Alabama, Clemson early favorites to win College Football Playoff in 2019 season

Tom Gatto

Alabama, Clemson early favorites to win College Football Playoff in 2019 season image

Clemson and Alabama have split the last four College Football Playoff national championships. The top two programs of the Power 5 are favored to make it five in as many years.

The champion Tigers are the second choice, at 7-2 odds, to win the CFP in the 2019 season, according to the first set of odds released by the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook (per The Action Network). The runner-up Crimson Tide are the post-Playoff favorites at 3-2.

MORE: SN's pre-preseason college football Top 25

Clemson routed Alabama 44-16 as a 5.5-point underdog on Monday night for its second national title in three seasons. The Tide won the CFP in the 2015 and 2017 seasons.

The gap between the top two schools and the rest of the contenders heading into the 2019 season is wide. Big Ten rivals Ohio State and Michigan are third and fourth choices on the Westgate's board at 10-1 and 12-1, respectively. Georgia, which lost to Alabama in the SEC championship game in December, is also 12-1.

Group of 5 powerhouse Central Florida, which had its 25-game winning streak ended with a loss to LSU in the Fiesta Bowl, is 500-1 on the Westgate's board.  

Odds to win the College Football Playoff in the 2019 season

The top 20 contenders, according to the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook:

Alabama 3-2
Clemson 7-2
Ohio State 10-1
Michigan 12-1
Georgia 12-1
Oklahoma 15-1
Texas 20-1
Nebraska 25-1
Washington 25-1
Florida 25-1
Notre Dame 25-1
Oregon 30-1
Wisconsin 50-1
LSU 50-1
Mississippi State 50-1
Auburn 50-1
Miami 80-1
Utah 80-1
USC 80-1
Texas A&M 80-1

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.