The college football landscape has undergone massive changes. Just look at the Big 12. Out are the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns, who joined the SEC. In are the Utah Utes, Arizona Wildcats, Arizona State Sun Devils and Coach Prime’s Colorado Buffaloes.
After leaving the Pac-12, Utah takes over as the favorite in its new conference. The Utes, who went 8-5 last season, are 3-1 to win the Big 12 and followed closely by the Kansas State Wildcats at 4-1.
Only Utah (+6000) and K-State (+7500) are among the top 20 teams in terms of odds to win the national championship.
The playoffs for 2024 will now feature 12 teams. The CFP selection committee will determine the seven highest-ranked at-large teams, and the five highest-ranked conference champions will also qualify.
Here are each ACC team’s regular-season win totals, conference and national championship odds and ESPN betting expert Joe Fortenbaugh‘s best future bet as we head into the season.
Other conferences: ACC, Big Ten (Wednesday), SEC (Thursday), American (Aug. 12), Mountain West (Aug. 13), C-USA (Aug. 14), MAC (Aug. 15), Sun Belt (Aug. 16), Independents (Aug. 17)
Odds accurate as of publication. For the most up-to-date odds, visit ESPN BET.
Fortenbaugh’s favorite: Utah OVER 9.5 wins (-140), YES playoffs (+280)
Veteran 25-year-old quarterback Cameron Rising, who has 27 starts across three collegiate seasons under his belt, is back to lead Utah’s inaugural charge through a weak Big 12 Conference. Kyle Whittingham’s Utes will once again be loaded on both the offensive and defensive lines, but the key to this handicap is the schedule. Outside of a Sept. 21 road date in Stillwater against the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Utes should find themselves favored in every other game on the calendar. Regarding their postseason prospects, +280 converts to an implied probability of 26%. I have that number closer to 33% when it comes to qualifying for this year’s 12-team playoff.