Ohio State and Texas start the offseason as the 2026 CFP title favorites.
When Ohio State hosts Texas on August 30, Week 1 of the College Football Playoffs will feature the top two picks to win the next season.
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Texas, Ohio State enter offseason as 2026 CFP title favorites
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College football’s way-too early top-10 teams for 2025 (2:07)
David Purdum, ESPN Staff Writer
Jan 20, 2025, 11:20 PM ET
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The top two favorites to win next season’s College Football Playoff will square off in Week 1, when Ohio State hosts Texas on Aug. 30.
2026 College Football Playoff odds
Texas and newly crowned champion Ohio State enter the offseason as betting favorites to win next year’s national championship. Odds per ESPN BET as of Monday.
Texas +450
Ohio State +500
Georgia +600
Oregon +750
Penn State +750
Alabama +1300
Notre Dame +1500
Tennessee +1600
LSU +1800
Clemson +2000
Ole Miss +2200
Miami (Fla.) +3000
Texas A&M +3000
M
ichigan +4000
South Carolina +4000
Sportsbooks had the Longhorns and the reigning champion Buckeyes as their top picks to win the 2025–26 College Football Playoff going into the offseason. At ESPN BET, Texas, which is about to start the Arch Manning era, started with the national title favorite at +450. The Buckeyes (+500) and Georgia (+600) were next. Although those three teams lead the early odds in the betting market, Ohio State is the favorite at other sites. In ESPN BET’s initial numbers, Oregon and Penn State, each at +750, complete the teams with odds less than 10-1.
Ohio State had a strong playoff run by defeating Notre Dame in Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship game. At ESPN BET, the Fighting Irish opened at +1500 to win the championship the next season. Given Quinn Ewers’ NFL draft declaration, Manning is anticipated to start at quarterback for the Longhorns. After LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, Manning is the second favorite to win the Heisman Trophy the following season, according to FanDuel.
Sportsbooks now have additional difficulties when calculating odds to win the national title the next season as a result of the transfer site. Joey Feazel, a trader at Caesars Sportsbook, stated, “We will take our power ratings for 2025 and make the proper adjustments to account for recruiting, returning production, and transfer portal changes.” “It is a challenging process at times, but year after year, we are getting better at it.” Since Alabama in 2017, the preseason favorite to win the national championship has failed to do so.
Australia, Melbourne — At the Australian Open, Coco Gauff’s retooled forehand and serve let her down in the worst possible way and at the worst possible moment. The unintentional mistakes continued to mount, as did the double-faults and break points, which were frequently followed by a smack across the thigh or a hand over her eyes. Gauff’s trip to Melbourne Park and her 13-match winning streak, which began in late last season, came to an end in the quarterfinals after all of this. The 2023 U.S. Open winner lost to No. 11 because he was never able to gain control on a steamy afternoon in Rod Laver Arena. Spain’s Paula Badosa 7-5, 6-4
After a dismal championship defense in September in New York, Gauff, 20, came to Australia hoping to win a second Grand Slam title by making adjustments to some of her important strokes and switching up her coaching staff. “I feel like [at the] US Open, I was playing with no solution, so that was more the frustrating part,” Gauff stated. I feel like I’m experimenting with solutions today, but I know what I need to improve on. I needed to improve my serve for the US Open. I’m not claiming that my serve is perfect, but I did work on it, and it’s clearly much better now. I therefore want to keep improving on it and playing aggressively.”
“So I feel like I’m on the right way, right path,” Gauff continued. I feel like I’m on the rise, despite the fact that I lost today. With a 9-0 record in 2025 going into Tuesday, the American also won her final four games of the previous season to win the trophy at the WTA Finals in November. Gauff commented, “Just a lot more work to do,” following the one-hour, forty-three-minute defeat to Badosa, who had lost their previous two Grand Slam quarterfinal matches. “I’m obviously disappointed, but I’m not completely crushed.”
Less than a year after considering retirement due to a stress fracture in her back that seemed to take an eternity to heal and did not initially respond to cortisone injections, Badosa is now heading to her maiden Grand Slam semifinal at the age of 27. Badosa remarked, “I wanted to [give] it a last try,” and now I am. Therefore, I’m rather proud of all my team and I went through, especially the mental battle I had to endure.” Shortly after she started practicing with coach Pol Toledo, she suffered an injury during a session at the competition in Rome in May 2023. Problems persisted a year later, even after taking many months off from the tour.
In actuality, the back was not reacting. We were unable to solve the problem. Toledo remarked, “Paula was frustrated.” “This isn’t working,” I thought. I’m not sure what we need to do. Badosa’s back improved after she tried various exercises and vitamins under the guidance of a new physician, fitness instructor, and dietitian. “The puzzle began to look better,” she said. She continued to put pressure on Gauff on Tuesday, as he finished with 41 unforced errors, including 28 missed forehands and six double-faults. Badosa won four of Gauff’s service games and amassed 10 break points. Gauff, on the other hand, never received even one break point until he had already lost a set and a break.
The second set began with a crucial game that demonstrated Gauff’s issues this afternoon. After Gauff missed two consecutive forehands, Badosa converted her fifth break attempt in the match, which lasted 22 points over more than a dozen minutes. Eleven of Badosa’s twelve points in that match came from Gauff’s errors, which included seven mishandled forehands. “She performed better in those crucial moments today,” Gauff remarked.