AlexanderP
Today is the day. The 2015-16 college football season gets underway. (Pardon my rhymes.)
As we head into the year, each one of the 128 FBS teams is an identical 0-0, meaning they all have an equal shot at winning the national title, right? Right??
No. Not right.
In reality, only a handful of teams can be considered legitimate title contenders, even before the first ball is footed. Ohio State, last year’s champ, is chief among them. The Buckeyes suffered a few losses on either side of the ball, but are absolutely stacked both offensively and defensively. With a coach like Urban Meyer at the helm, the Buckeyes look like a virtual lock to reach their second straight College Football Playoff.
The Big Ten’s other power – Michigan State – may take umbrage at that. But they lost their OC (Pat Narduzzi), not to mention their top corners off a team that was already getting torched through the air. On top of that, they’ll have to travel to Columbus this year. Pencil in Ohio State as your Big Ten champs. And then go over it in permanent marker.
Four other power conferences (we’re still including the ACC as a “power conference” for the time being) will be vying for the three other spots in the CFP. Alabama, TCU, and Oregon are the early favorites to emerge from their respective packs, but the races should be a lot closer than in the top-heavy Big Ten.
Just how close? I’ll tell you, below, as we take a look at some 2015-16 NCAAF props:
2015-16 NCAAF Props:
Odds to win the National Championship:
- Ohio State: 9/5
- TCU: 5/1
- Alabama: 11/2
- Auburn: 12/1
- Notre Dame: 16/1
- Baylor: 16/1
- Oregon: 18/1
- USC: 22/1
- Clemson: 25/1
- Michigan State: 25/1
- Florida State: 28/1
Odds to make the College Football Playoff:
- Ohio State: 1/2
- TCU: 3/2
- Alabama: 2/1
- Oregon: 3/1
- Auburn: 3/1
- Notre Dame: 10/3
- Baylor: 11/3
- Georgia: 5/1
- USC: 5/1
- Michigan State: 11/2
- Clemson: 6/1
- Florida State: 13/2
Odds to win the Heisman Trophy:
- Trevone Boykin (TCU): 11/2
- Ezekiel Elliott (Ohio State): 6/1
- Cody Kessler (USC): 9/1
- Deshaun Watson (Clemson): 10/1
- Nick Chubb (Georgia): 25/2
- Leonard Fournette (LSU): 25/2
- Jeremy Johnson (Auburn): 14/1
- JT Barrett (Ohio State): 14/1
- Derrick Henry (Alabama): 15/1
- Connor Cook (Michigan State): 16/1
- Dak Prescott (Miss. St): 20/1
- Malik Zaire (Notre Dame): 35/1
- Everett Golson (Florida State): 45/1
- Cardale Jones (Ohio State): 50/1
- Samaje Perine (Oklahoma): 50/1
- ANY DEFENSIVE PLAYER: 20/1
Odds to win the power conferences:
ACC
- Clemson: 5/2
- Florida State: 11/4
- Georgia Tech: 5/1
Big Ten
- Ohio State: 5/13
- Michigan State: 5/1
- Wisconsin: 7/1
Big 12
- TCU: 1/1
- Baylor: 11/3
- Oklahoma: 9/2
Pac-12
- Oregon: 2/1
- USC: 12/5
- UCLA: 7/2
SEC
- Alabama: 2/1
- Auburn: 3/1
- Georgia: 9/2
Odds to be the number one pick in the 2016 NFL Draft:
- Joey Bosa (LB, Ohio State): 9/2
- Laremy Tunsil (OT, Ole Miss): 5/1
- Ronnie Staley (OT, Notre Dame): 5/1
- Christian Hackenberg (QB, Penn State): 6/1
- Cardale Jones (QB, Ohio State): 13/2
- Vernon Hargreaves (CB, Florida): 8/1
- Connor Cook (QB, Michigan State): 9/1
(Photo credit: Adam Glanzman (Flickr: asg.fbc.vsOSU.11.30.131077 copy) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)
