College Football Handicapping Articles

Freshmen that Can Win the Heisman Trophy
by Dave Schwab - 7/22/2014

The Heisman Trophy is awarded annually to college football’s most outstanding player. It dates all the way back to 1935, and over the years the list of winners include some of the most famous names at both the collegiate and pro level of the game. Until recently, the one thing that this prestigious list of winners did not include was a freshman as a winner.

2014 Odds to Win the Big Ten Conference for College Football with Picks and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 7/21/2014

College football is just around the corner. Finally. For the Big Ten this is a very important season. What was once the cream of the sport is now an afterthought. The last several years have been largely embarrassing, and it has been a long time since the conference has been truly relevant in January. Can that change this year? Or are we headed for more of the frustratingly-poor play that they have made an art of? Here are the 0dds to win the Big Ten for college football from Bovada with picks and predictions thrown in for good measure.

2014 Odds to Win the Pac-12 Conference for College Football with Picks and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 7/21/2014

Before even discussing anything else, the Pac-12 has a huge edge on the other conferences in the country -- its name actually reflects the number of teams in the conference. That’s not all the Pac-12 excels at, though. What was, not long ago, a completely dull conference featuring USC and no one else, is now one of the deeper and most compelling conferences in the country. Many of the programs are well-coached, the talent pool is deep, and highlight plays are a certainty every week. For handicappers, it’s a lot to decode.

USC Trojans Odds to Win the 2015 College Football National Championship
by George Monroy - 7/21/2014

The USC Trojans are looking for a return to the national stage after firing coach Lane Kiffin last year. The Trojans had a few decent seasons during Kiffin’s tenure but were never legitimate national title threats and continually underachieved for a program that recruits well and brings in talent on a yearly basis. Former USC quarterback coach Steve Sarkisian was tapped to fill the position and handle the pressure of returning one of college football’s glamour schools back to NCAA prominence.

Oklahoma Sooners Odds to Win the 2015 College Football National Championship
by George Monroy - 7/17/2014

The Oklahoma Sooners ended the 2013 season with a 14-point victory over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl that seems to have set the team up as a national powerhouse heading into 2014—the first year of the college football’s four-team championship tournament. Quarterback Trevor Knight will be returning to the team after growing into the position late in the year last season. Oklahoma’s biggest claim to a potential national title is its favorable Big 12 home schedule, which will see the team play its toughest matchups in its own stadium.

Georgia Bulldogs Odds to Win the 2015 College Football National Championship
by George Monroy - 7/17/2014

2013 was a year of disappointment and underachieving for the Georgia Bulldogs. The team faced multiple injuries and a few suspensions to many of its key players throughout the year and was never able to gain any traction on its way to a subpar 8-5 record with a bowl game loss. The Bulldogs still have a ways to go before they can be called a legitimate threat to win the 2015 national title, but they will be considerably better entering the new season simply because of health reasons alone

LSU Tigers Odds to Win the 2015 College Football National Championship
by George Monroy - 7/17/2014

The LSU Tigers spent the offseason trying to fill the vacant spots left by many of their underclassmen that declared for the NFL Draft. For the second straight year the Tigers lost the most underclassmen of any team in the nation and may be entering the 2014 season relying on freshmen more than ever before. Les Miles and his crew have kept the program near the top of the college football rankings, but the Tigers have struggled to keep up with the truly elite teams in the nation.

College Football Playoff Picks: Props Odds and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 7/17/2014

College football season is just around the corner. While that makes me sad because the end of summer is in sight, that sadness is almost outweighed by the joy of the dawn of the best team sport there is. The new college football season brings a massive change — the college football playoff. Some are embracing the change as a shining new era. Others, like me, find it hard to believe that this solution will be any less controversial or ridiculous than the BCS was — though at least we get to see the best teams in the country play another game.

Trevor Knight Odds to win the 2014 Heisman Trophy
by Dave Schwab - 7/16/2014

It’s very interesting to look back over the course of recent history to see how a Heisman Trophy hopeful is born. The last two seasons we have seen relatively unknown quarterbacks come out of nowhere to do what no other college football player has done, and that is claim the sport’s most prestigious award as a true freshman.

