College Football

College football odds: Four early CFP title futures bets to make now

Published Jan. 10, 2023 5:43 p.m. ET

Co-Host of THE HERD and FOX Sports Betting Analyst

Georgia is still celebrating its championship, but with the 2022-23 college football season coming to a close, it’s never too early to project who will win the title next year.

There are 130 teams in college football, but if we’re being realistic, only a select few have a legitimate chance to win the national championship year in and year out. Here are the four teams, in no particular order, I like to have the best shot at CFP success next season, along with their odds to hoist the trophy in January 2024 (odds via FOX Bet).

USC: +1200 at FOX Bet (bet $10 to win $130 total)

Remember last year at this time when the Trojans were 80-1, and we jumped on them before they added Caleb Williams and Jordan Addison? USC was the best ticket to have … for 10 months. They nearly made the College Football Playoff but lost to Utah in the Pac-12 title game. With Williams back and the Trojans raiding the transfer portal, USC will be a legit contender for the title. Make no mistake about it, though, the lack of defense remains a major issue.

An October date at Notre Dame will be a challenge, but the only other difficult road game will be at Oregon.

Notre Dame: +2500 at FOX Bet (bet $10 to win $260 total)

The Irish made the biggest quarterback splash in the transfer portal, securing soon-to-be 24-year-old Sam Hartman, who set a slew of school records at Wake Forest while starting 45 games.

The biggest hurdle here is their schedule, which features three games against top 15 teams. Two of these matchups are at home — Ohio State and USC — and they then travel to Clemson for the third.

Georgia: +300 at FOX Bet (bet $10 to win $40 total)

No team has won three straight titles since Minnesota in the 1930s, but good luck finding a team with more talent than Georgia. The biggest question is at quarterback, but the Bulldogs are set practically everywhere else. They’ve got the best tight end in America (Brock Bowers), arguably the best returning pass rusher (Mykel Williams) and another recruiting class dotted with five-star talent.

Michigan: +800 at FOX Bet (bet $10 to win $90 total)

This one comes with a massive asterisk. I can’t bet on Michigan futures without knowing about Jim Harbaugh’s status. If he leaves for the NFL, I can’t lay it here. If he stays … well, this offense should steamroll the Big Ten, with QB J.J. McCarthy back, as well as running backs Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards. The offensive line will have three new starters via the transfer portal. The defense will have seven months to watch the tape of the TCU embarrassment and then take out their frustration on opponents.

Jason McIntyre is a FOX Sports betting analyst, and he also writes about the NFL and NBA Draft. He joined FS1 in 2016 and has appeared on every show on the network. In 2017, McIntyre began producing gambling content on the NFL, college football and NBA for FOX Sports. He had a gambling podcast for FOX, "Coming Up Winners," in 2018 and 2019. Before arriving at FOX, he created the website The Big Lead, which he sold in 2010.

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