Heisman Trophy Outlook
The college football season is only a couple of months away and many questions have already been answered. Most programs already have a good idea of who their starters will be after spring games. That will give players, boosters and fans a little bit more time to plan for the upcoming campaign.
While the rest of the nation is preparing for the season, bettors are more concerned with finding something more important. They want to find winners. And one of those wagers they can look at is who?ll win the popularity contest known as the Heisman Trophy.
Without even looking at the odds that BetUS had for the award, I figured that Florida?s Tim Tebow would be the odds-on favorite. And sure enough, the Gators? Lord and Savior is a 2/1 ?chalk.?
Don?t hold it against Tebow that he?s the favorite. The history of the Heisman Trophy leads strongly towards signal callers. Out of the 74 winners of college football?s highest individual honor, 41 of them have been quarterbacks. And 11 of this year?s 23 options at BetUS line up under center. Running backs make up 10 of the remaining 22 spots.
Now I?m sure there are a lot of people that want to take a rusher to win the award, especially with values of at least 10/1. Recent history tells us that someone from the backfield won?t take home the hardware as Southern California?s Reggie Bush was the only running back to get the Heisman since the turn of the millennium in 2005.
Like I mentioned earlier, this award is nothing more than a popularity contest. And how do you get to be the most popular player in the country? You play for one of the elite teams?or more specifically, you play for a team that gets the most exposure possible. Best way to get that exposure is to be a part of a BCS bowl.
Since the inception of the Bowl Championship Series in 1998, the Heisman Trophy winner has not been in one of those games (Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Orange or BCS Title Game) twice. Out of the nine winners, seven of them were in the national championship tilt.
Here is the breakdown of the candidates for the Heisman from BetUS.
Odds to win 2009 Heisman Trophy
Player Odds
Arrelious Benn +7500
CJ Spiller +2000
Colt McCoy +275
Daryll Clark +1800
Evan Royster +1200
Jacquizz Rodgers +3000
Jahvid Best +1000
Jevan Snead +1500
Joe McKnight +3000
Jonathan Dwyer +1200
Juice Williams +7500
Julio Jones +5000
Kendall Hunter +2000
LeGarrette Blount +3500
Noel Devine +4000
Riley Skinner +10000
Robert Griffin +3000
Russell Wilson +6500
Sam Bradford +275
Terrelle Pryor +800
Tim Tebow +200
Toby Gerhart +7500
Todd Reesing +2000
We can knock off a lot of those names off the list because their schools don?t have a legitimate chance of reaching the BCS. My apologies go out to the fans of Illinois, Clemson, Mississippi, Oregon State, California, Baylor, North Carolina State, Stanford and Kansas.
As for guys to look at for the wager, you can?t get past Tebow. He has won two national championships in his three years in Gainesville. Hell, he?s got a plaque with his ?pledge? already in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The only problem for me with Tebow he has to put up numbers that would be astronomical for a team that will most likely enter every game this year as a double-digit ?chalk.? Pretty tough thing to do when you consider he has averaged 3,016.5 passing yards and 31 touchdowns through the air in the last two seasons. And that doesn?t even take into account his rushing skills (2, 037 career rushing yards, 43 TD).
Current Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford and Longhorns? signal caller Colt McCoy will probably cancel one another out. Bradford (387 yards, 5 TD) outperformed McCoy (277, 1 TD) last season in Oklahoma?s 45-35 defeat in the Red River Shootout. The only way either of these players are able to get an invite to New York City is to get into the national championship game or at least make the Big XII title game
The Big Ten Conference has something similar between Ohio State?s Terrelle Pryor and Penn State?s Daryll Clark. Pryor has the unenviable task of having to match up against Tebow in playing style. And the Bucks don?t have the most uber-creative mind in Jim Tressel. Clark could have a great season, but will no doubt get overshadowed by his young, yet extremely promising corps.
The best value on the board as far as I?m concerned is Clark?s teammate, Evan Royster at 12/1. Penn State?s starting running back posted 1,236 rushing yards with 12 touchdowns last season. Royster?s numbers could take a step back with an offensive line that starts three new players, but I doubt that?s going to be a problem with a unit that will average 302.6 pounds per starter. Even better is the fact that he?ll be going up against eight defenses that finished no better than 68th against the run in 2008. And his toughest matchup of the year against the Buckeyes will be in Happy Valley on Nov. 7. The schedule and numbers suggest that Royster will give you the best bang for your buck.
