There's nothing like a college football gambling slate. There are 100 games on over the course of 12 hours. You get games on at 12, 3:30, 7, 8, and 10 so that you can have a couple of bets going in each time slot throughout the day. Oh, and how could I forget about the 12 AM Hawaii game? It is truly a beautifully crafted fall Saturday. This year I want to get everyone started with some future bets. These bets include win totals, conference champions, and of course, the national champion. Remember to call me after all of these bets hit (with the exception of one of my National champions picks) and I will gladly come over to hang out on the new yacht you bought as a result of tailing me this year.
Win Totals
Notre Dame over 9 wins +110
By no means does Notre Dame have a cupcake schedule, but they certainly will have the most talented roster in every game this season. There are three games that I would be "concerned" about when making this bet: Cincinnati, USC, and Wisconsin. I do not believe they will go 0-3 in those games so the over should cash. The game against Cincinnatti in October could have serious CFP implications for each team. I believe that the worries surrounding the offensive line are going to go away quickly. Just because they are young does not mean they can't play. Adding All-American Cain Madden from Marshall was a huge addition. Remember, two years ago Jack Coan led Wisconsin to double-digit wins. He is a perfect one-year transition quarterback for this program.
Alabama under 11.5 wins -125
Listen, you don't get rich betting against Alabama. However, I feel good betting on them not to go undefeated in the regular season again. What is working against Alabama is that even by their standards, they have a ton of talent to replace. They had 8 first-round picks from one recruiting class. They have had 10 first-round picks on offense the past two seasons. That is such an incomprehensible amount of talent. They naturally have to take a step back. When you also factor in a new quarterback (albeit I love Bryce Young) and being every team's Super Bowl, you are bound to be beaten once. The SEC is way too talented of a football conference to let them get through unscathed again. Keep an eye out in particular for October 9th when the Tide visit Texas A&M.
Washington over 9 wins +110
Washington has the best offensive line and the best secondary in the PAC 12 entering this season. Their two biggest conference games are Oregon and Arizona State, which are both at home. Washington has one of the best home-field advantages in college football. This is a team that can win the PAC 12 this season and could potentially be in the CFP. Getting them to win double digits at plus odds is good value.
Oklahoma +650 National Champions
I must admit that I am still not fully bought in on the Spencer Rattler hype. I have to see more out of him. What I do love about this Oklahoma team is y talented everywhere. All of their position groups are amongst the best in the country. I figure that they will continue to put up monster offensive numbers with Lincoln Riley. I really do not buy into the "Oklahoma are frauds" discussion that has spawned from the LSU loss in the CFP a couple of years back. People forget they were in overtime with Georgia back in 2018 and probably should have been playing Bama for the National Championship. Talent is talent no matter what conference you are in and what the reputation of your team is. They will likely be playing a very good Iowa State team twice this year (once at home and once in the Big 12 Championship) and I don't see why they don't go undefeated and grab the #1 seed in the CFP. Then you have Oklahoma at +650 to win two games, one against a four seed that typically has gotten blown out. I love the Sooners at this price this year.
Georgia +500 National Champions
They have the quarterback. They have the weapons. They have the defense. They have the talent. If it does not happen this year for Kirby Smart it may never happen. For my money, they are the best team in the country. They have 4 top 10 recruiting classes over the past 4 years. The only other teams that can claim that are Alabama and Clemson. The advantage goes to Georgia in terms of returning known talent. Listen, Alabama and Clemson are going to be very good, but we have an experienced Georgia team that has all of the motivation in the world after not even making the SEC title game a year ago. Florida has taken a step back losing Trask and Pitts so they should win the division easily. We will have a much better understanding of this team after they play Clemson Week 1, but even if they lose that game I love their chances of making the CFP. As bad as the team looked early on, they still finished 8-2 and did not lose with JT Daniels at QB. They also ended the season defeating a very good Cincinnati team in the Sugar Bowl.
Group of 5
There are a couple of G5 plays that I really like. The first is Nevada +450 to win the Mountain West. It will be a two-team race with them and Boise State this year. I think that Carson Strong is a very good player and has a chance to become a household name and an NFL player over the next year. In college football, I will bet on the teams that have the best quarterback and receivers in the conference every day of the week. Along these lines, I love Nevada over 7.5 wins at -125.
How can you write a futures blog without talking about the MAC? Western Michigan +800 to win the MAC is a tremendous value. They return 19 starters and Kaleb Eleby enters his sophomore year as one of the best quarterbacks in the conference. This is one of those "storyline" bets due to WMU losing the last game of the season to fall short of the MAC title game the past two years. In a conference as unpredictable as the MAC, taking a talented team like Western Michigan at +800 is too good of a value to pass up.
The last G5 bet is Louisiana Lafayette to win the Sun Belt at +125. 20 returning starters from a very talented team a year ago that beat Iowa State at plus value? Are you kidding me? Oh and the kicker is that they are in the division opposite of Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State so there is no reason they shouldn't appear in the conference title game. I am making this pick in the same spirit as my Nevada pick, Levi Lewis is a special talent at quarterback and I will ride him to the finish line. Expect them to give Texas some trouble in week 1 as well.
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