The kickoff of the 2008 season still is weeks away but
there are at least a couple of good reasons why college football betting should
be near the top of your wagering playbook right now.
For starters, it’s never too early to begin
researching the upcoming gridiron campaign, which begins with 14 games on
Thursday, Aug. 28. More importantly, sportsbooks already have future book lines
posted, asking gamblers to wager on which university will be crowned the Bowl
Champion Series (BCS) national titleholder in Miami,
January
8, 2009.
Sure, some future book lists are drenched with vigorish, but savvy bettors understand that a swig of
bitter juice this summer may be worth the discomfort if you can taste the fruit
at the end of the vine come January. That’s because while betting an individual
team may have some value in and of itself, the real advantage is in holding a ticket
on a live team for the BCS title game.
In that regard, bettors need not pick the winner of
the BCS game, just one of the two participants. If you have the favorite in
futures, then you can assure yourself a solid payday by betting the underdog in
the championship game. You can take the points and possibly win twice-if your
future book favorite wins but does not cover-or opt for the dog on the money
line, where you’ll only win once, but the return on the underdog will be
greater.
If you hold a future book ducat on the BCS underdog,
then a profit can be assured by betting the favorite on the money line.
Of course, before any of this college football
betting manipulation can take place, you have to identify a likely candidate
(or three) for the BCS title game. Like last year, it’s unlikely that the
championship game will feature an undefeated team and, as was the case last
season, even a team with two defeats could play for the title.
With that in mind, let’s look at some early
contenders (future book odds in parentheses):
Southern Cal (3/1): The Trojans
have some huge holes to fill (seven players were drafted in the first two
rounds) but Coach Pete Carroll has shown an ability to quickly reload and this
year should be no different. What’s more, USC gets all its toughest foes—Ohio
State, Oregon, Cal,
Arizona State
and Notre Dame—at home, where they’re 35-1, straight up, since 2001.
Florida
(13/2): Sixteen returning starters, including Heisman Trophy
winning quarterback Tim Tebow auger well for the
Gators making a strong rn at their second national
title in three years. The schedule is favorable with top opponents LSU
and South Carolina forced to
visit The Swamp and Georgia on a neutral field in Jacksonville.
Still, getting through the SEC minefield unscathed won’t be easy.
Ohio State (8/1): The
Buckeyes return 19 starters from last year’s BCS runner-up, the most of any
team in the top 25. Their defense is rock solid but Ohio
STate has
a September trip to USC that could derail their title aspirations, if only
temporarily.
Oklahoma (10/1): Sam
Bradford, the NCAA’s most efficient quarterback last
season, returns, as do a doszen other starters, and the Sooners meet all their most challenging
opponents including Texas Tech, Nebraska
and Kansas, at home. Missouri
is ot on this year’s
schedule and, as usual, the game against Texas
in Dallas, Oct. 11, will go a long
way in deciding each team’s future.
Georgia (10/1): The good
news is that the Bulldogs, who finished ranked second nationally a season ago,
return 17 starters. The bad news is that they have the third most
difficult schedule in college football this year, paying top 25 teams LSU, Auburn
and South Carolina on the road
and Florida on a neutral
field. Win three out of four and Georgia
could be in the title game.
Texas (12/1): Given a
brutal schedule that features games against Oklahoma,
Texas Tech, Missouri and Kansas,
we think 12/1 is a little light for a team that returns just 11 starters.
Virginia
Tech (15/1), Missouri (15/1), LSU (18/1), West Virginia (20/1), Auburn (20/1),
Clemson (20/1), Wisconsin (30/1), Illinois (30/1), Tennessee (30/1) and Kansas
(33/1) all have appeal
as college football betting future book longshots who
could surprise in what looks like a wide-open race to the BCS title.