With the 2014 FBS season officially set to kick off tonight -- yes, Abilene Christian-Georgia State and not Texas A&M-South Carolina -- Bovada.lv has released its final set of preseason odds on winning the first-ever College Football Playoff.
In the previous set of odds released by the wagering website, both Florida State and Alabama were listed as the co-favorites to win the playoff at 11/2. Heading into the season, however, it’s the Seminoles alone at 4/1, followed by the Tide at 5/1.
Those two are followed by Oregon at 15/2, followed by Auburn and Oklahoma at 10/1. UCLA and Georgia are up next at 14/1 and 16/1.
Ohio State, which just a week ago in the wake of the season-ending injury to Braxton Miller saw its title odds plummet from 10/1 to 40/1, is back up to 20/1. The Buckeyes are still ahead odds-wise of Michigan State (25/1), which is now viewed as the Big Ten frontrunner because of Miller’s injury.
Bovada sports book manager Kevin Bradley explained that, as it relates to the initial reaction to the Miller injury, there was “possibly an over-adjustment on our part as we saw an influx of bets on them within hours.”
The biggest jump among Top 25 was Wisconsin, which went from 33/1 to 25/1. The biggest dip was, of course, OSU.
The longest odds listed? Call at 1,000/1. The shortest odds for a Non-Power Five conference member? At 200/1, Marshall, which was off the board the last time odds were released.
In fact, the heard is the only “mid-major” listed.
Below are the full set of odds, again courtesy of Bovada.lv:
(Note: teams in red have longer odds, teams in blue have shorter odds, and teams in black stayed the same.)
