2012
College Football Preview
Odds to Win
BCS National Title
The 2012 college football season kicks off in less than two months with many bettors wondering if another team from outside the Southeastern Conference will be able to break through and win the national championship in 2013. Two teams from the SEC battled for the NCAA crown back in January with the Alabama Crimson Tide wrestling the top spot in the rankings away from the LSU Tigers with a conviNCing 21-0 victory in the 2012 BCS title Game. An SEC team won the national title for the sixth straight year, and both Alabama and LSU are 11/2 to make it seven in a row in 2013.
However, the favorite to win the national championship this year is a team that has been ineligible to participate in a bowl Game the past two seasons due to NCAA violations. That team is the USC Trojans, who are 3/1 with senior quarterback Matt Barkley back after he entertained the thought of leaving school to become a first-round draft pick in the NFL.
Barkley has been unable to play in a bowl Game the last two years but will enter the 2012 campaign as one of the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy as well. If he goes on to win the Heisman, he would become the third Trojan QB to do so over the past decade, joining Matt Leinart in 2004 and Carson Palmer in 2002.
USC finished 10-2 last season and returns 15 starters, iNCluding Barkley’s top two receivers in Robert Woods and Marqise Lee. The Trojans also have a 1,000-yard rusher back in senior RB Curtis McNeal. A favorable Schedule that sees them open up the year with non-Conference Games against the Hawaii Warriors and Syracuse Orange and then host the Oregon Ducks (12/1) on November 3 could very well help them finish the regular season unbeaten and give them a shot at another NCAA title.
Other top contenders this year from conferences not named the SEC or Pac-12 iNClude the Oklahoma Sooners (10/1) and Florida State Seminoles (12/1). The Sooners also have 15 starters returning, iNCluding QB LAndry Jones, another top Heisman contender. Oklahoma entered last season as the preseason No. 1 team but finished third in the Big 12 with a 10-3 mark. The Seminoles are in similar position and hope to keep senior QB EJ Manuel healthy for the entire year. Manuel played in 12 of 13 Games last season after lining up under center in just seven Games each of the previous two years.
Listed below are the current odds to win the BCS National Title – courtesy of 5 Dimes Sportsbook
LSU +350
USC +500
Alabama +625
Oregon +1200
Oklahoma +1300
Florida State +1400
Georgia +2000
Virginia Tech +3000
Arkansas +3300
Texas +3500
Michigan +3600
Notre Dame +3600
West Virginia +4000
Clemson +4200
South Carolina +4600
Nebraska +5500
Wisconsin +5500
Florida +6200
TCU +6600
Auburn +7500
Michigan State +9000
Oklahoma State +12000
Boise State +12500
Kansas State +14500
Mississippi State +14500
Missouri +15000
Tennessee +17500
Miami FL +20000
Cincinnati +25000
Iowa +25000
Penn State +25000
California +27500
North Carolina +27500
Stanford +27500
Texas A&M +30000
UCLA +32500
Washington +32500
Virginia +32500
Louisville +32500
Georgia Tech +35000
Baylor +40000
Boston College +40000
BYU +40000
NC State +40000
South Florida +40000
Texas Tech +40000
Arizona State +45000
Illinois +45000
Northwestern +45000
Utah +45000
Rutgers +50000
Arizona +55000
Pittsburgh +55000
Purdue +55000
Vanderbilt +55000
Washington State +60000
Oregon State +75000
Wake Forest +75000
Indiana +80000
Maryland +90000
Iowa State +100000
Temple +100000
Minnesota +100000
Kansas +100000
Colorado +100000
Duke +120000
Syracuse +120000
Connecticut +120000
Mississippi +120000
Kentucky +120000