As they have been all season, the Ohio State Buckeyes were listed as the favorites when the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook released its updated college football national championship odds on Monday.
Here’s a look at the eight teams from Power 5 conferences that remain undefeated entering the latter stages of the season.
Ohio State
Odds: 9-5
Record vs. spread: 3-5
Trend: The defending national champs opened the season as the favorites and have remained so throughout the season. The Buckeyes’ odds were at their longest since the preseason heading into Week 7 after failing to cover in five straight games, but have rebounded since. Ohio State’s biggest tests of the season await with Michigan State and Michigan in back-to-back weeks at the end of November, possibly followed by the Big Ten championship game.
Narrative: J.T. Barrett took over at quarterback last week and his strong showing against Rutgers could relegate Cardale Jones to the bench. The Buckeyes tied their season-best with 49 points and put up their highest yardage total since Week 1 in the win.
Remaining schedule: vs. Minnesota, at Illinois, vs. Michigan State, at Michigan
Baylor
Odds: 9-2
Record vs. spread: 4-2
Trend: The Bears’ odds have dropped steadily over the last month and are holding at 4-1 coming off their closest game of the year—a 45-27 win over Iowa State.
Narrative: Starting quarterback Seth Russell is out for the season after sustaining a neck injury against the Cyclones, leaving true freshman Jarrett Stidham to take the reins. Stidham has been on campus since last spring and was the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the country in the Class of 2015, according to 247sports’ composite rankings. He’ll get a bye week to prepare for the starting job before Baylor embarks on a back-loaded Big 12 schedule.
Remaining schedule: at Kansas State, vs. Oklahoma, at Oklahoma State, at TCU, vs. Texas
Clemson
Odds: 10-1
Record vs. spread: 4-3
Trend: The Tigers opened the season at 20-1 and were up to 25-1 before a 24-22 win over Notre Dame and a 43-24 victory over Georgia Tech in back-to-back weeks.
Narrative: Clemson climbed to No. 3 in the AP Top 25 after last week’s 58-0 win over Miami, but despite Florida State’s loss to Georgia Tech, the Tigers-Seminoles matchup on Nov. 7 is still likely to determine the ACC’s Atlantic Division champ.
Remaining schedule: at North Carolina State, vs. Florida State, at Syracuse, vs. Wake Forest, at South Carolina
LSU
Odds: 10-1
Record vs. spread: 4-3
Trend: After opening at 20-1, LSU was listed at 8-1 odds for most of October before a slight dip this week.
Narrative: The Tigers are the last remaining unbeaten team in the SEC, but still have four games against division opponents ahead—notably, at Alabama on Nov. 7 and at Ole Miss on Nov. 21.
Remaining schedule: at Alabama, vs. Arkansas, at Ole Miss, vs. Texas A&M
TCU
Odds: 15-1
Record vs. spread: 3-4
Trend: The Horned Frogs began the season second only to Ohio State at 6-1, but slid to 18-1 before inching back up this week.
Narrative: TCU ranks second in the NCAA in yards and points per game, and remains in the thick of the four-way race at the top of the Big 12 that may not be sorted out until the final week of the season.
Remaining schedule: vs. West Virginia, at Oklahoma State, vs. Kansas, at Oklahoma, vs. Baylor
Michigan State
Odds: 10-1
Record vs. spread: 2-6
Trend: None of the remaining unbeatens have seen as much fluctuation in their odds as the Spartans, who opened at 20-1, spent two weeks at 8-1, shot back up to 20-1 and have been listed at 10-1 since the last-second win over Michigan.
Narrative: The miracle win over the Wolverines keeps Michigan State in prime position in the Big Ten East heading into the bye week. All signs point to the Nov. 21 game at Ohio State as the de facto division championship game, though Penn State (3-1 in the Big Ten) also looms on Nov. 28.
Remaining schedule: at Nebraska, vs. Maryland, at Ohio State, vs. Penn State
Iowa
Odds: 25-1
Record vs. spread: 5-2
Trend: Of the remaining undefeated teams, none was a bigger longshot according to Westgate’s odds than the Hawkeyes who opened at 1,000-1. Their odds dropped sharply after a 10-6 win over Wisconsin and have continued to fall as the Big 10 West picture has crystallized further.
Narrative: Practically speaking, Iowa has a two-game lead over second-place Wisconsin in the West thanks to the Hawkeyes’ head-to-head win. Each of Iowa’s five remaining opponents in the regular season currently have losing records in conference play.
Remaining schedule: vs. Maryland, at Indiana, vs Minnesota, vs. Purdue, at Nebraska
Oklahoma State
Odds: 20-1
Record vs. spread: 4-3
Trend: The Cowboys opened at 75-1 and their odds have gradually decreased to 20-1, where they’ve sat for three straight weeks.
Narrative: Oklahoma State survived one-score wins in three straight weeks prior to last week’s blowout of Kansas. Like most of their counterparts at the top of the Big 12, the most challenging stretch of schedule is still ahead for the Cowboys.
Remaining schedule: at Texas Tech, vs. TCU, at Iowa State, vs. Baylor, vs. Oklahoma