First TD Bets — Wild Card Monday Slate
Alex Christenson
The Ohio State Buckeyes took home the college football national championship last Monday after a dominant run through the inaugural expanded playoffs. The confetti has barely been cleaned up and the air still has an odor of celebratory cigars, but that won’t stop us from looking ahead to next season. Title odds have been released by most of the books already, and it’s interesting to see which teams sit at the top. There will be plenty of movement with the odds between now and Week 0 as programs scour the transfer portal while endlessly raising NIL funds.
Despite knowing there will be shakeups in the future, we still have a pretty good idea of which programs will be in the mix and there is even some early value out there as you probably can imagine. I am going to highlight some of the programs that are legitimate title contenders right now while also turning you on to a few teams that nobody is talking about yet. For clarity, I will be referencing odds from DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars with the best possible line being listed.
2025-2026 College Football Playoff Odds and Best Bets
Ohio State Buckeyes
(+500, FanDuel Sportsbook)
No surprise here, as the Buckeyes sit atop the odds after just winning the natty. They brought back most of a team that went 11-2 in 2023, and it really speaks volumes about the importance of roster continuity in the NIL era. OSU won’t be as fortunate next season as QB Will Howard, RB TreVeyon Henderson, RB Quinshon Judkins, WR Emeka Egbuka and DE Jack Sawyer will all be departing for the NFL. Nobody is going to feel bad for them though, and they’ll have no shortage of players wanting to join the program.
Believe it or not, all-world wideout Jeremiah Smith is only going to be a sophomore, so he isn’t even draft-eligible for another two years. DB Caleb Downs is also back, so there is a litany of star power on both sides of the ball for the Buckeyes. Former 5-star recruit Julian Sayin is the frontrunner to be the starting QB, but top-ranked true freshman Tavien St. Clair will also be in the mix. Regardless of who is under center for OSU, they’ll be a threat to repeat as national champions.
Texas Longhorns
(+650, FanDuel Sportsbook)
I’ve already thrown a bet on Texas at +650 over on FanDuel, and I’m not expecting that number to be around that long. They’re +600 on Caesars and down to +550 on DraftKings already. The Longhorns have lost in the semifinals in back-to-back years but are in prime position to get over the hump in 2025. The Arch Manning era will begin as Quinn Ewers has declared for the NFL draft amid tampering rumors that plagued him in the playoffs. Manning is a rare breed in today’s collegiate sports landscape, as he patiently waited for his turn over the last two years. A lot of other top-ranked athletes would have transferred out by now, but his commitment to the program never wavered. He will come into the season as a Heisman favorite as well, and the sky is truly the limit for him as he looks to build on the Manning family legacy. They bring in the top-ranked recruiting class in 2025, and star RB CJ Baxter should be back from the injury that cost him all of his sophomore season. One of the more intriguing freshmen coming in is top-50 receiver Jaime Ffrench, younger brother of former Pittsburgh wideout Maurice Ffrench.
Penn State Nittany Lions
(+900, DraftKings Sportsbook)
Penn State is likely to go overlooked by most despite making the semifinals of the inaugural expanded playoffs. I mentioned above that roster continuity is an important factor toward long-term success, and the Nittany Lions will return a large portion of their production from last year. They will once again have one of the most dangerous ground games in the country, as Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen have decided to return. They’ll also have their leader at QB back in Drew Allar, which is a very big deal. Future pros Zane Durant and Dani Dennis-Sutton are back to anchor the defensive line along with menacing safety Zakee Wheatley.
The biggest question mark will be the receiving room, which was probably the weak link for this team. It’s hard to believe they made it through an entire game without a single reception to a wide receiver, and that simply can’t happen if they’re going to make another run at a title. They’re losing Mackey Award winner Tyler Warren to the draft and multiple receivers (Omari Evans and Harrison Wallace) have opted to transfer. This is a position that will have to be upgraded at some point in the offseason, but they’ll be elite in just about every other aspect.