Brett Hundley Odds to win the 2014 Heisman Trophy
by Dave Schwab - 7/16/2014

The UCLA Bruins have posted a winning record in the Pac-12 the past three seasons and they won the South Division title in 2012, but they continue to live in the shadow of the more dominant teams in the conference that reside in the North Division of the Pac-12.

UCLA Bruins Odds to Win the 2015 College Football National Championship
by George Monroy - 7/15/2014

The last time the UCLA Bruins won a college football National Championship, Dwight Eisenhower was president. The team has been a NCAA powerhouse in nearly every colligate sport and even produced a few great football seasons along the way, but the program has still not participated in a BCS National Championship Game and has made only one BCS bowl game appearance since 1998.

Ohio State Buckeyes Odds to Win the 2015 College Football National Championship
by George Monroy - 7/14/2014

Ohio State third-year coach Urban Meyer has put the Buckeyes in national title contention in each of his first two seasons with the team and expects nothing less for the Big Ten powerhouse in 2014. Meyer coached Ohio State to an undefeated record in 2012, but due to sanctions from the previous year the team was ineligible to compete in the conference championship game or make a BCS bowl game appearance.

Oregon Ducks Odds to Win the 2015 College Football National Championship
by George Monroy - 7/9/2014

The Oregon Ducks entered the 2013 college football season with national title aspirations even though the squad was undertaking its first year without former head coach and offensive mastermind Chip Kelly. The Ducks, as we already know, did not win a national title last season, but the team stood pat as one of the premiere college football squads in the nation with only two losses on the year and was able to adjust and succeed under a new head coach.

Everett Golson Odds to win the 2014 Heisman Trophy
by Dave Schwab - 7/9/2014

It was good to be a Notre Dame Fighting Irish fan in 2012 with a National Championship-caliber team being led by a Heisman-hopeful quarterback. As we all remember, though, the Irish came up short to Alabama in that season’s BCS title game. However, optimism that they could make another run at a title in 2013 with quarterback Everett Golson leading the way still ran high in South Bend.

Nick Marshall Odds to win the 2014 Heisman Trophy
by Dave Schwab - 7/8/2014

The Auburn Tigers came into the 2013 football season as an afterthought in the stacked SEC after winning just three games the year before. Nick Marshall was handed the reins to the Tigers’ starting quarterback position as a junior college transfer and proceeded to lead the team all the way to the BCS Championship Game against Florida State.

Braxton Miller Odds to win the 2014 Heisman Trophy
by Dave Schwab - 7/3/2014

The Ohio State Buckeyes came into the 2013 season with extremely high expectations after going a perfect 12-0 straight up in Urban Meyer’s first year at the helm as head coach. They could not compete for the national title in 2012 because of NCAA sanctions, so the added excitement of winning a NCAA Championship also followed the Buckeyes into last year’s campaign.

Bryce Petty Odds to win the 2014 Heisman Trophy
by Dave Schwab - 7/3/2014

The Baylor Bears came into the 2013 college football season as 12/1 fifth-favorites to win the Big 12 Conference on Bovada’s futures odds list. They went on to claim the title with an 8-1 mark in conference play as part of an overall record of 11-2.

Todd Gurley Odds to win the 2014 Heisman Trophy
by Dave Schwab - 7/3/2014

Georgia running back Todd Gurley will come into the 2014 college football season as Bovada’s fifth-favorite to win the 2014 Heisman Trophy Award as the nation’s most outstanding player with 12/1 odds. The following is look at a few of the reasons he could definitely be worth a closer look if you decide to wager on him for this popular player prop bet.

Jameis Winston Odds to win the 2014 Heisman Trophy
by Dave Schwab - 7/2/2014

Following closely in the footsteps of Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel, who in 2012 became the first freshman to ever win the Heisman Trophy, Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston kept this trend going by winning college football’s most outstanding player award last year in his first season with the Seminoles.

Marcus Mariota Odds to win the 2014 Heisman Trophy
by Dave Schwab - 7/2/2014

The Pac-12’s Oregon Ducks developed into an offense power under the guidance of Chip Kelly in recent years, but after he decided to ply his trade in the NFL after the 2012 season, there were some question marks as to which direction this program might head with Mark Helfrich at the helm.