Hoda TODAY Show Replacement Odds: Beloved Co-Host Stepping Down

Beloved TODAY host Hoda Kotb shocked viewers Thursday morning with her announcement that she will be stepping down from hosting the high rated NBC show.  And now gamblers want to know who will replace Hoda.

Hoda's departure will occur some time early next year.  She will continue to work at NBC in an unspecified role. 

Hoda tearfully recounted on TODAY on Sept. 26 about how her 60th birthday celebration in August prompted a decision to make a change.

"I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new," she said. "I remembered standing outside looking at these beautiful bunch of people with these gorgeous signs, and I thought, 'This is what the top of the wave feels like for me.' And I thought it can't get better, and I decided that this is the right time for me to kind of move on.

"Obviously I had my kiddos late in life, and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have," she said. "I feel like we only have a finite amount of time.

"And so, with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world.

"It's kind of a big deal for me," she said through tears. "I've been practicing so I wouldn't cry, but anyway, I did."

Hoda has been part of the NBC News for nearly three decades, after previously working at “Dateline” and as the co-host of the fourth hour of TODAY with Kathie Lee Gifford and then Jenna Bush Hager. She and Savannah Guthrie have co-anchored TODAY for nearly six years now.

"We love you so much," Savannah tearfully said on TODAY. "And when you look around and see these tears, they're love. You are so loved. We don't want to imagine this place without you.

"So it's complicated because we love you so much, and we don't want you to ever go," she continued. "But also I just want to say I am so proud of my friend. You have guts. For someone to leave at the top of their game, to leave something that's wonderful that you love, where it's easy and comfortable and beautiful and fun, and say, 'But I dream bigger for myself into the great unknown.' You have so much guts. You inspire me. I love you."