College football and the NCAA is at the center of attention with the news that the Pac-12 Conference could be on its last legs. With USC and UCLA defecting for the Big Ten at the beginning of the 2024-25 season, the rest of the conference could soon be following suit.
The two California schools have 229 combined team NCAA national championships between the two of them. The “Conference of Champions,” as the Pac-12 often refers to itself, is losing plenty of trophies.
We will have plenty of time to dissect how the conference reallignment will impact college sports over the coming years. For now, let’s start by looking at three team futures that are worth a wager ahead of the 2022 college football season, with odds courtesy of BetMGM.
Michigan Big Ten winner +900
Ohio State is the favorite to win the Big Ten, and for good reason. They have a Heisman-favorite at quarterback in C.J. Stroud, one of the best wide receivers in the country in Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and both of them could win up top-10 picks in the 2023 NFL Draft.
The value disparity between these two programs feels egregious. Ohio State at -250 to Michigan at +900 when Michigan literally won the conference last year is just silly.
On November 27, 2021, in the last game of the regular season with the Big Ten title on the line, No. 3 Michigan hosted No. 6 Ohio State at The Big House and demolished them. Big Blue won 42-27, handing Ohio State their second and biggest defeat of the season.
Michigan’s outlook will come down to the quarterback position and how they replace the pass rushing duo of Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo, who both departed for the professional ranks. While Cade McNamara should start the season under center, J.J. McCarthy has the potential to take over. The former five-star recruit enters his sophomore campaign as one of the highest-upside quarterbacks in the country. If McNamara falters, they could turn to McCarthy for a jolt on offense.
Ohio State is the favorite for a reason, but a Michigan team that’s returning plenty of talent and won the conference last year at +900 is a worthwhile wager.
USC Pac-12 winner +200
While USC is heading to the Big Ten along with UCLA at the start of the 2024 season, they’re still in the Pac-12 conference for now. This conference is an interesting one this year, with USC, Utah (+250), and Oregon (+300) all getting similar odds at a conference championship.
The Trojans are looking to return to their glory days on the heels of an offseason coup that landed them head coach Lincoln Riley and quarterback Caleb Williams, both of whom defected from Oklahoma to rejoin in Los Angeles. Williams, who took over for Spencer Rattler in their Week 4 clash with Texas, never looked back as the Oklahoma starting quarterback. When Riley left for USC, Williams promptly entered the transfer portal and followed suit.
Williams showed flashes of brilliance last year, throwing 21 touchdowns and only four interceptions in eight games. He also added 74 rushing attempts for 381 yards and five touchdowns on the ground, showing that he has legitimate dual-threat abilities from the quarterback position.
Although Williams was the crown jewel in the transfer portal, USC also added a legitimate threat at the wide receiver position in Jordan Addison, who was the primary weapon for quarterback Kenny Pickett at Pittsburgh. Addison racked up 1,593 yards and 17 receiving touchdowns on 100 receptions last season. In a high-powered Lincoln Riley offense, Addison could be one of the top wide receivers in the country this season.
In a conference where the odds are narrow amongst the three favorites, I’ll back the team with the best quarterback/head coach duo, with a coach who has been responsible for multiple Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks and has made the College Football Playoffs on three different occasions.
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Alabama National Championship winner +190
Alabama refuses to die.
The Crimson Tide in all their Nick Saban-esque glory are once again the betting favorites to be the national champions, and are looking to rebound after losing the championship to the Georgia Bulldogs and their all-time great defensive unit.
The problem for Georgia is that they lost essentially that entire defense to the 2022 NFL Draft, who set a record by having 15 players selected in one draft. Alabama, on the other hand, comes into this year with the defending Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young at quarterback, uber-talented running back Jahmyr Gibbs fresh off a transfer from Georgia Tech, a slew of young talent at wide receiver (like always), and linebacker Will Anderson in the mix to be the first player selected in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Saban has an all-time record as the head coach of Alabama of 178-25 with six National Championships. The College Football Playoffs were introduced in 2014, and Alabama has been a part of it all but one season. While they may not win it, betting on Alabama to win the National Championship is far and away the safest bet in college football this year. Clearly from an odds perspective, the odds are incredibly high that Alabama will be in the thick of it once again.
