With the start of the 2019 college football season getting closer by the day, collegiate gridiron betting buffs everywhere need to know who oddsmakers are expecting to have the best chances to win next season’s national championship.  Will it be defending champion and prohibitive favorite Clemson going back-to-back or will Nick Saban get his perennially-powerful Alabama Crimson Tide back to the top of the college football universe?

Will, the now, dangerous Georgia Bulldogs a legitimate threat to unseat both of the aforementioned favorites or will some other national championship hopeful like Ohio State, Oklahoma or Michigan finally make the breakthrough they’ve all been waiting for?

Let’s take a look at the favorites, the middle-of-the-pack hopefuls and a couple of long-shot title contenders as well.

Updated 2020 National Championship Odds – June 3rd

Clemson

• 2020 National Championship Odds: +225

The reigning national champs lost a ton of talent last year, mostly on the defensive line, but no matter. Dabo Swinney now has a program that brings in a bunch of elite high school talent each and every year and 2019 will be no different. Not only will the Tigers find a way to replace all of their lost talent, but they’ve got arguably the best quarterback in all of college football in Trevor Lawrence, a blossoming star in wide receiver Justyn Ross and four returning starters on the offensive line.  I see absolutely no reason why the Tigers won’t challenge for a repeat appearance in the national championship game at the very least.

Alabama

• 2020 National Championship Odds: +250

So what, Alabama suffered a stunning blowout loss to Clemson in the national championship game. I’m fully expecting Nick Saban to have the Crimson Tide back in the mix for another appearance in the national championship. Like Clemson, I have no doubt that Saban will find suitable replacements for all of his departed players from last season and that they will once again be one of the best defensive teams in the country. However, on offense, Alabama’s success will ride on the health of star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. If the likely top pick in the 2020 NFL draft can stay healthy, after he threw for 3,966 yards and 43 touchdowns in his first year as the starter, Alabama will contend too win it all. If the oft-injured Tagovailoa goes down for any significant length of time, it could derail Alabama’s national championship hopes.

Georgia

• 2020 National Championship Odds: +800

The Bulldogs failed to reach the four-team CFP a year ago after doing so in 2017, but the SEC title hopefuls have an elite quarterback in Jake Fromm, a seriously gifted running back in D’Andre Swift and one of the best offensive lines in the nation. Georgia really is a version of “Alabama-Lite” and that alone means they’re going to contend because of Kirby Smart’s defensive schemes.

Ohio State

• 2020 National Championship Odds: +900

Urban Meyer is out and Ryan Day is in. That huge change alone leads me to believe that Ohio State is likely going to fall short of the perennial excellence they experienced under the polarizing Meyer. Combine that with the fact that the Buckeyes will have a new starting quarterback and I’m going to say Ohio State fails to reach the four-team CFP.

Oklahoma

• 2020 National Championship Odds: +1600

Head coach Lincoln Riley has guided two straight quarterbacks to Heisman Trophy seasons and he could make it three in a row if former Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts excels in Riley’s high-powered offense. Oklahoma has a pair of gifted running backs in Trey Sermon and Kennedy Brooks, seeing as how the two combined for 2,003 rushing yards last season. If the Sooners play any sort of competent defense in 2019, they could challenge for a berth in the College Football Playoff.

Michigan

• 2020 National Championship Odds: +1600

Head coach Jim Harbaugh has an experienced quarterback coming back in senior Shea Patterson, but he’s got to replace some elite talent on the defensive side of the ball, starting with Rashan Gary and Devin Bush. Not only that, but the Wolverines have question marks at running back and I’m just not a big believer in Michigan, although their chances of having a better season than the 10-3 mark they unfurled a year ago, have improved because of the retirement of Meyer at Ohio State.

The Texas Longhorns are a +2500 pick after going 10-4 a year ago to finish second to Oklahoma in the Big 12. LSU is a  +2800 pick after going 10-3 last season to finish second to Alabama in the SEC West. Texas A&M is +3000 after going 9-4 in their first season under former Florida State head coach Jumbo Fisher in 2018. Notre Dame is a value-packed +3500 following their one-loss campaign of a year ago while Penn State is a +10000 after going 9-4 to finish third in the Big Ten East and Stanford is Stanford +22500 after going 9-4 to finish tied for third in the PAC-12 North.