2017 College Football Futures

The start of College football training camp is still a ways away but It’s never too early to start looking at the upcoming 2016-2017 season and preparing for a profitable fall at the betting window. The confetti wasn’t swept up off the field at University of Phoenix Stadium before the first books laid there way too early prices for the 2016-2017 champion. Now after all the underclassmen have officially left and we know who stayed and who is gone all the books have a better understanding of who looks to be the favorites. College Football futures betting can be very profitable, so even though it’s not even the beginning of summer we are going to do our first college football futures and run through a few favorites. We are going to start with the 3 teams who have the shortest odds Alabama, Ohio St and Clemson. We will have a link at the bottom to see the teams in the second tier of contenders that we feel could make the playoffs and win the whole thing.

Shortest Odds

Alabama 7/1, Ohio St. 7/1, Clemson 8/1

Alabama: 7/1

Returning Team

The defending National Champs open up as the Co favorites to repeat for the 2nd time in the Nick Saban era but that’s no big surprise as the Crimson Tide seem like they are favorites every single year. For the 3rd season in a row the quarterback position is up for grabs as Jacob Coker is trying to make the Arizona Cardinals roster. Red shirt junior Cooper Bateman lost the starting job a year ago and appears to be the front runner to win the job this season. Coach Saban won’t decide this until late August and will make Bateman beat out five star redshirt freshman Blake Barnett. Does the quarterback really matter at Alabama? The offense talent that surrounds the starter and the defense is what runs this program and Bama should once again reload. Star receiver Calvin Ridley leads 6 returning offensive starters that also includes All American left tackle Cam Robinson and championship game hero, tight end O.J. Howard. Derrick Henry is gone but Bo Scarbrough looks ready to fill his enormous shoes. On defense, the line lost 2 starters but 2 time all SEC lineman Jonathan Allen returns and Bama’s backups from a year ago are ready to fill the other voids. The lineman will only be asked to plug holes as Bama should have one the countries best linebacker corps returning 3 starters. Inside backer Reuben Foster may be a first round Draft pick and pass rushers Tim Williams and Ryan Anderson could join him as early round draft picks. In the secondary Eddie Jackson and Marlon Humphrey return as starters and 2015 nickel back Minkah Fitzpatrick be a a starting cornerback opposite Jackson.

Our Early Opinion

Alabama is always an easy futures bet to make. They have won 4 of the last 7 championships and they have the talent to make it to the college football playoffs every single season. We aren’t sold as of yet. Replacing Coker, Henry and 2 offensive line starters will be tough and the secondary which let the defense down in some big moments a year ago will again be tested as the best way to score on Bama’s defense is through the air as Deshaun Watson proved with 405 yards and 4 scores in the title game last year. For our money we aren’t touching Bama at this point. With games against USC, at Ole Miss, Tennessee and LSU we wouldn’t be surprised if they lost 2 games this season and missed the playoffs.

Ohio State: 7/1

Returning Team

What could of been for Ohio St in 2015. Returning basically their entire team a year ago they never really looked in sync with coach Urban Meyer unable to decide who should be the starting quarterback. Well in 2016 the quarterback isn’t the problem. Cardale Jones left for the NFL and J.T. Barrett is now the unquestioned leader of this team. Meyer has already hinted he wants the offense to work faster than last year. Spread the field out and get to the line quicker. Barrett certainly is the dual threat college quarterback you would want to run such an offense as he can throw or run for scores from anywhere on the field. The only problem is the whole receiving corps will be new and RB Ezekiel Elliot plays for The Cowboys now. Receivers Corey Smith and Noah Brown are back from injuries and will be joined by Torrance Gibson who the coaching staff think could be a star. Replacing Elliot will be impossible but look for the Buckeyes to go running back by committee with junior Curtis Samuel (515 yards and 7 TD’s) the best of the bunch. The offensive line has to replace 3 starters including both tackle spots. The defense had 6 starters drafted and lost 8 starters overall from a year ago. Former Tampa Bay Bucs coach Greg Schiano takes over as defensive cordinator and the team has a ton of young speedy talent chomping at the bit to make a name for themselves. The D line will be good led by Sam Hubbard, Tyquan Lewis and Nick Bosa (True freshman brother of Joey) who some say will be better than his brother and start immediately. Raekwon McMillan looks to be a star at linebacker but the rest of the linebacker and secondary will be unproven and need to jell quickly.

Our Early Opinion

Ohio State will always be good as long as Urban Meyer is the coach. We don’t how this team can replace 16 starters and navigate a schedule that includes road games at Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Penn State and Michigan St before their season ender at home against Michigan and make it to the Big Ten championship game let alone the playoff. Steer clear of this trap.

Clemson: 8/1

Returning Team

Coach Dabo Sweeney had Clemson so close to toppling Alabama in last season’s National Championship Game losing 45-40. Now they look to do something that was just done 2 seasons ago by Jameis Winston and FSU. They must navigate another ACC regular season and championship game without a loss to get back to the playoffs. They have a great shot to do it as they will have the best offensive in the country if they can stay healthy. Electrifying quarterback Deshaun Watson is back and will be at the head of the Heisman Trophy race. 1,500 yard rusher Wayne Gallman is back as well as leading receiver and future first round pick Artavis Scott. Scott isn’t the only receiver back as Watson will have all his weapons from a year ago including receiver Mike Williams who broke his neck in the opener and may be better than Scott. With 3 returning offensive line starters this offensive could be way better than last years offense that averaged 38 points a game. In 2015 the Tigers had to replace 8 new starters on defense. It won’t be as bad this season but they still will be missing 6 starters from a year ago including pass rushers Shaq Lawson and Kevin Dodd who were taken in the first 33 picks of the draft. Clemson D coordinator Brent Venables is excited about his young pass rushers Austin Bryant (who played well when Lawson went down last year) and freshman Clelin Ferrell who the coaches rave about. Senior Linebacker Ben Boulware is the unquestioned leader of the defense and will be the coach on the field early until the newcomers are completely comfortable. In the secondary cornerback Cordrea Tankersley is could be a high draft pick but is the only returning starter. They will plug in some upper classmen who saw action in 2015.

Our Early Opinion

When you have arguably the best college football player from a year ago returning at the quarterback position then you are going to rank high on everyone’s list to not only make it back to the playoffs but win it. The only problem we see is this team plays in the ACC and will not be forgiven for a loss like an SEC or Big 12 team. If their offense can stay healthy we don’t see a problem with that as this team can score 50 points a game. After a tough opening win against Auburn look for this team to roll, scoring 50+ points a game with ease and getting back to the playoffs. If we were laying money today it would be on Clemson to run the table and hold up the trophy in Tampa.

Check Back Soon For The Rest Of Our NCAAB Futures Preview