The college football regular season has become one giant race to make the 12-team College Football Playoff. Between rankings, debate shows, social media and team message boards, there’s no shortage of ways to track that race. Betting odds can help paint that picture as well.Even though a game hasn’t been played yet, eight teams have minus-odds to make the 12-team field. That means they are being given a greater than 50 percent chance of making it to the CFP.Notre Dame is at the top of the pile with -800 odds on DraftKings and -750 odds on FanDuel, which implies the Fighting Irish have a nearly 88 percent chance of making the CFP.Austin Mock’s college football projections for the season are similar. Eight teams are at or above 50 percent, with Notre Dame forecasted as the most likely to make it. Mock’s model gives the Fighting Irish a 76 percent chance of getting into the 12-team field.
Having the Fighting Irish — a love’-em-or-hate-’em, lightning-rod program — at the top will of course draw reactions from fans. After all, they don’t play in a conference and their schedule ranks only 60th in FBS according to Mock’s numbers. Only eight Power 4 teams rank lower than that.Last season, Notre Dame started 0-2 with losses to Texas A&M and Miami, two teams that did make the CFP, and even 10 straight wins after that weren’t enough to get into the Playoff. This year, Notre Dame starts with six teams that had losing records last season: Wisconsin, Rice, Michigan State, Purdue, North Carolina and Stanford.
