Spring football has just barely started for most college teams, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t too early to start predicting how teams will fare in 2024, including if you are into betting. FanDuel, the biggest sports betting company in the country, just released the Conference Championship odds for each of the Power Conferences, and it is no surprise that Utah and Kansas State are on the top of the list.
Utah Has a High Ceiling Without Much Support
Utah will be returning Cam Rising in 2024 and, with it, has the potential to do just about anything. Rising isn’t the kind of player that necessarily is going to blow anyone away with crazy statistics, but he is clutch. Drawing this comparison isn’t fair, but think of him like Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes doesn’t always look amazing or draw the best passing stats, but when the game is on the line, he almost always makes a play to keep his team alive (unless Toney is involved).
Rising led the Utes to back-to-back Rose Bowl appearances and two Pac-12 Championships. While the Big 12 is a different league than the Pac-12, it isn’t hard to imagine the same kind of success translating to the new league.
The downside is if Rising goes down or isn’t back to 100%. Rising suffered a severe injury where he essentially tore every muscle in his leg, including his ACL and MCL. Sometimes, players never fully recover. Utah does not have a reliable backup quarterback. They would likely have to rely either on Brandon Rose or Isaac Wilson, neither of whom is in a spot to lead the Utes to a Big 12 Championship.
The Kansas State Wildcats Were Dead Until They Weren’t
Going into bowl season, it felt like the sky was falling around Kansas State. Three quarterbacks all transferred very soon after the transfer portal opened in early December. The only remaining active roster quarterback left was true freshman Avery Johnson. While Johnson was a highly touted recruit, many felt that with Howard and the other QB’s leaving, things could go south very quickly.
The second and third most productive running backs, most of the wide receivers, and multiple defensive players also announced their intention to transfer.
Despite this, Kansas State looked phenomenal in the Pop-Tarts Bowl against North Carolina State, with Johnson having 249 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns. The performance was enough to show that with an entire off-season of work and the team being now his, the Wildcats are set up in a perfect spot to compete for a Big 12 Championship.
Other Teams in the Running
FanDuel doesn’t seem too confident in the Big 12 Champion coming from Utah or Kansas State, who sit at (+360), the highest odds of any P4 Champion. Unless you’re a fan of those two teams, this is great news as it suggests that the conference will once again be very competitive and unpredictable (unlike the SEC where we can pencil in Georgia and LSU/Alabama in the SEC Championship every year).
Other teams in the league that the sports betting company seems to like include the following:
- Kansas (+650)
- Arizona (+750)
- Texas Tech (+850)
There are also five additional teams whose odds are better than +2000. For reference, in the Big 10, only four teams have odds better than +2000.
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