Georgia Bulldogs listed among national championship favorites

The leading odds-makers in the country are all in on the 2014 Georgia Bulldogs.

Despite their position as the ninth-ranked team in the Associated Press poll and the eighth-ranked team in the USA Today Coaches Poll, the Bulldogs are listed among the “favorites” to take home the National Championship, falling just behind 3rd-ranked Alabama.

As noted above, the Westgate Superbook (formerly the Las Vegas Hilton) listed UGA with 6-to-1 odds to win the national championship at this point in the season, and leading online outlet Bovada follows suit with a 7-to-1 mark. As with the Westgate, Bovada has the Crimson Tide pegged with to 5-to-1 odds, and the Dawgs are in a dead heat with Oregon and Mississippi State for “second-place”.

It may seem odd to say that Mark Richt’s club sits near the top of a list like this, but a great deal of the prognostication has to do with the remaining schedule. Georgia has the clearest path to the SEC Championship Game based on their place in the SEC East, and with only a home game against Auburn, the neutral-field battle against a reeling Florida team and a road trip to Kentucky, there is a visible scenario for running the table.

The initial top-25 rankings will be released by the College Football Playoff selection committee on Tuesday evening, and frankly, that could shift some of the thinking depending on where the Georgia Bulldogs fall. However, it is generally accepted as a likelihood that a 12-1 Georgia team would represent the SEC in the College Football Playoff, and if you squint hard enough, that picture doesn’t seem so crazy.