So as you will learn the more I blog, I am regular watcher of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report… There are a couple of notable things within both of these shows or regular “nicknames” they use for people within the media, my favorite being Stephen Colbert’s use of “Papa Bear” for Fox News host of The Factor with Bill O’Reilly. So in that tradition, I will be using the name Godfather in reference for Phil Steele. Incase you are unaware, Godfather, publishes a novel about pre-season college football every year around June, he also runs a website, blog and is active within social media. Godfather is legit! So to start our blog for the New Year here is a write up he did about the odds for winning the 2013-14 National Championship from Vegas, or as we will call it going forward, the Homeland (also an avid viewer of the show)-
Phil Steele
A couple of days ago, several casinos released their odds for the 2013-14 BCS National Championship. While PhilSteele.com does not affiliate itself with gambling, I do think it is interesting to see how Vegas is examining the upcoming season.
Here are the Top 10 Favorites to win the title this upcoming year courtesy of Bovada.
1. Alabama Odds: 4/1
Tough to go against a program that has won three out of the last four national championships including winning one this year with a team that many thought were a year away including its head coach Nick Saban. Next year’s team will return quarterback AJ McCarron, linebacker CJ Mosely and a boatload of other talented players. The schedule is manageable with two weeks to prepare for an early road trip to Texas A&M and they also have a home date against LSU. Also noteworthy is the fact that for a second straight year, the Crimson Tide avoid Florida, Georgia and South Carolina from the SEC East.
2. Ohio State Odds: 8.5/1
At Bowling Green, Utah and Florida, Urban Meyer’s 2nd season was better than his first and the only thing that can top a 12-0 season, which the Buckeyes achieved in 2012 is to take home the crystal ball in 2013. Offensively, it starts with the return of quarterback Braxton Miller who figures to be one of the Heisman favorites and while they do lose their entire defensive line from last year, keep in mind Meyer’s top recruits last year were all on the DL. The schedule sets up nicely as the non-conference schedule is rather weak and in Big 10 play they get Wisconsin and Penn State at home while avoiding Nebraska and Michigan St. The biggest landmines are road trips to Northwestern and Michigan.
2. Oregon Odds: 8.5/1
The Ducks are off back-to-back BCS bowl wins and will return as many as 15 starters from last year’s 12-1 team that basically came one play away from playing in the national title game. The biggest return is head coach Chip Kelly who after yet another flirtation with the NFL looks to be here for the time being. On offense quarterback Marcus Mariota and De’Anthony Thomas return and while the defense loses Michael Clay and Kiko Alonso, defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti has proven to be one of the more underrated coordinators in the country. The schedule features a road test against Stanford which will probably not only decide the Pac-12 North but possibly who goes to Pasadena to play an SEC team for the national title.
4. Texas A&M Odds: 10/1
The Aggies had arguably one of their best seasons in school history on and off the field in 2012 with a move to the SEC, a Heisman trophy winner, an upset of #1 Alabama on the road and won 11 games capped off by a dominating Cotton Bowl performance over Oklahoma. Next year’s team naturally will see the return of quarterback Johnny Manziel but they will lose several key players including wide receiver Ryan Swope and defensive end Damontre Moore. The schedule is manageable as the two games are a September 14th home game vs Alabama and a November 23rd road game at LSU, which the Aggies have two weeks to prepare for.
5. LSU Odds: 12:1
The Las Vegas odds for the Tigers here at least for now have to be based on their recent success of being a consistent top 5 program as they certainly have had a tough couple of weeks starting with the bowl loss to Clemson then followed by a max exodus of key players declaring early for the NFL Draft. Next year will see the return of quarterback Zach Mettenberger who figures to be improved in his second year and he will have several talented running backs to hand off too and a great wide receiver in Odell Beckham. Defense could be the bigger issue with the loss of arguably their six best players and the schedule is no walk in the park as they start with basically a road trip to TCU in the opener and they also have SEC road games at Alabama and at Georgia.
