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David Purdum
Ohio State may have dropped to the second seed in the College Football Playoff after losing to Indiana in the Big Ten championship game Saturday, but the Buckeyes remain the betting favorites to win a second straight national title at sportsbooks around the nation.
But it’s close.
Ohio State (+240) was installed as the favorite to win the College Football Playoff at DraftKings shortly after the final CFP rankings were released Sunday. Indiana (+250) was right behind, followed by Georgia (+600) and Oregon (+750). The fifth-seeded Ducks had slightly shorter odds than No. 4 Texas Tech (+800) on Sunday.
The four teams that will host first-round games — Oregon, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Oklahoma — opened as favorites. However, the eighth-seeded Sooners quickly became underdogs to ninth-seeded Alabama.
Oklahoma initially was a 1.5-point favorite over the Crimson Tide, but within the first 30 minutes after it was posted, the line flipped to Alabama -1.5.
Miami, which jumped Notre Dame to earn the 10th seed, opened as a 5.5-point road underdog to Texas A&M at DraftKings. That line dipped to Aggies -4 early Sunday afternoon.
Notre Dame was a -2000 favorite at DraftKings to make the College Football Playoff right before the bracket was released, while the Hurricanes were 10-1 underdogs to reach the playoff last Sunday. Odds, however, moved toward Miami throughout the week, and the Hurricanes were +185 to make the field before DraftKings halted betting right before the bracket was released.
In the other first-round games, Oregon opened as a 21.5-point home favorite over James Madison, and Ole Miss was installed as a 16.5-point favorite over visiting Tulane at DraftKings.
