Ohio State Buckeyes Now +175 Championship Favorite As We Enter Rivalry Week

The Ohio State Buckeyes have become the top favorite to win the college football national championship and lift the College Football Playoff trophy in January. They’re at +175, which is slightly ahead of the LSU Tigers. However, both teams have very important upcoming contests as the Buckeyes visit the Big House this week while the Tigers will participate in the SEC Championship Game.

Should the Buckeyes be favored, though, or is there value with some of the other teams in the mix? Let’s take a closer look:

OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ODDS: +175

The Buckeyes are a favorite for this basic reason: they have the offense of LSU and the defense of Clemson. LSU is an offensive juggernaut and Clemson is a defensive goliath right now. Ohio State comes the closest to having the best of both worlds.

Talent-wise, everyone likes to give the edge to the SEC but Ohio State has the best chance of placing two players as Heisman Trophy finalists: quarterback Justin Fields and pass rusher Chase Young. Fields is the fast quarterback who resembles Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts. Chase Young is the best pass rusher in the country, coming off a day when he had multiple sacks against Penn State and terrorized the Nittany Lions’ offensive line.

Ohio State fumbled three times against Penn State and still won by 11 points. Imagine what happens when Ohio State commits no turnovers and cleans things up on offense. This is a genuinely scary team which can beat Clemson and become a national champion outside the South.

LSU TIGERS
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ODDS: +250

The Tigers case is quite simple: they have the best offense in America and they have the likely Heisman Trophy winner, Joe Burrow.

Burrow isn’t doing it all along as the Tigers They have Ja’Marr Chase, probably the best receiver in the country right now, and the offense is being coordinated by assistant coach Joe Brady, who might not be an assistant for too much longer. LSU has become a true juggernaut that will be very hard to stop and it means that LSU’s defense doesn’t have to be tremendous to win games.

LSU has the best win of any team in college football this season: 46-41 at Alabama, against Tua Tagovailoa before the Crimson Tide quarterback got injured. But wins over Florida, Texas and Auburn aren’t too shabby either. They have one more test in front of them with Georgia but you’d be hard-pressed to find another team that has done more than LSU. It’s basically Ohio State and that’s it.

CLEMSON TIGERS
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ODDS: +275

Either Clemson or Alabama has won the last four national championships, so if Alabama doesn’t get in, Clemson will be a natural choice for many. The offense has been inconsistent this year as quarterback Trevor Lawrence, a preseason Heisman Trophy co-favorite with Tua Tagovailoa, hasn’t been anywhere near the best quarterbacks in the country.

At the same time, Clemson has shown it can turn on the jets when it needs to. Moreover, in a playoff semifinal, with three weeks to prepare, the Tigers have usually dominated the competition. They blew out Oklahoma in the 2015 semifinals, blew out Ohio State in the 2016 semifinals and blew out Notre Dame in the 2018 semifinals. Their only semifinal loss was to Alabama in 2017. This team will be ready when it counts.

GEORGIA BULLDOGS
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ODDS: +700

The Georgia situation is easily the most precarious, because Georgia has to beat LSU in the SEC Championship Game to even make the playoff. Georgia’s defense is great but is it great enough to slow one of the best offenses in the country? The Bulldogs have answered the challenge on defense in every game but they haven’t faced a juggernaut like this.

On the other hand, their offense is their weak spot. Quarterback Jake Fromm has played poorly in the past month with the exception of a solid performance against Florida. Their running game was supposed to just cut through everyone but that hasn’t been the case. This team might have the best defense if they make the playoffs but their offense leaves a lot to be desired.

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