2017-18 College Football Championship Futures Odds Update

This Monday, the Clemson Tigers shocked the sporting world by beating the undefeated Alabama Crimson Tide, 35-31, to win their first national championship since 1981 and to give senior quarterback Deshaun Watson a swan song to remember.

But even before Monday’s showdown kicked off, the oddsmakers already had their say as for who will win the next title game in 2018. Are Clemson and Alabama still heavy favorites to find themselves back in the final clash of the season? Let’s find out more about the five programs declared as early front-runners for the national title below.

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Early Favorites and Odds for the 2017-18 College Football Playoff National Championship Title

Alabama Crimson Tide (+300)

Alabama kissed its perfect season goodbye with Clemson’s last-second, go-ahead touchdown in the 2016-17 title game, but the oddsmakers are still high on this storied program to bounce back tremendously next season.

Year-in and year-out, head coach Nick Saban does a terrific job of Mighty-Morphin’ the Tide into instant title contenders. He already has a young, cornerstone quarterback at hand in Jalen Hurts set to lead the team for the next three seasons, and ‘Bama’s overall mystique as a successful football program will more than entice a great number of top recruits to keep the school’s winning tradition going. And above all else, the Crimson Tide are the only ones to appear in to all three installments of the relatively-new College Football Playoff format.

Florida State Seminoles (+700)

The Seminoles are in quite the same situation as the Crimson Tide heading into next season; they have a rich history of winning and an up-and-coming QB in Deondre Francis that they can build around easily.

However, the loss of stud running back Dalvin Cook is a major concern moving forward. Then again, five-star prospect Cam Akers appears to have the right tools to take over Cook’s role in the run game, and his presence on the field will be one worth monitoring as the season goes on. As such, FSU remains a sexy pick this early in the year (in more ways than one).

Ohio State Buckeyes (+800)

Even with a disappointing loss to Clemson in the CFP semifinal, the Buckeyes have still got to be grateful for how their 2016 season went. They only had six returning seniors in 2016, and yet coach Urban Meyer made the most out of his young core to make it to the College Football Playoff for the second time in three years.

With quarterback J.T. Barrett approaching his senior year and having a solid 2016 campaign, Ohio State only needs to focus on upgrades on a few key spots such as wide receiver and defensive back to regain their swagger as a nationally-feared program. After all, how can we not ignore the fact that the Buckeyes have 16 bowl appearances since 2000 and a national-title victory from 2014?

Oklahoma Sooners (+800)

Bah gawd, what a high-octane offense these Sooners have! Led by prolific quarterback Baker Mayfield along with a tough-as-nails offensive line to boot, you can pretty much chalk up yet another Big 12 title next season for Oklahoma.

Offense isn’t everything, though, and the Sooners learned that the hard way after their defense gave up nearly 29 points per game last season. Still, they have a relatively soft schedule ahead – save for an early-season clash with Ohio State – making it highly possible that the Sooners will nab their third-straight Big-12 championship with ease.

Then again, Mayfield needs help on the other side of the ball, and having a much better defense will make or break their return to the CFP scene indeed.

USC Trojans (+800)

You’ve been warned: temper your expectations for the 10-3 Trojans of last season. Sure, USC’s defense was fantastic, but the offense also lost a great number of key performers, namely wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster and a few trusted hulks in the offensive line.

All the hype surrounding head coach Clay Helton’s debut at the helm of this storied program is going through the roof as we speak, but we’d rather wait to let the string play out for another full season before going all in on the Trojans. On the bright side: Sam Darnold has duly impressed as the team’s new play-caller under center, so at least USC can be safe in the knowledge that the most important position in football won’t be the a big issue for the team for the foreseeable future.

Why wait until the start of the next college football regular season? Create a betting account now to begin placing stakes already on any of the standout FBS programs while these futures odds are still hot from the oven!

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