It may be the heart of the offseason, but that does not mean college football is always able to escape silly season. Yes, Georgia should be on the shortlist of teams who can realistically win next year's national championship, but why are the Bulldogs getting worse than +1000 odds right now? They may not be the top pick to win it all in many fans' eyes, but some of those add of it are so ridiculous.
Here is every team that has better than +1600 odds to win a national title from FanDuel Sportsbook.
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish: +650
- Ohio State Buckeyes: +700
- Texas Longhorns: +700
- Indiana Hoosiers: +700
- Oregon Ducks: +950
- Georgia Bulldogs: +1100
- Miami Hurricanes: +1300
- Texas Tech Red Raiders: +1400
- LSU Tigers: +1600
- Texas A&M Aggies: +1600
Georgia has the sixth best odds of winning next year's national championship at +100. Notre Dame edges out a trio of teams with +700 odds in Ohio State, Texas, and Indiana at +650. To really make a mess of it, FanDuel also has Oregon listed ahead of Georgia for the fifth best odds at +950. While Ohio State being ahead of Georgia is somewhat justifiable, the other four teams have some flaws.
So if you love throwing your good, hard-earned money away, bet on the five teams ahead of Georgia.
Georgia not getting the national championship odds it totally deserves
Look. This post is not meant to say that Georgia should be at the very top with the best odds in the country. This is more about looking at some of the teams ahead of them and wondering why that is the case. Let's start with Notre Dame at the top at +650 and then work our way down to Georgia. Should Notre Dame have better odds that Georgia? Maybe, but when have they ever won anything?!
Notre Dame has played in two national championships this century and lost them both. The Fighting Irish have not won a national championship since before the internet existed. Again, having them listed ahead of Georgia is fine because Marcus Freeman should field an excellent team that has to navigate one of the softest schedules of all time, but them having the top odds is a bit unexpected.
While Ohio State being ahead of Georgia at +700 seems fair, there are bones to pick with the three teams between the Buckeyes and the Dawgs in Texas, Indiana, and Oregon. A sucker is born every minute, and puts all of his hard-earned money on Texas. They have not won a national championship in two decades. Since joining the SEC, Texas is precisely 0-3 vs. Georgia. What are we doing here?
As for Indiana being ahead of Georgia, that is justifiable to some degree as well. The Hoosiers are the reigning national champions. They are one of four teams to make both 12-team playoffs to date along with Georgia, Ohio State, and Oregon. However, nobody is repeating as national champions in the 12-team playoff era. Unless Curt Cignetti is truly a transfer portal mage, the odds are not in IU's favor.
And then there is Oregon... The Ducks have never won a national championship in their history. While they were not much of anything until Mike Bellotti took over in the mid-1990s, Oregon has a bad reputation for not showing up in the big games. It is more about uniforms than it is getting dirty when the game requires it. Dan Lanning is a fantastic head coach, but Oregon routinely lets the sport down.
In the end, Georgia should have something like the third or fourth best odds to win next year's national championship. Ohio State should have the best odds with Notre Dame and Indiana after the Buckeyes. From there, Georgia should be slotted next with Oregon and Texas looking up at them. Will one of these six teams win next year's national championship? Potentially, but it remains to be seen.
For now, let's add these odds to a growing list of grievances that will make up bulletin-board material.