College football season is approaching. Before the season starts gamblers need to get their futures bets in for the year. Here are futures bets to place before the 2021 college football season.
Appalachian State went 9-3 last season, which was another good season near the top of the Sun Belt for them. They bring back 16 starters to their team and have former Duke and Clemson quarterback Chase Brice ready to take over the offense. With 10 starters back from a defense that tied for 16th in scoring, things look like it will be another solid season for the Mountaineers.
The problem with the over/under being at nine wins is that the Mountaineers have a tough schedule. Last season they lost their three games to Marshall, Louisiana and Coastal Carolina, all of which are on the schedule this season. On top of that, they have a game at Miami this year. Even if they are able to win one of those four games, that still means they need to win the rest of the games on their schedule to even push on this bet. Appalachian State has a solid team, but they won’t win more than nine games in the regular season.
Last season, Nevada won seven of their nine games, including the Idaho Potato Bowl. From that team, they return 18 starters. The most notable of them is quarterback Carson Strong, who passed for 2,848 yards, 27 touchdowns and four interceptions on 70.1 percent completion. His star receiver Romeo Doubs helps stretch defenses vertically. Their defense ranked 33rd in the country in scoring in 2020 and with so much talent returning, should be able to improve on that.
With a full 12-game schedule, Nevada should be able to total more wins than last season. They do have two tough nonconference games on the road against California and Kansas State. Even though Nevada is projected to be a better team by most preseason previews, the games and spreads will come out near even since they are on the road. The conference schedule will pose a few problems as well with road games at Boise State, San Jose State and Fresno State. Despite all this, Nevada is projected to win the conference, which will likely take more than seven wins to do so.
For the 2020 season, Oklahoma State went 8-3. They did lose some key players to the NFL like Tevin Jenkins, Tylan Wallace and Chuba Hubbard, but they still have enough talent on the team. They have 13 returning starters, with five on offense and eight on defense. Quarterback Spencer Sanders is back for his third year as the starting quarterback. He passed for over 4,000 yards in his career already. The offense may take some time to find new playmakers, but Sanders can make it explosive. The defense ranked 34th last season and returns eight starters.
The Cowboys won over 7.5 games in just 11 games last season, so to do it in 12 should be a little easier. Of the three nonconference games they have, Oklahoma State has one tough test at Boise State. If they can get through the nonconference with at most one loss, they should be able to get through the conference schedule with just a few losses. They will have tough road games at Texas and at Iowa State, but they do get to play Oklahoma at home. The Cowboys should be able to get to eight wins on the season.
Before Joe Burrow went nuclear and DeVonta Smith won the Heisman as a wide receiver, Oklahoma had two straight winners of the award in Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. Spencer Rattler now has a year of experience under his belt and is ready to take the college football world by storm. He struggled early last year, but settled down and passed for 3,031 yards, 28 touchdowns and seven interceptions on 67.5 percent completion. The Sooners won eight straight to finish off the 2020 season and look primed for a big 2021.
For the 2021 season, Oklahoma is one of the favorites to make it back to the College Football Playoff. They have 17 returning starters and loads of talent. So winning enough games for voters to feel comfortable making Rattler the Heisman won’t likely be a problem. He already plays in a system that has produced enough stats for quarterbacks to win the award. Rattler will have some big games against Texas, Iowa State and Oklahoma State, which will all give him a chance to get a “Heisman Moment”. With other big programs like Ohio State, Alabama and Clemson (even though D.J. Uiagalelei played well in a limited role last year) all breaking in new quarterbacks, Rattler has every opportunity to bring home the award.
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