Full expectations are building for college football with the countdown to Week 0 less than two weeks out. The first AP Poll has been released, giving us our initial look at the rankings for the 2025 college football season. Let’s dive into the opening rankings and the correlation to futures markets on DraftKings Sportsbook for which teams have the best chance at being crowned this year’s champion.
Opening AP Poll:
Here are the results of the opening AP Poll. The number in parentheses indicates how many first-place votes each team received.
- Texas (25)
- Penn State (23)
- Ohio State (11)
- Clemson (4)
- Georgia (1)
- Notre Dame
- Oregon (1)
- Alabama
- LSU
- Miami
- Arizona State
- Illinois
- South Carolina
- Michigan
- Florida
- SMU
- Kansas State
- Oklahoma
- Texas A&M
- Indiana
- Ole Miss
- Iowa State
- Texas Tech
- Tennessee
- Boise State
DraftKings futures markets:
In comparison, here are the opening odds to win the College Football Playoff National Championship on DraftKings Sportsbook:
Takeaways from Opening AP Poll:
Texas open as AP favorite
This will mark the first time in program history that Texas opens as the preseason No. 1 in the AP rankings. Expectations are high for Arch Manning and company. The Longhorns fell to Ohio State in last year’s College Football Playoff Semifinals, with the Buckeyes going on to win it all.
It is also noteworthy that Texas and Ohio State open as co-favorites for this season with+550 odds on DraftKings Sportsbook. The two teams open up the season facing each other on August 30. Despite entering as the No. 3 team in the AP Poll, Ohio State opens as a 2.5-point favorite and -130 on the Moneyline on DraftKings. Expect the futures market to see a shift depending on the game’s result.
No. 2 Penn State is third in championship odds
Penn State fell just behind Texas in the first AP rankings with 23 first-place votes. There are high expectations this year with Drew Allar returning for his fourth season with the program and third year as the starter. The Nittany Lions also were knocked out of last year’s College Football Playoff in the semis after falling short on a go-ahead field goal in the final seconds to lose 27-24 to Notre Dame.
It will likely take a bit longer to get a feel for how this Penn State team will stack up as they open up their season with matchups against Nevada, FIU, and Villanova before receiving their first true test. Still, they will need to play Oregon, Ohio State, Indiana, and Nebraska in the regular season, so don’t expect the pathway to the playoffs to be absent of resistance.
Biggest gaps between AP Poll and DraftKings Sportsbook odds:
The (T) in the odds category indicates being tied in odds with one or more teams.
Team
AP Poll Rank
DraftKings Odds to Win National Championship Rank
Texas
1
1st (T) (+550)
Penn State
2
3rd (+700)
Ohio State
3
1st (T) (+550)
Clemson
4
5th (T) (+1000)
Georgia
5
4th (+750)
Notre Dame
6
7th (+1,200)
Oregon
7
8th (+1,300)
Alabama
8
5th (T) (+1,000)
LSU
9
9th (+1,400)
Miami
10
11th (T) (+4,000)
Arizona State
11
19th (T) (+10,000)
Illinois
12
27th (T) (+15,000)
South Carolina
13
17th (T) (+7,000)
Michigan
14
10th (+2,800)
Florida
15
11th (T) (+4,000)
SMU
16
25th (T) (+11,000)
Kansas State
17
19th (T) (+10,000)
Oklahoma
18
15th (T) (+6,000)
Texas A&M
19
11th (T) (+11,000)
Indiana
20
19th (T) (+10,000)
Ole Miss
21
14th (+5,000)
Iowa State
22
33rd (+20,000)
Texas Tech
23
19th (T) (+10,000)
Tennessee
24
15th (T) (+6,000)
Boise State
25
34th (+25,000)
The College Football Playoff format complicates the conversation a bit, with not every team having the same pathway or level of opportunity to earn an appearance. As a reminder, 12 teams are selected into the playoff field. The five highest-ranked conference champions earn automatic bids, but the four highest-ranked teams get the top four seeds and a first-round bye regardless of their conference champion status.
This inherently makes it more difficult, and thus brings greater odds for a team like Boise State to be crowned champions in comparison to a team like Texas or Ohio State.
