College Football National Championship Staff Picks

Staff Picks To Win 2023 College Football National Championship

Lucy Burdge: Georgia (+450, BetRivers)
There’s value in Georgia to win it all at BetRivers and there is, of course, a real chance they can repeat as champions. They won it last year over Alabama and, yes, it’s tough to repeat, but it's not impossible. I think they have enough talent, including quarterback, including quarterback Stetson Bennett, to have a real chance to win the national championship once again. Georgia's odds to win the title are as short as +350 at some books, so there's much more value on betting them at BetRivers, which is also offering a 100% deposit match up to $250 for new customers (details below).

Dan Karpuc: Clemson (+1200, BetMGM)
Last year, the Tigers broke their six-year streak of making the College Football Playoff and also snapped their six-season ACC championship streak. Dabo Swinney returns a star-studded roster and is absolutely going to be hungry after their disappointing 10-3 campaign. DJ Uiagalelei will have to improve at the quarterback position, but four offensive line starters will return, as will the team’s top three running backs from last year. The Tigers’ defense will be dominant, as they always are, particularly on the front. Sure, Clemson will have some tests in the regular season, most notably against preseason-ranked opponents Wake Forest, N.C. State, Notre Dame and Miami. But, as seen over much of the past decade, Swinney’s teams typically come to play in those big games and they’re typically used as resume-builders for the CFP selection committee. Since Clemson will have NFL players all over the field and offers much more upside than Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State, I absolutely love the value they offer.

Clemson's odds to win the title are as short as +800 at some books, so there's much more value on betting them at BetMGM, which is also offering a risk-free first bet up to $1,000 for new customers (details below).

Brad Pinkerton: Notre Dame +6000 at FanDuel

Unfortunately, there's not much value on either Alabama (best odds +190 at BetMGM) or Ohio State (best odds +320 at BetMGM) to win the title, but if you did want to take one of them, BetMGM offers the most favorable odds (make sure to take advantage of the new customer offer above).

Personally, I'm taking a bigger swing and taking Notre Dame -- with a caveat. I'll sprinkle a little on the Irish at +6000 before their huge season-opener at No. 2 Ohio State and I'll put the rest on N.D. after that game, win or lose. If they suffer an early loss, as expected, no big deal because we should get even better title odds after that with a very favorable schedule ahead; if they pull an upset, they'll still have attractive odds to grab -- with a very favorable schedule ahead.

After Week 1, the main games to circle for Notre Dame are No. 4 Clemson and No. 14 USC in November, so they could gain a lot of steam by then. And if you're not buying into resurgences from Clemson or USC, Notre Dame suddenly has a very clear path to the CFP, if not the title game. At +6000, that upside is too good to pass up.

Notre Dame's odds to win the title are as short as +4000 at some books, so there's much more value on betting them at FanDuel, which is also offering new customers the deal to bet $5 and win $150 in free bets, no matter what (details below). So, you could put $5 on Notre Dame at +6000 (to win $300), then put some of your free bet on them after the Ohio State game at possibly even better odds, with just $5 coming out of your pocket and more free bets to use for the college football season. That's a potentially huge win-win-win.