CFB national champion odds: Georgia, Ohio State the favorites

Week 0 begins Saturday, meaning the college football season has finally arrived. With the season beginning, let's look at the national champion oddsboard. We already previewed the major conferences, the Heisman Trophy, and teams' chances of making the College Football Playoff.

National champion odds

Conference realignment and the 12-team College Football Playoff have created massive changes in college football, but familiar programs still sit atop the oddsboard.

Georgia missed the playoff last season after a loss to Alabama in the SEC title game, snapping the school's streak of consecutive national titles. However, Kirby Smart is the sport's best recruiter and consistently reloads with NFL-level talent. This year is no different. The Bulldogs also return Heisman-hopeful quarterback Carson Beck, who should take a leap forward in his second year as a starter. As a result, Georgia is the favorite to win its third national championship in four years.

Ohio State sits slightly behind the Bulldogs. Ryan Day has his best chance to capture a national title with a roster as good as any in the country. Although he's amassed an outstanding 56-8 record in five seasons, Day isn't revered because of his inability to beat Michigan and his lack of playoff success. But this could be the year Ohio State climbs the mountaintop.

Behind the two clear favorites, Oregon and Texas enter the season with high expectations. Oregon moved from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten, and Texas transitioned from the Big 12 to the SEC. Oddsmakers don't anticipate a difficult adjustment for either program, but the physicality and brutal schedule in higher-level conferences could take a toll on the schools.

Alabama has its longest odds of winning the title since 2008 with Nick Saban retired. Meanwhile, it's rare for the defending champs to tumble down the oddsboard. Yet Michigan isn't considered a favorite after coach Jim Harbaugh and quarterback J.J. McCarthy departed for the NFL.

The odds prove that the Big Ten and SEC are the sport's premier conferences as they claim nine of the top 10 favorites. The lone exception is Notre Dame, an independent school.

The ACC favorite is Florida State, which just missed out on the four-team playoff last season. The Seminoles are worse than last year, but they still could win a relatively weak conference and earn a first-round bye in the playoff.

You don't have to go far down the board to find the national champ. Eight of the last nine title winners entered the season as a top-three favorite. The expanded playoff could create more chaos akin to college basketball's postseason, and it allows passionate fans across the country to talk themselves into a long-shot playoff berth. However, it's safe to bet on a favorite to hoist the trophy in January.

Sam Oshtry is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on X @soshtry for more betting coverage.