Ohio
College football 2026-27 national title odds: Ohio State, Notre Dame lead crowded pack
Indiana’s national championship is a sign of the changes that have happened to college football in the last several years. However, it’s still Ohio State that is opening as the favorite to win the national title next year, ahead of other big-name programs such as Notre Dame and Texas.
The Buckeyes have +600 (6-to-1) odds on BetMGM to win it all. OSU is ahead of three schools that are just behind at +700: Notre Dame, Texas and Oregon.
Ohio State and Notre Dame met for the national title a year ago. Oregon has made the College Football Playoff each of the last two years, and Texas made it to a semifinal last year. All four are bringing back starting quarterbacks.
The Hoosiers, fresh off their first national championship, round out the top five, just a tick behind at +800.
It’s no surprise to see Ohio State as the favorite. The Buckeyes are bringing back Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback Julian Sayin and elite wide receiver prospect Jeremiah Smith. OSU is going to lose a lot of NFL talent from its stout defense but has the headline stars to expect another strong team. The Buckeyes were 12-0 this season before losing back-to-back games, first in the Big Ten Championship Game and then the CFP.
Notre Dame was a source of plenty of controversy because of its exclusion from this season’s CFP, but the Irish have been a consistent contender under coach Marcus Freeman. Running back Jeremiyah Love is headed for the NFL, but quarterback CJ Carr was impressive as a freshman and could even be a Heisman contender next year.
As for the freshly crowned Hoosiers, there will be a lot of new faces. Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza is expected to be a top pick in the NFL Draft, and IU will also lose its top two running backs, standout wide receiver Elijah Sarratt and likely some NFL talent off its defense, which was dominant for most of the CFP. However, coach Curt Cignetti has, of course, been active in the transfer portal. Quarterback Josh Hoover (TCU) and wide receiver Nick Marsh (Michigan State) highlight IU’s portal haul.
Can Indiana prove to be a consistent winner? Cignetti has done nothing to make anyone think otherwise, but a lot of stalwarts from the last two seasons will be gone. At least for now, the betting odds imply IU should be a top-five team in the preseason.
Texas coming in so high is going to make some eyes roll after the Longhorns were the preseason No. 1 team last season and failed to live up to that hype. Arch Manning will enter 2026 with a year of starting experience under his belt, plus the Longhorns added former Auburn wide receiver Cam Coleman out of the transfer portal. If the offensive line shows improvement, the weapons are there for Texas to be good, although many will be more skeptical than they were entering 2025.
As for Oregon, it’s going to take some time to stop focusing on the Ducks’ getting obliterated by Indiana in the semifinal, but quarterback Dante Moore is returning to Eugene instead of going pro. He had a strong first year as a starter, even if memories of his tough showing in that semifinal will linger.
The rest of the top 10 is Georgia (+900), LSU (+1500), Texas A&M (+1500), Texas Tech (+1500) and Alabama (+1500). LSU’s inclusion on this list shows faith in Lane Kiffin having a quick rebuild. After his dramatic coaching move from Ole Miss to LSU, Kiffin landed quarterback Sam Leavitt out of the transfer portal from Arizona State.
Miami is just outside the top 10 at +2000 (20-to-1). The Hurricanes were one drive away from potentially winning this year’s national title and will bring back wide receiver Malachi Toney but will have a new quarterback with Carson Beck running out of eligibility.
These are the favorites for now, but plenty can still change before teams take the field in August. Indiana just won the national title after being at 100-to-1 before the season, so who knows whether there’s another surprise in store next year.
College football 2026-27 national championship odds
Odds per BetMGM
GIRARD, Ohio (WKBN) – Over 100 athletes came together for the 5th Annual Trumbull County Special Olympics Invitational Saturday morning in Girard.
These athletes represent five different schools across Trumbull County to compete and spread the message of inclusion, achievement, and sportsmanship.
The Invitational continued its long-standing tradition of honoring the legacy of Randy Suchanek while celebrating the dedication and accomplishments of Special Olympics athletes throughout the region.
“You can hear all the excitement for this, for the athletes that are here today,” said superintendent Bryan O’Hara. “They work hard all year long to participate. We’ve always worked hand in hand with the rotary to get this accomplished is a lot of work behind the scenes.”
Participating schools included Ashtabula, Geauga, Columbiana, Kent-Portage and Trumbull Fairhaven
“There’s a lot of nice participation from girard students as you see behind us, and a lot of participation from the community helping out,” Girard-Liberty Rotary co-president Andy Kish added.
