I’m a huge fan of the new college football playoffs and I thought it was more exciting than ever last season. In this article – we’re going to take a look at the teams with the best shot at lifting the National Championship Trophy at the end of the 2015-16 season
Best Bets to Win the 2015 National Championship
Ohio State Buckeyes (+370 Odds to Win the National Championship)
QB play is extremely important in CFB and the Buckeyes have three legitimate starters. Ezekiel Elliot is a beast at RB too, plus the
Buckeyes bring back a total of 15 starters. OSU will be #1 to open the season and could stay at #1 all season long.
The schedule couldn’t be much easier – with the toughest game coming at home in November against MSU. They should roll through every opponent before MSU and they’ll be favored to beat MSU. OSU will make the playoffs, but at that point anyone can win.
TCU Horned Frogs (+950 Odds to Win the National Championship)
It feels a little weird listing TCU as a “best bet”, but that’s what this team has become in recent years. I felt they got burned by
not making the playoffs last season, but they should have an even better chance this year, as some big teams have question marks.
Trevone Boykin has quickly become one of the best dual-threat QB’s in the nation and he’ll only improve with experience. I believe
the offense will have to carry TCU this year, though, as the defense looks to replace many of the best players from last year.
Auburn Tigers (+1150 Odds to Win the National Championship)
Last year an insane schedule proved too much for the Tigers to handle, but the schedule is a lot easier this year, as Auburn only
have four true road games. There are still a lot of tough games on the schedule, but Auburn has more talent than most teams.
Auburn is stacked on offense again and Muschamps should improve the defense quickly. If the defense is improved – this team has
the skill to win the National Championship. There’s some nice value on Auburn as well at over 11/1 odds.
USC Trojans (+1500 Odds to Win the National Championship)
I’m a fan of Sarkisian and his 2nd year at USC could be a big one. Plenty of young talented players at USC have gotten a chance to gain experience the last couple seasons and now the Trojans are ready to make a push for the National Championship this year.
Cody Kessler is a great QB and he could win the Heisman with a solid year. He put up 39 TD’s and only 5 INT’s all of last season, so he has what it takes to be elite. USC has a tough schedule, but if they navigate the year undefeated they’ll make the playoffs.
Georgia Bulldogs (+2900 Odds to Win the National Championship)
My “sleeper” team is the Bulldogs at 29/1 odds. The QB situation is dicey and has question marks, but Chubb is an elite RB and the defense looked much improved last year. With some more improvement on defense – the Bulldogs could win the SEC title.
If they can win the SEC they’ll make the college football playoff, but it won’t be easy. Games against Auburn and Alabama will be tough, but the Crimson Tide aren’t going to be as good this year as in year’s past and I expect them to have a rough season.
Well, a rough season by Bama’s standards. Alabama (+850) is going to lose at least one game this season and it wouldn’t surprise me if they lost multiple. Cooper got them out of a ton of bad situations last season, but he won/’t be around anymore.
Florida State (+1300) and Oregon (+2100) are two other teams I expect to struggle a bit this season.
We’re in for an exciting college football season and I don’t think it will be an easy cut and dry ending come playoff time.
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