2025 College Football Championship Picks & Predictions: Will Georgia Return to the Top?

Michigan might have won the national championship in 2024, but Georgia opened as the consensus favorite to claim the crown in 2025 across our best sports betting apps. Read on for our favorite picks and predictions to win the title next year.

Jim Harbaugh led the Michigan Wolverines to their first national championship since 1997, securing a 34-13 victory over the Washington Huskies in the 2024 National Championship. But it's already time to look ahead, as Michigan is listed fifth in the opening 2025 College Football Championship odds to defend its crown.

With Harbaugh rumored to return to the NFL, we don't like the idea of betting Michigan's current price to win the national title. Instead, there are a few other teams that offer better value in this market at this point in the offseason.

Here are our favorite 2025 College Football Championship predictions (college football odds via our best sports betting sites).

2025 College Football Championship predictions

Georgia (+450 via DraftKings)

If you are going to bet on one team in college football and just forget about that wager until next January, Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs are the obvious choice. They missed out on a potential three-peat after losing in the SEC title game, but this was the best team in college football by most power ratings. In fact, ESPN's SP+ ranked Georgia No. 1 at the end of the postseason.

Now we are getting a hungry Georgia team that brings back a ton of talent, including quarterback Carson Beck. With the CFP expanding to 12 teams, Georgia is almost certainly going to make the dance and will have as good of a chance as anyone when it does.

It wouldn't be surprising to see Georgia remind everyone how dominant this team is next year, and we could see this number evaporate by the time games start being played.

Oregon (+1200 via FanDuel, bet365)

It's easy to forget after Washington's run to the national championship game, but Oregon was a double-digit favorite over the Huskies in the Pac-12 Championship. The Ducks ultimately lost, but don't let that distract you from what head coach Dan Lanning is doing with this program. Oregon has gone 22-5 in his two seasons at the helm, and finished No. 3 in SP+ this year.

Under Lanning, the Ducks are building an advantage in the trenches and that's the best recipe for winning a title in college football. When the stakes get higher, the team that controls the line of scrimmage can usually dictate the game, as we saw in Michigan's win over Washington or when any SEC team has won the title in recent years.

Oregon will be moving to the Big Ten next year, and is bringing in quarterback Dillon Gabriel (previously with Oklahoma) from the transfer portal to replace Bo Nix. I also still believe in the upside of Dante Moore, who transferred in from UCLA after his true freshman campaign to compete for the starting QB job.

The Ducks are a team to monitor in this market all year, and anything 10/1 or longer is probably worth considering.

Penn State (+2500 via FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars)

I'm buying Penn State as a post-hype sleeper, especially at this 25/1 price tag via our best sports betting sites. Not only are PSU's championship odds appealing, but I made the case for taking a 40/1 flier on quarterback Drew Allar in my initial look at the 2024 Heisman odds market.

There is a chance that the market doesn't fully buy into Penn State this offseason after being burned last year, particularly with the Big Ten being as competitive as ever. But offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who was hired from Kansas, is here to help the Nittany Lions get over the hump after consecutive double-digit win campaigns.

Under Kotelnicki, Kansas ranked top-12 in yards per play in each of the last two seasons. He should be able to get the most out of Penn State's talent, particularly in the backfield featuring the duo of Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen. 

Penn State finished as the No. 5 overall team in SP+. Don't overlook this team.

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