I don’t think that this is breaking news to anyone, but I’m sure many (if not most) of us have noticed how fast time goes by. One minute, you’re in the middle of the summer sweating buckets, and the next you’re all bundled up trying to stay as warm as you possibly can. We’re already in the middle of July and training camp in the NFL is right around the corner but, before one of the more anticipated seasons kicks off, college football will make its debut for the 2021-2022 season. Full stands are expected for the 2021 season, after issues with Covid-19 either limited attendance, postponed, or canceled games altogether. This failed to offer any consistency for the players, coaches, students, and fans in general. I’m hopeful and excited that we’ll be able to enjoy a full season without interruptions and be able to see the best players compete week in and week out to improve their draft stocks, and ultimately win. For this exercise, I will focus on the Power Five Conferences and evaluate which team has the best odds to win their respective conference. The odds for this article have been provided by the DraftKings sportsbook, and we will be kicking off the series with the Pac-12. Hopefully, we can win you some cash to spend this holiday season! Let’s dive in, shall we?
- Oregon +250
- Washington +360
- USC +380
- Arizona State University +450
- Utah +600
- UCLA +1200
- California +2200
- Washington State University +3500
- Colorado +3500
- Oregon State University +4000
- Stanford +4000
- Arizona +8000
I want to start off by saying that I am not as familiar with the Pac-12 all that much, especially since I’m from the east coast. Unfortunately, the west coast games start and end far too late on Saturday nights for me to fully watch them with fresh eyes. Based on what I have researched a bit from previous seasons, it is safe to say that Oregon, Washington, USC, ASU, and Utah are the cream of the crop within this conference. In the condensed season last year, we saw an upset in the Pac-12 title game, with the 3-2 Oregon Ducks taking down the previously undefeated 5-0 USC Trojans and booking their spot in the Fiesta Bowl. When it comes to betting, we always want to look for the best and most reasonable odds to put our money towards, so I will tell you right now that you can pretty much forget about betting on the bottom three teams. As a reminder, use $100 as your starting point for placing bets, so anytime you see a + sign, it means that you will win that amount if you bet $100 and your bet “hits” (a.k.a. wins). You are free to bet however much you want to (it can be as low as $0.01), but just start with $100 as a baseline.
Yes, Stanford won four games last year, but they lost their starting QB, Davis Mills, to the NFL Draft and bring in only the 41st ranked recruiting class, according to 247sports. You will notice that, with most of the Power Five conferences, most of them are top-heavy and the favorites usually come out the winners, so betting on them isn’t too difficult to predict. The Oregon Ducks are locked in as favorites to win the Pac-12 again at +250 odds, even with a QB competition after seeing Tyler Shough transfer out to Texas Tech. A reason why they’re highly regarded is because of five-star recruit, DE Kayvon Thibodeaux, who could challenge others to be the number one overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. In seven games last year, he only managed three sacks, which is down from his nine sacks from his true freshman year, but a bounce-back year with a normal season is certainly within reason. The Washington Huskies, at +360, always present a difficult challenge as they have consistently produced NFL talent and wouldn’t shock anyone if they won the conference. For my money, I would have to take USC at +380. They are coming off a 5-1 season, and they have the best QB in the conference in Kedon Slovis, who could work his way up into the first-round conversation. You can take a look at his profile, provided by our very own Kosta Boskovic, to maybe sway your thinking before placing your bet. They were undefeated before the Pac-12 title game last year with inconsistent play at the QB position, so what makes you think that they’ll be worse? I like their value at +380 to win the Pac-12!
Time is going by fast and the college football season is right around the corner, so let’s get those bets going! I’ll be back soon as we take a look at the Big 12 Conference, which contains one of the top teams and passers in the country!
Edited By: Rupayan “Abs” Samanta and Isaac Dirrim.
