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Why Ohio State is still the championship favorite despite historic collapse to Texas

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Cite

Treppedi, S. (2026, September 17). Why Ohio State is still the championship favorite despite historic collapse to Texas. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/09/17/betting/why-ohio-state-is-still-the-championship-favorite-despite-historic-collapse-to-texas/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-09-17 · by Sean Treppedi

Quick Summary

Ohio State remains the favorite to win the national championship despite losing to Texas in a historic fourth-quarter collapse where Texas rallied from 9 points down with 20 points in the final quarter. DraftKings adjusted Ohio State’s odds to +530, still shorter than Texas at +650. This resilience is due to the expanded College Football Playoff format and the belief that a single loss doesn’t diminish their championship prospects, as evidenced by their performance in 2024 after two regular-season losses.
Written by AI on 2026-09-17, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On Saturday, college football saw unprecedented chaos as Texas staged a remarkable 20-point comeback to defeat top-ranked Ohio State with a final score of 24-23 in Austin, Texas. This dramatic turn of events came after Oklahoma State unexpectedly beat No. 6 Oregon, causing shockwaves through the college football world despite Texas's rise to the top spot. Although Ohio State dropped to No. 6 in the AP Top 25 rankings, their odds to win the national championship only slightly decreased from +550 to +530 at DraftKings. This illustrates how a single loss, even against an elite opponent like Texas, does not significantly impact a team's chances of reaching the playoffs and potentially winning the title in today’s expanded College Football Playoff era.

Written for “College Football Chaos Era” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 College Football Chaos Era
Sports · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 9% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 16 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss a historic comeback by Texas against Ohio State on September 17th, Article B also includes information about how to watch an upcoming game between UTSA and Texas on September 19th.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
23
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
9%
2 of 23 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-17 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 15868 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Sean Treppedi
87 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Also by Sean Treppedi
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 87 articles by Sean Treppedi →

Topics

Buckeyes DraftKings Ohio State Texas The Post

Subjects

Ohio State GPE · 7× Texas GPE · 5× Buckeyes ORG · 4× DraftKings ORG · 2× Longhorns ORG · 2× The Post ORG · 2× Arch Manning PERSON · 1× Avello PERSON · 1× Johnny Avello PERSON · 1× Oregon ORG · 1×

Narrative

Arch Manning and No. 4 Texas’ historic 24-23 triumph over No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday will be one to remember, but it wasn’t enough to shake up college football futures markets: the Buckeyes’ odds as favorites to win the national championship only got shorter.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-17
🔮 Arch Manning and No. 4 Texas’ historic 24-23 triumph over No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday will be one to remember, but it wasn’t enough to shake up college football futures markets: the Buckeyes’ odds as favorites to win the national championship only got shorter.

Claims (23 extracted, 2 hedged)

Not every loss is created equal. asserted
loss → create → ?
Arch Manning and No. 4 Texas’ historic 24-23 triumph over No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday will be one to remember, but it wasn’t enough to shake up college football futures markets: the Buckeyes’ odds as favorites to win the national championship only got shorter. asserted
odds → remember → championship
Ohio State moved from +550 to +530 at DraftKings after Texas marched back with 20 points in the fourth quarter — the largest fourth-quarter rally to defeat a No. 1 team. asserted
Texas → move → team
The Buckeyes sank to No. 6 in the AP Top 25 while Texas, now the No. 1 team in the country, sits next on the board, priced at +650. asserted
Texas → sink → +650
This surprising market reaction underscores just how little one regular-season loss to a contender can mean in the expanded College Football Playoff era, according to DraftKings Director of Sports Operations Johnny Avello. uncertain
loss → underscore → Avello
“In today’s college football landscape, a team can suffer a loss or two and still make a championship run. asserted
team → suffer → run
Ohio State proved that in 2024, winning the national title after two regular-season losses,” Avello told The Post. asserted
Avello → prove → Post
Ohio State was ranked No. 3 when it lost 32-31 to No. 4 Oregon on Oct. 12 and No. 2 when it was shut out 13-0 by an unranked Michigan team on Nov. 30, 2024. asserted
it → rank → Nov.
That was the first season with an expanded 12-team playoff format, featuring four rounds, with first-round games played at on-campus sites and subsequent rounds hosted by major bowl games. asserted
That → expand → games
The game script and conditions also carry weight. asserted
script → carry → weight
The Buckeyes commanded most of the game until the fourth-quarter collapse, outgaining the Longhorns by 36 in total yardage. asserted
Buckeyes → command → yardage
They did that despite the hostility of playing in front of 100,119 opposing fans and the first three quarters ultimately mattered more than the final result. asserted
quarters → do → result
“While Ohio State did blow a lead, they were in control for most of that game in a hostile road environment. asserted
they → blow → environment
The result could have gone either way,” BetMGM public relations manager John Ewing told The Post. uncertain
Ewing → go → Post
This also wasn’t a Big Ten loss, so Ohio State still has a viable road to winning the conference and reaching the playoff. asserted
State → have → playoff
“A one-point road loss to Texas — one of the highest-rated teams on our board — doesn’t materially change our view of either team,” Aviello said. asserted
Aviello → rat → team
“Ohio State remains our top-rated team, with elite talent across the field and a clear path to the College Football Playoff. asserted
State → remain → Playoff
The same logic works in reverse, as Texas’ late push when it reverted to the run and short passing game didn’t erase their struggles beforehand. asserted
it → work → struggles
The victory pads its playoff pursuit early, but it’s more or less a feather in the cap. asserted
it → pad → cap
The Longhorns will have to prove their adjustments can last with a gauntlet of six ranked teams ahead on their schedule. asserted
adjustments → have → schedule
They’ll first get a tune-up against UTSA on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET while the Buckeyes return home to face Illinois at noon. asserted
Buckeyes → get → noon
Why Trust New York Post Betting Sean Treppedi handicaps the NFL, NHL, MLB and college football for the New York Post. asserted
Treppedi → trust → Post
He primarily focuses on picks that reflect market value while tracking trends to mitigate risk. asserted
that → focus → risk
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