College Football National Championship betting guide

**The following article contains information that is not representative of the opinions of CommRadio. It solely expresses the opinions of Bryan Portney.**

The 2025 FBS college football season began with Farmaggedon across the pond, and now it concludes with the winner-take-all in Miami Gardens.

Whether you’re a college football sicko who looks for the NAIA Week 0 schedule in July or just an alum who loves their team, this guide is for you.

Here are five picks that will hit as a champion will be crowned in Hard Rock Stadium.

Game Lines

Indiana -8.5 (-110)

It’s a discussion of rest versus rust as the Hoosiers will have been 10 days separated from its 56-22 rematch victory over No. 5 Oregon.

Miami will prove to pose a larger challenge from Indiana’s first two playoff opponents, with a lethal edge rush led by Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor.

Despite this, one could argue that, in a neutral head-to-head, Oregon outdoes Miami in terms of quarterback and running back battles.

If D’Angelo Ponds can hold down the experienced Miami wide receiver corps, expect a Hoosier victory on the scale of the Alabama and Oregon games.

Over 47.5 (-110)

Three words: Hammer. The. Over.

These two offenses are some of the more explosive ones in the country, highlighted by a deadly pass-catching trio for Indiana in Omar Cooper Jr., Elijah Sarratt and Charlie Becker.

As for Miami, it’ll rely on a heavy dose of Mark Fletcher Jr. in the backfield with true freshman Malachi Toney crossing up players in the secondary as a wideout.

Since the inception of the CFP national championship in 2015, the title game had a point total surpassing 47 in 10 out of 11 seasons.

If Miami doesn’t contribute well to the over, you can be sure that the Hoosiers will hold up their end of the bargain.

Indiana has beaten that specific point total seven times without the help of its opponents in the 15 games this year, with only five times not meeting that combined with its opponent.

Player Props

Charlie Becker anytime TD (+135)

When Becker gets the ball, watch out.

His recent success put him in the spotlight after a 126-yard performance in the Big Ten Championship game and back-to-back games with receiving touchdowns in the CFP.

Though he is considered a WR3, the biggest games call for unlikely heroes.

Becker averages around three receptions per game, but he has found the endzone in the big moments. Breakout game incoming.

Carson Beck over 0.5 interceptions (-145)

Beck has tossed for four touchdowns and only one interception in the CFP so far.

Fantastic. He hasn’t faced this Hoosier secondary.

Ask Dante Moore, who came into the Oregon-Indiana rematch with similar numbers, then proceeded to throw a pick-six on the first play of the game.

Indiana has picked the ball off in seven out of the last eight games dating back to its 63-10 win over Illinois.

Roman Hemby over 59.5 rushing yards (-115)

Games are won and lost in the trenches. It’s a good thing, then, that the cornerstone of this Hoosier offense is up front.

Hemby has taken more of the share of carries than his counterpart, Kaelon Black, this season, and he has capitalized on that with five yards per carry.

He was somewhat quiet in the Oregon game, rushing for 53 yards on 17 carries without a single touchdown, but the key will be in the matchups.

If Hemby stays with the blockers inside, he won’t have to face the wrath of Bain Jr. and Mesidor on the edge. That will make or break his total in the ground game.

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Bryan Portney is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email bep5295@psu.edu.