The Clemson Tigers were No. 8 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday, but their betting odds seem to give them a better chance than that. Let’s take a look at the latest College Football Playoff odds.
The top four teams in the CFP rankings for the four-team playoff remained the same — No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs, No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes, No. 3 Michigan Wolverines, No. 4 TCU Horned Frogs — and for the most part the odds corresponded.
Georgia is the favorite to make the playoff (-10000) and win the National Championship (-130) per PointsBet, followed by Ohio State (-700 playoff; +210 champion), TCU (-140 playoff, +2000 champion) and Michigan (+145 playoff, +1100 champion).
But despite the CFP rankings having the LSU Tigers at No. 5, USC Trojans at No. 6, and Alabama Crimson Tide at No. 7, Clemson is the next betting choice to make the playoff (+160), ahead of USC (+165) and LSU (+500). (Odds are not available on Alabama.)
USC is +2100 to win the championship, followed by Clemson (+2500) and LSU (+4000). No. 9 Oregon is the other team available for wager (+1000 playoff; +17500 championship).
Clemson’s lower College Football Playoff ranking is based in large part on its only loss of the season, 35-15 to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Nov. 5.
“You’re looking for football judgement, and that game against Notre Dame … that continues to be part of the discussion,” CFP committee chair Boo Corrigan told ESPN. “Overall, we saw Alabama at 7, and Clemson at 8.”
According to the ESPN Playoff Predictor, Clemson has a 31% chance to make the College Football Playoff, whereas LSU has a 7% chance, Alabama has a 12% chance, and USC has a 15% chance.
Georgia is at 99%, Ohio State is at 96%, Michigan is at 81% and TCU is at 56%.
Alabama and LSU each has two losses, USC has one. Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and TCU are undefeated.
Clemson is a 14.5-point home favorite against the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday, and will play the North Carolina Tar Heels in the ACC Championship.
Michigan visits Ohio State on Saturday with the Buckeyes a 7.5-point home favorite. TCU is a 10-point home favorite against the Iowa State Cyclones and will play in the Big 12 Championship.
LSU is a 10-point favorite at the Texas A&M Aggies before playing Georgia in the SEC Championship. USC is a 5-point home favorite against Notre Dame and will play in the Pac-12 Championship.
“That was a dominant conversation for the last couple of days, to make sure we were looking at it the right way,” Corrigan said. “There’s reasons for USC to be at No. 5, there’s reasons for LSU to be at No. 5.”
