As the countdown continues to the start of the college football season, it remains a tight two-way race atop the 2020 national championship odds, with the defending champion Clemson Tigers sitting deadlocked with the Alabama Crimson Tide as +225 co-favourites on those college football futures at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
The Tigers are coming off a historic campaign in 2018, compiling a perfect 15-0 straight-up record on their way to a second national championship victory in three years. Clemson now returns for the new season atop the AP Top 25 pre-season rankings as the team prepares for next Thursday’s season-opening matchup with Georgia Tech at Memorial Stadium.
Clemson powered its march to last season’s national championship with dominant play on both sides of the ball. With freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence taking over under centre, the Tigers ranked fourth in the nation with 44.3 points scored per game, while the Clemson defence limited opponents to just 13.7 points per game.
Lawrence now returns for his sophomore campaign amid high expectations after piling up 3,280 passing yards and 30 touchdown passes last season, and he joins Alabama pivot Tua Tagovailoa as favourites atop the early Heisman Trophy odds.
Tagovailoa has emerged as a force since he led the Crimson Tide to a 26-23 overtime victory over the Georgia Bulldogs in the 2018 national championship contest. The 21-year-old Hawaiian led an Alabama offence that ranked third in the nation in both total yards and points per game last season, and will be key to the Crimson Tide’s efforts to claim a fourth SEC conference title in six years.
Further down the national championship odds, the Bulldogs sit third to Clemson and Alabama at +650, ahead of the Ohio State Buckeyes at +1000, and the Michigan Wolverines at +1400, while the Oklahoma Sooners round out the front of the pack at +1500.
It has been a lengthy drought for Georgia, who last claimed a national championship back in 1980. However, the Bulldogs have been among the top teams in the nation over the past two years, winning consecutive SEC East titles, and trail only the Tigers and Crimson Tide at No. 3 on the AP Top 25.
The Buckeyes are coming off a stellar 13-1 campaign and will be aiming to return to the College Football Playoff for the first time in three years, and narrowly lead the Wolverines as +175 chalk on the Big Ten conference championship odds at online betting sites.
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