Which college football national champ had longest odds to win?
The first season of the College Football Playoff produced the biggest long-shot winner.
Ohio State was 40-1 to win the national championship entering the 2014 season, according to sportsoddshistory.com.
The Buckeyes, coached by Urban Meyer and led on defense by Joey Bosa, lost starting quarterback Braxton Miller to a season-ending injury before the season started. He was replaced by redshirt freshman J.T. Barrett, who suffered a season-ending injury during Ohio State’s win over Michigan in the regular-season finale.
Redshirt sophomore Cardale Jones stepped in and led the Buckeyes to a 59-0 win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game, a 42-35 victory over Alabama in the CFP semifinals and a 42-20 triumph over Oregon in the national championship in his first three career starts.
Here are the other biggest preseason long shots to win the national championship since 2001, when sportsoddshistory.com started tracking the odds.
2002 Ohio State, 19-1
The Buckeyes were the first team in the Football Bowl Subdivision to finish 14-0 in the 2002 season. Led by first-year coach Jim Tressel and freshman running back Maurice Clarett, Ohio State beat Michigan in Ann Arbor before upsetting top-ranked Miami as an 11½-point underdog in the Fiesta Bowl for the school’s first Bowl Championship Series national title. Clarett’s 5-yard touchdown run was the difference in the Buckeyes’ 31-24 double-overtime win over the Hurricanes for the school’s first national championship since 1970.
2019 Louisiana State, 25-1
Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Joe Burrow threw 60 touchdown passes while directing a record-setting offense that featured future NFL stars Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson. The Tigers went 15-0 after beating top-10 teams Texas, Florida, Auburn and Alabama in the regular season and defeating Georgia in the Southeastern Conference championship game. LSU whipped Oklahoma 63-28 in the CFP semifinals, then defeated defending national champion Clemson 42-25 in the CFP championship. The Tigers outscored their opponents 726-328, or an average of 48.4-21.9.
2003 Louisiana State, 40-1
Coached by Nick Saban, the Tigers beat Georgia in the SEC title game before defeating Oklahoma 21-14 in the Sugar Bowl for the BCS national championship, the school’s first national title since 1958. Southern California finished No. 1 in the final Associated Press poll. It was the last time there was not a consensus national champion.
2010 Auburn, 50-1
Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Cam Newton led the Tigers to a 12-0 regular season in which they stormed back from a 24-0 deficit to beat Alabama 28-27 in the biggest comeback in Auburn’s football history. The Tigers beat Oregon 22-19 in the BCS national championship game on Wes Byrum’s 19-yard field goal as time expired. Newton accounted for 51 touchdowns. He threw 30 touchdown passes, ran for 20 more and also had a touchdown catch. He declared for the NFL draft after the season and was selected with the No. 1 pick by the Carolina Panthers.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.
