College Football Conference Futures Market

The 2021 college football season is just a little over three months away. It won’t be long until bettors can back at it on the gridiron. As teams prepare for their summer workouts, here’s a look at the college football conference futures market.

SEC

Of course, reigning national champion Alabama is the favorite to win the SEC again. The Crimson Tide are listed at +100, but there is plenty of value in SEC teams not named Alabama to capture the conference title in 2021.

Georgia, which is given +250 odds to win, is the best bet as the Bulldogs do not cross over to face Alabama this season. They also have three very manageable SEC road trips in Vanderbilt, Tennessee, and Auburn. The Bulldogs have plenty of returning talent and head coach Kirby Smart and his staff do a great job of recruiting.

Texas A&M (+700) loses QB Kellen Mond and LSU (+1000) is still searching for Joe Burrow’s replacement. The most intriguing prospect in the SEC is Ole Miss. The Rebels return a ton of production from an imaginative offense led by QB Matt Corral. Ole Miss draws Vanderbilt and Tennessee from the East and has a strong chance of finishing the regular season with just one SEC loss.

BIG TEN

Is there any question as to which team is favored to win the Big Ten title in 2021? The Ohio State Buckeyes have won the last four straight conference titles and they head into 2021 as a -110 favorite to win a fifth consecutive.

That the Buckeyes are that much of a favorite is a testament to the program that Ryan Day and predecessor Urban Meyer built. Ohio State will lose All-Everything quarterback Justin Fields, the No. 11 pick in the NFL draft, yet still are an overwhelming favorite to win the Big Ten.

C.J. Stroud, a highly decorated recruit out of California, is the likely successor to Fields at quarterback. The Buckeyes return a wealth of talent at wide receiver and will be just as good on defense.

If there is a team that could challenge Ohio State, it’s one of Penn State, Michigan, or Wisconsin. The Badgers (+1200) will battle Iowa (+1100) for the West Division title and the right to play the Buckeyes for the conference championship.

The Nittany Lions (+700) and Wolverines (+700) will each get their shot at the Buckeyes during the regular season. Michigan has yet to beat Ohio State under head coach Jim Harbaugh and Penn State has beaten the Buckeyes just once in the last nine years. The odds are all available now at the very best online sportsbooks.

BIG 12

Spencer Rattler is a top candidate for the Heisman Trophy

Oklahoma has won six straight Big 12 conference championships and all indicators point to a seventh. Sooners QB Spencer Rattler is an early Heisman Trophy candidate. His play over the last seven games of the season was outstanding. The Sooners are the favorite at -125 to win a seventh consecutive title.

There will be plenty of talk about Iowa State (+250). What head coach Matt Campbell has done there is nothing short of amazing. He’ll return QB Brock Purdy and a culture that is built on a solid defense and a powerful running game.

If there is a new challenger in the race, it’s possible that new Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian gets the Longhorns in the mix. Texas is given +350 odds to win the Big 12. The Longhorns would most likely have to upset rival Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry to earn a slot in the conference title game.

Oklahoma State (+700 at top sportsbooks) is always in the mix, but the team to watch is TCU. The Horned Frogs faced everything from COVID to heart issues in 2021. Quarterback Max Duggan had some heart issues and the coronavirus cancelled TCU’s bowl game.

Duggan returns along with roughly 90 percent of last year’s offense. TCU could be much more explosive in 2021 and at +2200 offers a nice payday should the Horned Frogs capture the Big 12.

ACC

D.J. Uiagalelei – The future of Clemson football

Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence has moved onto the NFL, but D.J. Uiagalelei steps in to take over the Tigers offense. He started two games in place of Lawrence last year and shows tons of promise. The Tigers have won the last six conference crowns and with a roster loaded with NFL talent it’s easy to see why Clemson is a -835 favorite in 2021.

The biggest competition will come from a revived North Carolina (+700) which has what could be the No. 1 pick in next year’s NFL draft. QB Sam Howell is a good one and now that Lawrence is gone is the best in the ACC.

Miami (+1000) is right there with the Tar Heels although UNC will have home field advantage when the two teams play in the fall.

Louisville hit the transfer portal hard as head coach Scott Satterfield looks to make up for interviewing for the South Carolina job. The Cardinals are projected to be a favorite in seven of their eight ACC games in 2021. That makes them an interesting prospect at +2200 to knock off Clemson and win an ACC title.

Pac-12

Oregon (+225) is the favorite in a Pac-12 that returns the most offensive experience of any of the Power 5 conferences. That may make for plenty of Over bets in the fall. One team that doesn’t return a lot of offensive firepower is the Ducks.

Oregon will have graduate transfer Anthony Brown and three freshmen competing for the starting quarterback job. The Ducks will also have a new defense now that Andy Avalos left to become the new head coach at Boise State.

USC returns Heisman candidate Kedon Slovis at quarterback and is listed at +350 to win the conference. The Trojans are almost an afterthought though as Arizona State (+500) returns QB Jayden Daniels and Utah (+1800) returns a defense that was top-15 in the nation in Defensive Havoc rating. Even Washington (+450) is getting more offseason hype than the Trojans.