Currently, two teams stand out atop the college football betting board.

Georgia is the favorite in 2024-25 College Football Playoff odds, in the first year of an expanded 12-team format. Ohio State is close behind as the No. 2 choice. Then comes Texas, Oregon, Alabama, Ole Miss and others. But South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews believes there’s a notable difference between the top two teams and the rest of the field.

“I’ve got Georgia and Ohio State a couple of points clear of everybody else in my power rankings,” Andrews said.

So South Point is offering an intriguing CFP championship prop bet: Georgia and Ohio State vs. every other FBS team. 

That’s 132 other teams in all, though, of course, only a handful are legitimate contenders.

Andrews and sharp college football bettor Paul Stone provide their insights on the market.

Let’s jump into the fun.

A Pick ‘Em Prop Bet

On July 17, Andrews decided to make his College Football Playoff oddsboard just a bit more attractive. Sure, you could take favored Georgia at +275, meaning a $100 bet could profit $275, for a $375 total payout. Or you could take Ohio State +300, with a $100 bet potentially profiting $300 ($400 total payout).

But why not both? So he posted Georgia or Ohio State to win the title, giving bettors the opportunity to take both teams. Or bettors can grab the rest of the field, which is attractive in its own right, with plenty of other stellar programs.

The price point: a -110 pick ‘em. So it would take a $110 bet on either side to profit $100 ($210 total payout). 

Stone said the odds are spot-on.

“When you look at a line, you ask yourself the question: which side do I like? And when you don’t see a side you like, then that means they probably made a pretty good line,” Stone said.

In standard CFP futures betting, Texas is the +700 third choice at South Point, followed by Oregon (+800), Alabama (+1200), and Ole Miss and LSU (both +1800). There’s certainly some firepower there, at least on paper.

Other teams will surely make their way into the mix as well, thanks to the expanded format. That includes name programs such as Notre Dame, Michigan, Penn State and Oklahoma, and perhaps an under-the-radar team or two, such as Tennessee or Utah.

Is 2024 Ohio State’s year to win the National Championship?

Back-and-Forth Action

Andrews, an oddsmaker with a few decades of experience, won’t argue with Stone’s assessment. And as a pick ‘em bet might suggest, there’s action on both sides.

“The first bet came in on Ohio State/Georgia. So I moved five cents,” Andrews said of an adjustment to Ohio State/Georgia -115 and the rest of the field to -105. “But then money started coming back the other way, so we’re back to -110 on both sides. It looks like we’ve got a pretty good number.”

Andrews pointed to one key factor for singling out Georgia and Ohio State against the field.

“They both have a lot of depth. I don’t think one injury would really hurt either team, even at quarterback,” he said.

Joel Klatt sat down with Ohio State Buckeyes’ head coach Ryan Day.

Who To Pick

Stone will likely stay away from this prop bet, unconvinced that he’s got an edge on either side. But what if push came to shove, and he had to play it?

“I think Georgia and Ohio State are gonna be everybody’s 1 and 1A,” Stone said. “If forced to take one side or the other, I’d probably take the Georgia/Ohio State daily double, and let the other 132 teams take their shot.”

Patrick Everson is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and senior reporter for VegasInsider.com. He is a distinguished journalist in the national sports betting space. He’s based in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golfing in 110-degree heat. Follow him on Twitter: @PatrickE_Vegas.

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2024 COLUMBUS SECTIONALS

Ohio State ended Columbus Sectionals on Sunday the same way it began, with wins in all but two events at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.

Rising Buckeye junior Krista Marlin continued her tear with her fifth lifetime best in the past four days, a 200 IM victory in 2:14.60. She dropped almost a second off her previous-best 2:15.31 from last November, going almost two seconds faster than her 25th-place finish at Olympic Trials last month.

Marlin’s new lifetime best would have placed 14th in prelims at Trials and earned her a second swim in the semifinals. She already clocked personal bests in the 100 back (1:00.78) and 100 breast (1:10.49) on Saturday, 400 IM (4:47.05) on Friday, and 200 back (2:10.19) on Thursday.

Marlin took the women’s 200 IM title over Tennessee commit (’24) Emily Brown (2:16.89), who was within a couple seconds of her best time from 2022 (2:14.93). Brown returned later in the session to place 3rd in the 100 free (56.93) behind Ohio State standouts Kit Kat Zenick (56.02) and Teresa Ivan (56.29). Zenick was just a tenth off her Trials time of 55.92 that placed her 44th and within a second of her personal-best 55.05 from last June. Ivan touched about a second behind her personal-best 55.18 that she registered en route to 10th place at the European Championships last month.

