Sooners Shuffle National Championship Odds
Scott Morris | September 13, 2017
The futures for the college football national championship look much different this week than they did entering last weekend’s lineup of games, after the Oklahoma Sooners upset the Ohio State Buckeyes on the road to make a huge statement about their team and the Big 12 conference.
The win by the Sooners on the road in Columbus gave sportsbooks a big headache that will not be going away anytime soon.
Most sportsbooks had locked up the four spots in the College Football Playoff for the teams that won the ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC, but the Oklahoma win brings the Big 12 and Sooners into the picture.
After the opening week of the season, the Sooners were 18 to 1 in the national championship futures, but after stunning Ohio State Oklahoma is now 8 to 1 to win the title.
The frontrunner remains Alabama at 8 to 5, followed by Ohio State and USC at 6 to 1, then Oklahoma followed by Penn State, Michigan and Clemson at 15 to 1.
However, it appears after their upset of Ohio State, the Sooners might have the easiest path to a CFP spot.
Oklahoma has only three games left against ranked opponents, including No. 18 ranked Kansas State and No. 20 ranked TCU. The biggest matchup for the Sooners appears to be No. 9 ranked Oklahoma State who they play November 4 on the road.
The loss by Ohio State helped both Michigan and Penn State. The two teams saw their odds to win the national title improve following the Buckeyes loss. Penn State’s odds went from 20 to 1 to 15 to 1, while Michigan’s shrank from 18 to 1 to 15 to 1.
The loss doubled the odds for Ohio State from 3 to 1 to 6 to 1, but bettors and sportsbooks alike have not given up on the Buckeyes under head coach Urban Meyer.
Heisman Trophy Updated Futures
The superb performance by Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield against Ohio State shorted his odds of winning the coveted Heisman Trophy. The Sooners signal caller saw his odds shrink to 5 to 1 from 7 to 1.
Reigning Heisman Trophy holder Lamar Jackson exploded for 525 total yards of offense and six touchdowns last weekend. Jackson’s odds shrank from 8 to 1 to 8 to 5 and he became the outright favorite to win for the second straight season.
