Online Sports Betting Looks Ahead to College Football
Sports books at online casinos are publishing their future odds on this year's BCS college football champion, and many of the usual suspects appear as popular choices. The favorite is the defending champion, the Florida Gators, a favorite in online sports betting since the arrival of coach Urban Meyer and star quarterback Tim Tebow.
Tebow has been such a dominant force in college football since his arrival three years ago, it's understandable that the Gators would return a measley 165 on a 100 play. And the other top teams of recent years also are expected to remain at the top, with Ohio State +460, Texas +700, and Oklahoma +700 all forecast to finish once again near the top of the rankings.
But good teams are so even these days, and conference competition so tough, that even the oddsmakers are having trouble figuring out who's best. An example of that problem is the relative standing of Alabama and LSU.
Both teams are picked in the next group of challengers for the title, with Alabama slightly favored over LSU; the Crimson Tide returns +1600, LSU's Tigers +1800.
But the same online sports betting site has the two teams reversed in conference futures. The Gators are also the pick for conference champion, paying only 1 to 3 in the US's most accomplished conference. But LSU is favored here as the second choice, at +180 to Bama's +280.
If fans can figure which of the two is better, a value play could be made. OCA's sports analyst, Edmund Crumley, says it's a year to fear the Hat; despite returning star quarterbacks at Texas and Oklahoma as well as Tebow, Crumley thinks the winner of the LSU-Florida game will finish as national champion for the fourth straight year. This time, he says, it's LSU.