In the men’s 200 IM, rising Ohio State senior Alex Metzler outdueled classmate Will Bansberg (2:03.99) with a winning time of 2:03.65, narrowly missing his personal-best 2:03.49 from his runner-up finish at last month’s Mel Zajac Jr. International Swim Meet. Bansberg reached the wall more than a second off his lifetime best of 2:02.62 that placed him 44th at Trials last month.

Rising Northern Colorado sophomore Kyra Rabess triumphed in the women’s 1500 free with a personal-best time of 17:13.10. The Northern Kentucky Clippers 19-year-old knocked more than a second off her best time from May (17:14.73).

Rising Ohio State junior Mason Edmund emerge victorious in the men’s 800 free (8:13.35), well off his lifetime best of 8:00.26 from last July. He placed 44th at Trials last month in 8:12.18. Rising Ohio State sophomore Josh Bedford was next to the wall in 8:21.42, just a second off his personal-best 8:20.35 from last August.

Another fun Buckeye showdown took place in the men’s 100 free, where rising junior Evan Fentress (50.56) eked past rising senior Daniel Baltes (50.64) by less than a tenth of a second. Fentress is coming off a 39th-place showing at Olympic Trials last month with a personal-best 49.86. Baltes fired off a personal-best 49.88 last month before clocking a 50.24 at Trials the following week.

Rising Cincinnati junior Joleigh Crye captured the women’s 50 breaststroke crown in 31.51, dropping almost two tenths off her previous-best 31.70 from last November. Rising Ohio State senior Karl Helmuth claimed the men’s 50 breast title in 28.07, almost two tenths quicker than her previous-best 28.25 from last June.

The Buckeyes swept the 400 medley relays, with the women winning in 4:11.67 and the men triumphing in 3:44.25. Marlin (1:01.70 back), Reese Dehen (1:11.65 breast), Zenick (1:01.48 fly), and Ivan (56.84 free) combined for the women’s victory while Eli Stoll (57.70 back), Helmuth (1:01.98 breast), Fentress (53.48 fly), and Baltes (51.09 free) worked together for the men’s win.

President Joe Biden dropped out of his reelection bid Sunday, leaving Ohio’s delegates free to vote for whomever they wish for as the Democratic nominee.

But more realistically, Democrats will coalesce around a pick in the coming weeks. Biden is backing Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him as the Democrats’ presidential nominee. Harris would have certain advantages over other contenders, including access to campaign coffers and her name on the primary ballots.

More: Joe Biden drops out of 2024 race and endorses Kamala Harris: Live updates

“Technically, (delegates) are allowed to support whom they wish, but in reality, it’s probably not going to work out that way,” said state Sen. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, the Ohio Democratic Party’s rules guru.

How many delegates does Ohio have?

Democrats have more than 3,900 pledged delegates and 749 automatic delegates, often called superdelegates. Ohio has 127 pledged delegates, who vote for president in the first round, and 16 “superdelegates.”

Biden won 3,896 delegates during the Democratic primaries.

Do Ohio delegates have to vote for Biden?

No. Biden won Ohio’s Democratic presidential nomination on March 19, but delegates are not required to vote for him after he dropped out.

“Biden is out. There might be some people who still decide to vote for Biden, but they are not mandated to vote for anybody,” DeMora said.

More: With Biden out, what does it mean for the ballot in Ohio?

What is an open convention?

An open convention occurs when no candidate has secured the majority of the pledged delegates to win on the first vote. Democrats face that reality now.

Biden’s endorsement of Harris could go a long way for Democrats in Ohio and elsewhere, but other presidential contenders can make their pitch to delegates.

If Harris could coalesce support quickly, Democrats could proceed with a virtual roll call vote they planned, in part, to ensure their pick made the Ohio ballot. But that scenario seems less and less likely.

Democrats told the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau Sunday that they expect to pick a nominee at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago between Aug. 19 and Aug. 22.

Who are Ohio’s Democratic delegates?

Ohio’s delegates range from the party’s top politicians, such as Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and the state’s five Democratic members of Congress, to teachers, union members, high school students and more.

Out of the state’s 143 delegates, at least 90 are attending their first convention, according to the Ohio Democratic Party. More than 80 were picked with district-level elections of fellow Democrats.

The full list of delegates is here.

Jessie Balmert is a political reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.