O’Hara added that the event keeps everything in perspective, seeing the athletes compete in the spirit of fun, along with the courage and determination that they show.
Alex Sorrells contributed to this report.
Out of prison, Indiana’s caviar king back on Ohio River to find fishing holes taken
David Cox, of English, Indiana, says once he began setting his nets again after a two-year prison sentence and a three-year ban on commercial fishing, all of his once-secret spots were taken.
Can you eat fish from the Ohio River?
In 1975, future presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, then governor of Massachusetts, bet 20 pounds of New England cod that the Red Sox would defeat the Reds in the World Series. If things went south for Boston, Ohio governor James Rhodes promised to send Dukakis 10 pounds of Lake Erie perch and 10 pounds of Ohio River catfish. The Reds ended up winning and the cod was sent to the Convalescent Home for Children, in Cincinnati.
At the time, people were still eating catfish from the Ohio without too much concern. The fish were also served at several restaurants along the river.
There were warnings in 1977
But two years later, in 1977, The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission released the results of a study of contaminants found in the tissues of Ohio River fish. They warned anglers in cities such as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, Wheeling and Gallipolis that man-made chemicals known as PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, had been discovered in the river fish. Later, high concentrations of mercury were discovered in the fish, too.
Thanks to the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the environmental regulations that followed, the river is now cleaner than it was in the seventies. And it’s still teeming with a variety of fish, including catfish, striped bass, drum and black bass, among other species.
But even though PCBs were banned by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1979, they are still found in fish, since they remain in the sediment in the bottom of the river. “Organisms live in the sediment and fish feed on them,” Rich Cogen, the executive director of the Ohio River Foundation told The Enquirer. Mercury is also a big problem, according to Cogen.
So the question is: Can you eat fish caught in the Ohio River?
The short answer is yes. But it depends on what species you are eating and where along the river you caught it.
There are also very strict limitations on how frequently you should eat them, according to the web site for the Ohio Sport Fish Consumption Advisory, part of the Ohio Department of Health.
In areas of the river between the Belleville Lock, located 204 miles downstream from the river’s origins in Pittsburgh, to the Indiana border, the advisory agency currently recommends consuming Ohio River fish no more than once a month max. That area includes Adams, Brown, Clermont, Gallia, Hamilton, Lawrence, Meigs and Scioto counties.
Here’s where to check
Recommendations change throughout the year, but you can keep up by visiting the Ohio Department of Health’s Sport Fish Consumption Advisory page, which provides updated information on when certain fish, usually bottom feeders such as carp, are deemed too dangerous to eat at all.
Here’s who should take a pass on Ohio River fish
The agency also warns that people who are more likely to have health effects from eating contaminated fish, includingchildren younger than 15 years old, pregnant women and women who are planning to become pregnant to avoid Ohio River fish altogether.
Just because you have to limit the amount of fish you eat, doesn’t mean the river is a bad place for fishing, as long as you limit your intake or do catch-and-release fishing. Just make sure you have a proper fishing license before casting your line.
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It isn’t over until it’s over. That’s the case for both the UCLA Bruins football program recruiting and for quarterback Brady Edmunds. Edmunds is currently committed to head to Ohio State but he took a visit from UCLA offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy earlier this week.
Kennedy met Edmunds on Thursday despite the fact that the quarterback has been committed to the Buckeyes since December of 2024 but could the UCLA Bruins be making a run at flipping the quarterback?
Edmunds has only had an official visit with Ohio State but could UCLA heave a heat check on the 6’5” quarterback? New UCLA head coach Bob Chesney is off to an unbelievable start to his recruiting with the Bruins and flipping a recruit of Edmunds’ caliber would be his most impressive move yet.
247 Sports has Edmunds as the No. 16 quarterback in the class, which would give UCLA a clear predecessor for Nico Iamaleava whenever the Bruins current starting quarterback decides to head to the professional level.
It’d be a full circle moment for the Bruins, as Edmunds was originally recruited to Ohio State by former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly, who bailed on UCLA to go run the Buckeyes offense. Ohio State is a great spot for a developing quarterback, as the Buckeyes produce tons of NFL talent, especially at the wide receiver position, which would help Edmunds put up some gaudy numbers in Columbus.
Chesney and the Bruins have geography on their side, Edmunds attends Huntington Beach High School in Southern California, which could potentially become a factor if Edmunds views UCLA as a program on the rise that’d be much closer to his friends and family than out in Ohio.
Time will tell if Kennedy’s visit will make a difference but UCLA’s recruiting has made waves in the first offseason under Chesney and the new regime.
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