowl on December 31.
What are Penn State and Notre Dame’s Orange Bowl records? What is their head-to-head record?
Penn State and Notre Dame will both be making their sixth appearance in the Orange Bowl. The Nittany Lions are four-time winners of the event, most recently in 2006; the Fighting Irish have tasted victory in the bowl game twice in their history, in 1975 and 1990.
This will be the 20th all-time meeting between Penn State and Notre Dame, with the series tied at 9-9-1 so far. The teams last came up against each other in 2007, when the Nittany Lions ran out 31-10 winners.
In Thursday’s matchup, Notre Dame have been given moneyline victory odds of -135 to -142, while Penn State are priced at +113 to +120.
Penn State vs Notre Dame: what time, where to watch?
Held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, Thursday’s Orange Bowl is at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT and is available in the US on ESPN and fubo.
When is the 2024-25 National Championship Game?
The College Football Playoff National Championship Game will be held Monday, January 20, 2025, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. Kick-off is at 7:30 p.m./4:30 p.m. PT; watch the event in the US on ESPN and fubo.
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