2016-17 NCAA Football Division I Futures Odds Update

Written by: Mark This entry was posted on Friday, June 3rd, 2016

It feels as if college football season is still eons away, but the sports-betting action never stops to get you revved up for the exciting gridiron battles ahead.

The good folks over in Vegas have recently released their odds for the eventual winner of the 2016-17 season’s national title, and three coveted programs from the previous campaign are still ahead of the rest of the collegiate pack.

Updated Odds for the 2016-17 NCAA Football Season – Buckeyes for the Bullseye?

Even though they are entering the new season as the defending national champions, the Alabama Crimson Tide are not the leading favorites in the oddsmakers’ eyes. That distinction went to the Ohio State Buckeyes, who are the current front-runners to win their second national title in three years with a price of +700.

The Buckeyes lost a ton of talent from last year’s roster, but nobody doubts head coach Urban Meyer’s prowess at constantly turning the team into Division I juggernauts year-in and year-out. In just four seasons with Ohio State, Meyer has a sensational 31-1 record, and led the Buckeyes to four-straight division titles, three bowl games and one national title-winning campaign.

However, that doesn’t mean that Alabama’s championship-winning campaign has been forgotten. As a matter of fact, the Tide have been soundly priced at +800 in repeating as national champs. Perhaps the loss of Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry was too huge of a loss in the bookies’ eyes, but you can bet that Nick Saban (four national titles in nine seasons as ‘Bama’s head coach) can turn sophomore running back Bo Scarbrough into the team’s next big star in an instant.

And let’s not forget last year’s runners-up in the Clemson Tigers, who are coming off a school record-breaking 14-win season and are currently priced in between Ohio State and Alabama’s own odds at +750 in becoming national champions for the first time since 1981. Junior quarterback Deshaun Watson (over 4,000 passing and 1,000 rushing yards last season – the first player in FBS history to attain those numbers in a single season) will definitely be hungry to win it all for the Tigers this time out, and he even has the benefit of having eight starters from last year’s squad back to aid him and this Clemson team towards the ultimate goal.

If your personal pick isn’t one of these three elite programs, then head over to our sportbook review section to find out where your favorite college football team ranks amongst the rest of the field.

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