The college football season is only a couple of months away and many questions have already been answered. Most programs already have a good idea of who their starters will be after spring games. That will give players, boosters and fans a little bit more time to plan for the upcoming campaign.
While the rest of the nation is preparing for the season, bettors are more concerned with finding something more important. They want to find winners. And one of those wagers they can look at is who?ll win the popularity contest known as the Heisman Trophy.
Without even looking at the odds that BetUS had for the award, I figured that Florida?s Tim Tebow would be the odds-on favorite. And sure enough, the Gators? Lord and Savior is a 2/1 ?chalk.?
Don?t hold it against Tebow that he?s the favorite. The history of the Heisman Trophy leads strongly towards signal callers. Out of the 74 winners of college football?s highest individual honor, 41 of them have been quarterbacks. And 11 of this year?s 23 options at BetUS line up under center. Running backs make up 10 of the remaining 22 spots.
Now I?m sure there are a lot of people that want to take a rusher to win the award, especially with values of at least 10/1. Recent history tells us that someone from the backfield won?t take home the hardware as Southern California?s Reggie Bush was the only running back to get the Heisman since the turn of the millennium in 2005.
Like I mentioned earlier, this award is nothing more than a popularity contest. And how do you get to be the most popular player in the country? You play for one of the elite teams?or more specifically, you play for a team that gets the most exposure possible. Best way to get that exposure is to be a part of a BCS bowl.
Since the inception of the Bowl Championship Series in 1998, the Heisman Trophy winner has not been in one of those games (Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Orange or BCS Title Game) twice. Out of the nine winners, seven of them were in the national championship tilt.
Here is the breakdown of the candidates for the Heisman from BetUS.
Odds to win 2009 Heisman Trophy
Player Odds
Arrelious Benn +7500
CJ Spiller +2000
Colt McCoy +275
Daryll Clark +1800
Evan Royster +1200
Jacquizz Rodgers +3000
Jahvid Best +1000
Jevan Snead +1500
Joe McKnight +3000
Jonathan Dwyer +1200
Juice Williams +7500
Julio Jones +5000
Kendall Hunter +2000
LeGarrette Blount +3500
Noel Devine +4000
Riley Skinner +10000
Robert Griffin +3000
Russell Wilson +6500
Sam Bradford +275
Terrelle Pryor +800
Tim Tebow +200
Toby Gerhart +7500
Todd Reesing +2000
We can knock off a lot of those names off the list because their schools don?t have a legitimate chance of reaching the BCS. My apologies go out to the fans of Illinois, Clemson, Mississippi, Oregon State, California, Baylor, North Carolina State, Stanford and Kansas.
As for guys to look at for the wager, you can?t get past Tebow. He has won two national championships in his three years in Gainesville. Hell, he?s got a plaque with his ?pledge? already in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The only problem for me with Tebow he has to put up numbers that would be astronomical for a team that will most likely enter every game this year as a double-digit ?chalk.? Pretty tough thing to do when you consider he has averaged 3,016.5 passing yards and 31 touchdowns through the air in the last two seasons. And that doesn?t even take into account his rushing skills (2, 037 career rushing yards, 43 TD).
Current Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford and Longhorns? signal caller Colt McCoy will probably cancel one another out. Bradford (387 yards, 5 TD) outperformed McCoy (277, 1 TD) last season in Oklahoma?s 45-35 defeat in the Red River Shootout. The only way either of these players are able to get an invite to New York City is to get into the national championship game or at least make the Big XII title game
The Big Ten Conference has something similar between Ohio State?s Terrelle Pryor and Penn State?s Daryll Clark. Pryor has the unenviable task of having to match up against Tebow in playing style. And the Bucks don?t have the most uber-creative mind in Jim Tressel. Clark could have a great season, but will no doubt get overshadowed by his young, yet extremely promising corps.
The best value on the board as far as I?m concerned is Clark?s teammate, Evan Royster at 12/1. Penn State?s starting running back posted 1,236 rushing yards with 12 touchdowns last season. Royster?s numbers could take a step back with an offensive line that starts three new players, but I doubt that?s going to be a problem with a unit that will average 302.6 pounds per starter. Even better is the fact that he?ll be going up against eight defenses that finished no better than 68th against the run in 2008. And his toughest matchup of the year against the Buckeyes will be in Happy Valley on Nov. 7. The schedule and numbers suggest that Royster will give you the best bang for your buck.
