This week, after decades of meaningless bowls and flawed polls, college football fans will finally, finally -- my goodness -- finally get what they've always wanted: a full-fledged playoff. For the first time in the sport's storied history, 12 teams -- not two and not four, as it was for many years -- will compete in a single-elimination tournament for the national championship. Pigs, indeed, can fly.

And so, the focus now turns to the 12 playoff teams and which of them will win the College Football Playoff National Championship on Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Undefeated Oregon, the No. 1 overall seed, and talented Texas are the co-favorites in the CFP odds at +360. Big Ten heavyweight Ohio State (+475), SEC champion Georgia (+500) and Big Ten runner-up Penn State (+600) round out the top five choices to win the national title.

With the debut of the 12-team playoff comes a plethora of betting options. Which conference will win the national title? The Big Ten is the favorite, at -120. Will No. 3 seed Boise State reach the championship game? No is a heavy -10000 favorite. Who will be the CFP National Championship Game Offensive MVP? Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel is the +450 favorite. Those are just three of hundreds of betting options.

I've scoured the betting menu for the CFP and identified five best bets, including three that would have plus-money payouts. One of those is a wager on a surprise team to make the national championship game.

What five best bets does Menez like during the CFP? And what surprise team does he like to make the national championship game? ... Join SportsLine right now to see Gene Menez's bowl confidence picks, all from the former Sports Illustrated college football writer and editor!