We’re half-way through with the 2015 college football season, and a handful of undefeated teams are still playing at a very high level in support of their respective bids at the national title come season’s end.
We’ve listed five schools below that currently have the most coveted programs as per the oddsmakers and pundits alike. While you’re at it, check out our feature on the latest updates for the Heisman Trophy race right after this to round out your NCAA college football futures betting experience.
[sc:NCAAFArticles ]The Top 5 Favorites to Win the National Title
Ohio State Buckeyes
[sc:NCAA240banner ]Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer must’ve patted himself on the back after opting to play two of his starting quarterbacks in different game-time situations. With Cardale Jones leading drives and J.T. Barrett handling cleanup duty in the red zone, the Buckeyes succeeded in converting all six of their red zone trips into touchdowns in Week 6’s 49-28 win over Maryland.
Ohio State – the current overall favorite at +250 to repeat as national champions – must put its Jones-Barrett experiment to the test again this Saturday when they take on Penn State (5-1, 2-0 conf.) this Saturday. The Nittany Lions currently lead the nation in sacks (25) and are tenth in total defense (275.7 yards per game), but have lost seven of their last nine meetings against the defending champs.
Baylor Bears
The Buckeyes may still be the favorites after six weeks of action, but it has been the No. 2 Baylor Bears (+500) who have been the most impressive team so far this season. The mere fact that quarterback Seth Russell and the rest of the Baylor offense is averaging an unprecedented 64 points per game (obviously tops in the FCS this season) should be enough proof of how dangerous this team truly is.
The Bears have a great chance of becoming the bookies’ new darlings if they defeat the West Virginia Mountaineers this weekend. WVU was the lone team in 2014 to beat them in the regular season (with a final score of 41-27, all the more), and have won two of their past three meetings overall. That means Baylor must not only defeat their Big 12 rivals, but also do it in emphatic fashion to make up for the team’s past woes against their formidable foe.
LSU Tigers
Leonard Fournette this, and Leonard Fournette that. We all know that No. 6 LSU Tigers’ standout running back is the consensus top Heisman candidate so far this season (at -280, to be exact), but Saturday’s match against the No. 8 Florida Gators will have Harris vs. Harris under the spotlight.
With Florida starting QB Will Grier suspended for the rest of the season, backup Treon Harris will fill the void left by Grier to try and keep the Gators’ strong start on a high. Meanwhile, LSU’s own play-caller in Brandon Harris is subpar at best, given that the team just needs to run the ball with “you know who”.
With that said, expect a grit-and-grind match this weekend between LSU’s third-ranked rushing offense (346.4 yards per game) against Florida’s defense, one that’s 11th in the nation in points allowed per game (14.3). And with a win over their top 10 opponent this Saturday, you can also expect the Tigers’ +750 odds of winning the national title to significantly rise right after, so bank on them now at this price while you still can.
Texas A&M Aggies
Giving more reasons for LSU to excel above and beyond expectations are the No. 9 Texas A&M Aggies, who are now at +1,000 to win the championship game on January after handling preseason contenders Arizona State (38-17 in Week 1) and most recently Mississippi State (30-17 just last week) with relative ease. Heck, it was because of the loss to the Aggies that had the Sun Devils and Bulldogs booted out of the AP Top 25 the week after.
Now comes the hard part: a Week 7 visit from No. 10 Alabama. While the Crimson Tide have seen ebbs and flows this season, Texas A&M should still be aware that this was the team that dealt them a 59-0 beat down last year. As such, TAMU quarterback Kyle Allen (13 TDs to just two picks for the season) needs to find ways to get points on the board against the Tide, who are 15th in the FCS in points allowed per game (15.7).
Michigan Wolverines
Well, look who we have here… If it isn’t infamous coaching whiz Jim Harbaugh and the No. 12 Michigan Wolverines.
We cannot praise Harbaugh enough for what he has done this season to turn this once doormat of a Big Ten program around. But if you need evidence of his magic at work, the Wolverines’ three-straight shutouts from Weeks 4 to 6 over the likes of formerly ranked BYU and (now) No. 20 Northwestern should be more than enough proof.
Inter-state rivals in the No. 7 Michigan State Spartans are up next – the team that has defeated the Wolverines in six of the past seven contests. But this is a new Michigan team we’re talking about here, one that has a newfound swagger with its defense that’s only giving up an FCS-leading average of 6.3 points per game. Yes, that’s pretty much less than a freakin’ touchdown per contest, for crying out loud.
And considering that the Spartans are coming off two-straight one-possession wins against mediocre competition in Purdue and Rutgers, placing your stakes on the Wolverines’ +1,000 odds of winning the national title at this very moment is one huge steal of a deal.
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