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It Appears that Penn State is the Trendy College Football Playoff Pick for 2026
Published:
Our friends at BetMGM sent over some insights:
College Football Playoff odds
Note: There are 2X as many bets on Penn State to make the playoffs as any other team
Most bet teams to MAKE playoffs (tickets)
- Penn State +300
- Oklahoma +190
- USC +240
- LSU +155
- Alabama +155
Most bet teams to MAKE playoffs (money)
- Penn State +300
- Texas -180
- USC +240
- Oklahoma +190
- Louisville +500
Huh. That’s interesting. +300 is a good price for a Big 10 team that does not play a difficult schedule. Miami and Oklahoma got in at 10-2 last season. Bama got in at 10-3 after losing the SEC Championship Game. Penn State can get there by going 1-2 vs. Michigan, USC, and Washington. They would literally only have to beat one of the three preseason ranked teams on their schedule to hit double digit wins.
The usual suspects are rounding out the top of the pecking order at minus odds, which equates to percentages higher than 50% at Kalshi, Polymarket, and Novig. Those teams are Notre Dame, Oregon, Indiana, Miami, Georgia, Ohio State, Texas Tech, and Texas. Then you’ve got a group of Bama, TAMU, LSU, and Oklahoma in the middle tier. Penn State isn’t far behind.
I’d seriously look at 9+ wins for the Nitters. They can get there by beating a not-murderer’s row of Marshall, Buffalo, Temple, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Purdue, Minnesota, Rutgers, and Maryland.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com