If there was once any doubt about the SEC’s dominance over college football, it has been put to rest with the conference churning out seven straight national champions. And inside of a dominant conference, the Alabama Crimson Tide have risen above to become the king of kings, winning three of the last four BCS titles.
The Crimson Tide are the clear favorite on the odds to win the BCS title in 2013 at 5/2 at Bovada, and why shouldn’t they be? Nick Saban continues to bring in the best athletes in the country year after year, and the recruiting trail gets even easier when the championships keep piling up. With the nation’s best defense and an offense still led by expert game manager A.J. McCarron, betting against Alabama is a risk.
Of course, Alabama wouldn’t have even had a chance to play for the BCS title last year had the Ohio State Buckeyes not been on a bowl ban. In Urban Meyer’s first year at the helm, the Buckeyes went a perfect 12-0 SU. With sensational dual-threat quarterback Braxton Miller at the helm, Ohio State is clearly the team to beat in the Big Ten, and another perfect season would spell a trip to Pasadena this time around. The Buckeyes are going off at 6/1 to win it all.
Oregon among the other potential contenders
The Oregon Ducks (17/2 odds to win the BCS Championship) are 36-4 SU over the last three seasons, with one of those rare losses coming to Auburn in the National Championship Game in 2010. The Ducks have proven that they can win the big game since with two straight bowl wins, and even with Chip Kelly departed will run one of the nation’s most explosive offenses.
The Stanford Cardinal (16/1) have emerged as one of the elite programs in college football, overcoming the loss of Andrew Luck last season with an impressive 12-2 SU campaign that included wins over Oregon (on the road) and Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. David Shaw has picked up right where Jim Harbaugh left off, and the Cardinal will be the biggest obstacle standing in Oregon’s way again in 2013.
Like Stanford will try to play spoiler to Oregon, the LSU Tigers (16/1) will try to get back to the top in the brutal SEC East. LSU is fortunate to get games against Florida and Texas A&M at home this season, but road games against Georgia and Alabama will make this schedule very difficult to navigate.
Darkhorses and Heisman hopefuls this seasonQuality teams like the Georgia Bulldogs (16/1), Texas A&M Aggies (18/1), and South Carolina Gamecocks (20/1) would all be much bigger favorites to go all the way if not for the fact that they’ll have to get through the Alabama Crimson Tide to win the SEC. Being able to survive the regular season in college football is important.
That is what makes teams like the Louisville Cardinals (16/1) in the AAC, the Clemson Tigers (20/1) and Florida State Seminoles (20/1) in the ACC, and the Texas Longhorns (20/1) in the Big 12 intriguing bets; each has a solid chance to run the table in its respective conference.
Braxton Miller is the current favorite on the odds to win the Heisman Trophy at 9/2 at Bovada, leading some other popular quarterbacks including Teddy Bridgewater (9/1), A.J. McCarron (10/1), Marcus Mariota (12/1), and Aaron Murray (14/1). No player enters the season with more hype than defensive end Jadeveon Clowney (6/1), who will try to be the first defensive player to win the award since 1997.
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