- College football national championship odds are already available for 2026-27 at BetMGM.
- Ohio State, the 2024 national champion, opens as the favorite for this upcoming season.
- After winning the 2025 national championship, Indiana opened as the third Big Ten team in the table.
- Lane Kiffin's LSU team is 14-to-1.
The college football season is finally here. The race for another national championship has begun.
As always, BetMGM offers college football odds for every game on every Saturday. But fans can also make predictions on which team they think will win it all by betting in the annual college football national championship odds market.
This is a tougher market than the College Football Playoff odds market, where 12 teams will ultimately be graded as winners. Here, bettors must nail the championship pick, but they’re rewarded with far more lucrative returns.Â
College Football National Championship Odds (2026)
NCAA Football Championship Odds: Week 1 Reactions Drive New Bets
The preseason period for this year’s college football season was flush with action on Notre Dame and Ohio State. Both teams won big in Week 1, so there’s no substantive change with either team.
At BetMGM, Ohio State remains the short shot to win, accounting for 12% of tickets as of Sept. 7. The only more popular team is the Fighting Irish, who account for a whopping 18.5% of tickets and 18.6% of handle.
The big winners from Week 1 were Miami and LSU. The former beat up on outmatched ACC peer Stanford in a weeknight game, on national television. The latter destroyed Clemson after Baton Rouge was featured as the first of this season’s College GameDay locations.
As of Monday, LSU and Miami each account for 6.7% of the ticket share in BetMGM’s national championship outright market.
The main difference is the money behind those tickets. LSU has only 5.1% of all handle, suggesting that the Tigers are a popular option among retail bettors. This checks out, as LSU sports teams often carry large ticket counts. People in Louisiana like to bet on the Tigers.
Miami has almost double LSU’s handle with 9.6% of all dollars wagered in the national championship market, suggesting the Hurricanes could be more popular amongst sharper bettors.
The Hurricanes lost their outstanding edge rushers from last year’s team, but the offensive dynamo that is Mensah-to-Toney should keep Miami chugging into a second consecutive playoff.
National Championship Odds: What to Know Before You Bet
| Team | Current Odds | Opening Odds | Last National Championship |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | +500 | +600 | 2024 |
| Texas | +600 | +700 | 2005 |
| Notre Dame | +700 | +700 | 1988 |
| Georgia | +700 | +900 | 2022 |
| Indiana | +900 | +800 | 2025 |
| Miami (FL) | +700 | +2000 | 2001 |
| Oregon | +2000 | +700 | Never |
| LSU | +1100 | +1500 | 2019 |
| Texas Tech | +2200 | +1500 | Never |
| Oklahoma | +4000 | +3000 | 2000 |
| Alabama | +2500 | +1500 | 2020 |
| Texas A&M | +2500 | +1500 | 1939 |
| Ole Miss | +2500 | +4000 | 1960 |
| USC | +3000 | +4000 | 2004 |
| Tennessee | +4000 | +5000 | 1998 |
| Penn State | +6000 | +5000 | 1986 |
College Football National Championship History (CFP Era)
| Season | Champion | Runner-Up | Championship Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Indiana | Miami (FL) | 27-21 |
| 2024 | Ohio State | Notre Dame | 34-23 |
| 2023 | Michigan | Washington | 34-13 |
| 2022 | Georgia | TCU | 65-7 |
| 2021 | Georgia | Alabama | 33-18 |
| 2020 | Alabama | Ohio State | 52-24 |
| 2019 | LSU | Clemson | 42-25 |
| 2018 | Clemson | Alabama | 44-16 |
| 2017 | Alabama | Georgia | 26-23 |
| 2016 | Clemson | Alabama | 35-31 |
| 2015 | Alabama | Clemson | 45-40 |
| 2014 | Ohio State | Oregon | 42-20 |
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