Most college football teams kick their seasons off next week, but this is officially a game week, which makes it a good time to talk about favorites to win the national title.Indiana is the defending champion, but the Hoosiers lost No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza to the NFL Draft and don’t yet have the pedigree of the more traditional powers to expect Indiana to have staying power at the top of the sport. The Hoosiers are still among the top 10 contenders at sportsbooks, but it’s blue bloods that once again start as the favorites.Ohio State, Notre Dame and Texas make up the top group of favorites. Ohio State is the favorite on FanDuel (+550) and BetMGM (+600), sharing that title with Notre Dame on DraftKings (+600) and Kalshi (13 percent). Texas is in the third spot at +650 on DraftKings and BetMGM, but is a bit lower on FanDuel. The Longhorns are just fifth on FanDuel at +850, also behind Oregon and Georgia. All five join Indiana as the only teams with odds shorter than 10-to-1 at major sportsbooks.
That consensus top six mirrors both preseason polls, which have Ohio State at No. 1, Oregon at No. 2 and Georgia at No. 3. Oregon and Georgia are a touch higher in the polls than in the odds, but there is agreement on what the top six teams are.In the post Nick Saban-era, Ohio State has emerged as the top program after winning the national title in 2024 and being ranked No. 1 for much of 2025. Seeing the Buckeyes favored again to start 2026 isn’t a major surprise, even though OSU lost in the Big Ten championship game and in its first game of the College Football Playoff last season.Ohio State brings back Heisman finalist quarterback Julian Sayin, All-American wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and 1,000-yard rusher Bo Jackson as part of a stacked offense at the skill positions. The defense is more of a question after losing five players to the first two rounds of the NFL Draft, including three of the top 11 picks (Arvell Reese, Sonny Styles and Caleb Downs).9.5 wins for Ohio State in 2026?Ralph D. Russo and Stewart MandelNotre Dame lost its Heisman finalist from last season in running back Jeremiyah Love, but sophomore quarterback CJ Carr is the preseason Heisman favorite this season. The Fighting Irish started last season 0-2 and, despite winning 10 in a row after that, did not recover enough to make the Playoff. This year’s schedule opens with six teams that had losing records in 2025, so ND is in good position to start strong.Seeing Texas fail to live up to the preseason hype from a season ago may still linger in the minds of fans, but the Longhorns once again look strong on paper. Arch Manning struggled for much of 2025, but is once again among the favorites to win the Heisman and has a year as a starting quarterback under his belt. Raleek Brown transferred from Arizona State after rushing for 1,141 yards last season while Ryan Wingo and Cam Coleman, a transfer from Auburn, give Texas one of the most talented wide receiver duos in the country.Miami, last season’s losing finalist in the CFP, is the consensus seventh team in the odds. The Hurricanes replaced Carson Beck with Duke transfer Darian Mensah at quarterback. Their challenge will be replacing game-wrecking defensive end Rueben Bain Jr., who anchored one of the best defenses in the country.Of course, these odds won’t mean anything come December and January. Keep in mind, last year’s preseason favorite and No. 1 (Texas) didn’t make the CFP while the eventual national champion started the season at No. 20 in the AP Top 25 and was still 100-to-1 to win the national title multiple weeks into the season.