Clemson Tigers
(+2000, DraftKings Sportsbook)
Many wrote Dabo Swinney off after a few “down years” with many saying he would never win without a QB like Deshaun Watson or Trevor Lawrence. Dabo quieted his detractors last year by leading the Tigers to an ACC championship win and a spot in the first ever 12-team playoff. They lost in the first round, but there is reason for optimism in Death Valley. Cade Klubnik is back at QB after a career year in which he threw for over 3,600 yards and 36 touchdowns. He will have one of the deepest and most talented group of wideouts to work with in returners Antonio Williams, TJ Moore and Bryant Wesco.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
(+1400, Caesars)
The Irish were left for dead after an early season misstep against NIU, but they went on to win 13 in a row and finish 14-2 overall. Under the old structure, they wouldn’t have sniffed the playoffs, but they were clearly one of the best teams in the country. Marcus Freeman is a rising star in the coaching world, and I have no doubt about his ability to have Notre Dame back in the title picture. Jeremiyah Love returns at tailback, and they’ve been active in the portal, adding productive receivers Will Pauling (Wisconsin) and Malachi Fields (Virginia). There will be an adjustment period at QB with Riley Leonard going pro, but Steve Angeli proved himself capable when given the opportunity. Redshirt frosh CJ Carr will push for the QB gig if fully healthy and many believe he could push this offense to a whole different level.
Tennessee Vols
(+2000, DraftKings Sportsbook)
The Vols wound up with a 10-3 record and a playoff berth, but they were outclassed by eventual champion Ohio State. Their defense is a truly devastating group that finished fifth in EPA per play last season. The majority of that group will be back for 2025, which means they’ll be one of the best defensive units once again. They will have to replace departing 1,000-yard rusher Dylan Sampson and some pieces on the offensive line, but QB Nico Iamaleava will be another year older. His maturation was obvious, and he improved significantly as the season went on. This defense is a championship caliber group, and if NIco can take another step forward as a passer, this group could very well be hoisting the trophy next January.
Alabama Crimson Tide
(+1800, FanDuel Sportsbook)
Bama’s odds are all over the place — FanDuel has them at +1800 to win the title while DraftKings and Caesars are listing them at +1200. Their reputation as one of CFB’s elite programs will always have them in the mix when it comes to talent acquisition, but a tremendous amount of pressure comes with that. Kalen DeBoer had a good first season by most teams’ standards, but Alabama isn’t most teams. They lost four games for the first time since 2007, which happened to be the first year of Nick Saban’s tenure with the Tide. The expectations will be high as ever and DeBoer will be expected to take this team deep into the playoffs. Just simply qualifying isn’t enough and it never will be for this program. This is another SEC team that is flush with talent on the defense. Multiple returning defenders will be playing in the NFL one-day so there shouldn’t be many problems on that side of the ball.
It gets more complicated on offense though, as they’ll have a new QB under center. Ty Simpson, Austin Mack and Keelon Russell will all compete for the position, and the winner of that position battle will be more than capable of leading this team back to the playoffs. It helps that they’ll be throwing the ball to superstar wide receiver Ryan Williams. You may have heard of him, as the media incessantly reminded us all that he was only 17 years old.
Auburn Tigers
(+8000, DraftKings Sportsbook)
Auburn is a darkhorse playoff contender, and they’re going to be one of our brand-favorite teams when it comes to DFS. This roster is loaded, and despite a somewhat difficult schedule, they are going to win a lot of games. This may be a bold claim since Auburn has had four straight losing seasons, something that hadn’t happened in almost 75 years. However, coach Hugh Freeze has retooled the roster on both offense and defense. QB Jackson Arnold will get a fresh start after a turbulent season with the Oklahoma Sooners and he will have a plethora of weapons to throw the ball to in Eric Singleton (Georgia Tech), Horatio Fields (Wake Forest) and TE Preston Howard (Maryland). We also can’t forget about Cam Coleman. Despite truly horrific QB play all year for the Tigers, the true freshman was able to produce 37-598-8. The final three games of the season gave us a glimpse at just how dominant of a pass-catcher he can be. He racked up 306 yards and 6 touchdowns on 22 receptions during that stretch. Ryan Wiliams and Jeremiah Smith will get all of the hype coming into the season, but Coleman could put together a legendary season in 2025.
