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College Football Awards Futures: Odds and Expert Betting Predictions

by Mike Allen - 8/26/2024

College award winners odds and best bets Jaxson Dart Ole Miss

Week 1 of the 2024 college football regular season is rapidly approaching. And, heck, we have already started the season. We've already seen our first big upset with the Florida State Seminoles going down to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on a late field goal.

I don't want to get my expectations too high, but this year looks to be the best one yet for college football. The 12-team playoff is long overdue. A few teams will play more games than anyone has ever played in a season.

The odds and best bets I wanted to share with you guys today are those for three of the major awards given out at the end of the season in college football. We have best bets for the Bear Bryan Award for the best coach, the Davey O'Brien Award for the best QB, and the Doak Walker for the nation's top running back.

Doc’s Sports offers college football expert picks for every game on our college football predictions page.

Best Bets to Win the Bear Bryant Award

Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame): +800

Full disclosure, guys, I changed my pick here from Dan Lanning from Oregon, who is the favorite to win the award at 7-1. People say to go with your first instinct, though, and that works out because that was the second time I changed it.

Marcus Freeman was my original choice. Let's leave it at that. The former 2nd Team All-Big Ten linebacker out of Ohio State has been the head coach in South Bend since he took over in the 2022 Fiest Bowl, losing a tight one 37-35 to Oklahoma.

Father Freeman is a fellow Osan Air Base, Korea veteran. He met Marcus’s mother in South Korea. The two ended up in Ohio, where their bright son shined in the classroom even more than he did on the field. Look at him now.

Freeman is primed to win this award. The NCAA and the networks can't get enough of his handsome face during Notre Dame's many national broadcasts. I believe he could have won the award already had he won some of the bigger games over the past couple of years.

Spencer Danielson (Boise State): +2800

Spencer Danielson has a golden opportunity in 2024 to steal this award, as well as a spot in the 12-team CFB playoff. It's safe to say he would need to get the invite to the postseason to win the award in his first full season in Boise. I've already picked the Broncos as a solid sleeper team this year. They currently have betting odds of (+460) to make it.

Danielson, another linebacker, takes over a program that, in recent history, has been one of the most exciting and dangerous in college football. After a Week 2 trip to Eugene, Oregon, where all they have to do is hang, Danielson's Broncos will, in all likelihood, be favored in every remaining game.

His team is sitting just outside of the top 25 right now, primed for a slow and steady climb north. Danielson also has the chance here, as essentially a first-year head coach, to look like a massive difference-maker. And for any of these awards, that's what we're searching for in a bet. 

Best Bets to Win the Davey O’Brien Award

Carson Beck (Georgia): +800

Georgia's Carson Beck played his first full season as starting quarterback for the Georgia Bulldogs last season.

Do I think Beck is special? I would say probably not. Is he the best QB in the nation? Same answer. Does he play on the best team? Yes, and that's enough for me here. With the Dawgs' super difficult schedule, he will be tested. That's for sure.

Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss): +1400

Beck is the popular pick for the Davey O'Brien Award, and for the good reasons we listed. Jaxson Dart out of Ole Miss, though, is by far the best value on the betting board. The former USC Trojan enters his third season at Ole Miss with the most weapons he's ever had and an offensive mastermind at head coach in Lane Kiffin, who loves nothing more than making his quarterback look like the best player on the field.

The kid from Kaysville, Utah, threw 20 touchdowns and only five picks last year, averaging an outstanding 9.4 yards per attempt. That is the same number Beck had last season as well.

Both could go over 10 this year.

Best Bets to Win the Doak Walker Award

Ollie Gordon II (Oklahoma State): +300

Defending Doak Walker Award winner, Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon II, didn’t lead the nation in yards per carry but was the man for touchdowns at 21, six more than the field, and more than 1,700 total rushing yards.

Gordon is a monster who is incredibly difficult to tackle, standing at 6-foot-2 and weighing 225. I am getting Brandon Jacobs vibes talking about this behemoth. Jacobs was 6-foot-4, 264, though…, wow. Digressing back to Gordon, the Cowboys are committed to leaning on this guy and will likely do it even more in 2024, as he has the potential to top 2,000 yards in just his junior year of college.

R.J. Harvey (UCF): +3300

After picking the favorite, I had to give you guys the value bet of the week. UCF is a CFB playoff sleeper this season with a soft schedule. I could easily see a career-high in rushing attempts for R.J. Harvey.

The senior matched Gordon’s 6.3 yards per attempt last season and severely outplayed him when they went head-to-head in a 45-3 win. Harvey had 206 yards on the ground to Gordon’s 25.

The only running back to bust off a 90+ yard scamper in 2024, Harvey only got better as the 2023 season progressed. He averaged 70/game over the first four and 125/game over the final nine. This is some crazy value at 33-1 here on UCF’s Harvey to win the Doak Walker Award.

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