College football is two months away, which means it’s time for our early predictions for the season. NIL deals are clearly impacting the landscape of college football, but as of now, the top schools are still dominating the recruiting process. As usual, that sets up a variety of intriguing wagering options for the powerhouse programs. With the first kickoff of the season quickly approaching, here are three college football future odds bets we like for this season.
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College Football Futures Odds 2023
Best Bet #1: Ohio State to Win Big Ten Conference (+165 on FanDuel Sportsbook)
There is really only one competitor for the Buckeyes in the Big 10, and that’s Michigan. The Wolverines won the Big 10 Championship game between the two last year by a score of 45-23. Despite the big difference, just a few plays won the game. Thanks to incoming help for the Buckeyes, things could easily shift in their favor this year.
They brought in the fourth overall recruiting class, including multiple day 1-ready defensive linemen and cornerbacks in Kayden McDonald, Jason Moore, Jermaine Matthews, and Calvin Simpson-Hunt. The influx of dynamic defenders will go a long way in slowing down the Wolverines’ dynamic run game, which ranked fifth in the nation last year. It was clearly a focus for Ohio State coach Ryan Day and company this offseason, and it was addressed sufficiently.
The Wolverines’ defense is expected to be one of the best in the country in 2023, but offense has never been a problem for the Buckeyes, and it shouldn’t be a problem this season. Although they lost QB C.J. Stroud, they still have a case for having the best receiving group in the nation and are known to get the most from their available QBs.
The Wolverines, whose odds to win the Big Ten are +185, are returning the bulk of their starters, but they didn’t get much better where they needed to most. Quarterback. J.J. McCarthy is still an unknown despite his big numbers, thanks to his inconsistency in the passing game. When forced to throw from the pocket, he wasn’t nearly as effective. Now that the Buckeyes have addressed their glaring needs, the big plays that saved Michigan last year should be harder to come by.
We like offense to prevail in this one, and that is Ohio State’s bread and butter.
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Best Bet #2: Texas Regular Season Wins Under 9.5 (+110 on Caesars Sportsbook)
Like many years prior, the expectations for Texas are high. However, the Longhorns’ schedule presents some challenges that make hitting the Over on 9.5 wins a challenge even if they don’t have letdown games. Alabama and TCU are both more than capable of beating the Longhorns. To overcome their strength of schedule, they have to play up to par in every game and pull off an upset or two.
They narrowly lost to Alabama last year, but thanks to an aggressive offseason from Nick Saban and company, the Crimson Tide will be much better. They secured the No. 1 recruiting class, and it includes nine five-star athletes. Seven of the nine are defensive players, which should help slow Texas’ potent offense.
Outside of those two, the Oklahoma Sooners always pose a viable threat. The Longhorns dominated the matchup last year as Oklahoma was forced to play without QB Dillon Gabriel. They weren’t the best with Gabriel, but having your starting QB available definitely helps your chances.
Joining the Sooners this season are two five-star defensive recruits, and five four-star defensive recruits. That will go a long way in helping to slow down Texas’ offense as well, or, at the very least, help make game-changing plays late in the game if it’s close. And last but not least, they’ll have to keep their eyes out for surprise upsets like Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech.
Texas QB Quinn Ewers is good, but he hasn’t been good enough to hang your hat on to lead Texas to the Over on this one.
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Best Bet #3: Georgia Over 11.5 Regular Season Wins (+110 on BetMGM Sportsbook)
With the exception of Florida and Tennessee, Georgia doesn’t have many threats that could pull off the upset in the coming season. The Bulldogs have cleared this mark in four of their last six seasons, and one of the years they didn’t do it was 2020 due to COVID. They have dominated their division and are even starting to get consistent against Alabama.
Additionally, they just gained the No. 2 overall recruiting class that includes a handful of five-star defensive commits. The incoming talent will join their returning talent, including the team’s top-three leading tacklers and their leading pass rusher. The assortment of riches for the Bulldogs will be extremely difficult to overcome for any offense in their way.
There is an open battle for QB at Georgia, but there is a variety of options to fill the void left by Stetson Bennett. Also, whoever wins out will have an abundance of weapons at their disposal to help alleviate some of the pressure of replacing a two-time National Championship winner in Bennett. Given how last season played out and how they performed in recruiting, we don’t expect the Bulldogs’ dominance to falter this season.
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