Early Odds To Win
2013-14 BCS National Championship
| Rk |
Team |
Odds |
Rk |
Team |
Odds |
| 1 |
Alabama |
4/1 |
23 |
TCU |
66/1 |
| 2 |
Ohio St |
8.5/1 |
23 |
Virginia Tech |
66/1 |
| 2 |
Oregon |
8.5/1 |
26 |
Boise St |
75/1 |
| 4 |
Texas A&M |
10/1 |
26 |
Michigan St |
75/1 |
| 5 |
LSU |
12/1 |
26 |
North Carolina |
75/1 |
| 6 |
Clemson |
16/1 |
26 |
Oregon St |
75/1 |
| 6 |
Florida |
16/1 |
30 |
Arizona |
100/1 |
| 6 |
Florida St |
16/1 |
30 |
Arkansas |
100/1 |
| 9 |
Georgia |
20/1 |
30 |
Kansas St |
100/1 |
| 10 |
Louisville |
25/1 |
30 |
Rutgers |
100/1 |
| 10 |
Notre Dame |
25/1 |
30 |
Tennessee |
100/1 |
| 10 |
Oklahoma |
25/1 |
30 |
Washington |
100/1 |
| 13 |
Miami, Fl |
28/1 |
36 |
BYU |
150/1 |
| 13 |
South Carolina |
28/1 |
36 |
Cincinnati |
150/1 |
| 13 |
Stanford |
28/1 |
36 |
Pittsburgh |
150/1 |
| 16 |
Texas |
30/1 |
36 |
West Virginia |
150/1 |
| 17 |
Michigan |
33/1 |
40 |
Auburn |
200/1 |
| 17 |
Nebraska |
33/1 |
40 |
Georgia Tech |
200/1 |
| 19 |
USC |
35/1 |
40 |
Iowa |
200/1 |
| 20 |
Oklahoma St |
40/1 |
43 |
Missouri |
250/1 |
| 21 |
UCLA |
50/1 |
44 |
Boston College |
300/1 |
| 21 |
Wisconsin |
50/1 |
44 |
California |
300/1 |
| 23 |
Mississippi St |
66/1 |
44 |
USF |
300/1 |
I will be reviewing and releasing my own list in the coming weeks as an out of the gate before spring practices begin.
After taking a week off and enjoying some music at Austin City Limits, we here at the Rundown have pieced ourselves back together and are ready to get back to some College Football! The Top 6 teams have stayed almost untouched for the first six weeks of the season. Now that both Alabama and Oregon have faced true tests in Texas A&M and Washington and passed, that leaves Louisville as the only untested top 6 team. We will give Louisville some props for avoiding the trap game against Rutgers and while Rutgers is a good team, they are nowhere near A&M or Washington. Other notes… We are still of the opinion that LSU has the best shot of making it to a National Championship game other then Oregon or Alabama at this time, even though we have them ranked at 7. With the showdown between Florida State and Clemson looming, the loser will fall somewhere between LSU and Miami, thus giving everyone a dilemma, does the winner deserve to be 1,2 or 3… That is going to be a huge choice, I think at this time it depends on who the winner is and how they looked. But, it will be tough! It’s too bad Stanford choked on Utah, it hurts the overall street cred of the Pac12 and Washington. Until that we would say that the Winner of Stanford vs Oregon would peg their ticket if they were undefeated and so was Clemson or Florida State but now the Ducks are going to have to be really impressive, not to mention games left against Stanford and Oregon State. (Oregon State is a whole different blog). Even as we sit back and look at our rankings, UCLA and Baylor might be the most underrated teams and we’re not sold on Texas Tech and Auburn but the deserve the rankings for now. Ok, no more rambling, here is our most recent installment of the Rivals Rundown Top 25 Teams, Week 8 Edition!
RIVALS RUNDOWN 