Heisman Trophy Odds: Travis Hunter Runaway Betting Favorite

Quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel of Oregon and Cam Ward of Miami are two of the four finalists for Saturday’s awards ceremony, but they are well back in the pecking order when it comes to the sports betting options in this year’s Heisman Trophy race.

Gabriel had the shortest odds at +600 to win the Heisman Trophy when the season began followed by fellow quarterbacks Carson Beck of Georgia and Quinn Ewers of Texas, They came in at +750 and +900, respectively.

The Heisman Trophy winner will be announced on Saturday with Colorado receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter the Heisman front-runner followed by Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty.

Let’s take a look at the four finalists.

Heisman Trophy Analysis of 4 Finalists

1. Hunter Did It All For Colorado

Colorado came very close to playing for the Big 12 title. Having Hunter well as quarterback Shedeur Sanders, two of the top 2025 NFL Draft prospects, had something to do with that.

Hunter had an impressive sophomore season in 2023 after following head Deion Sanders from Jackson State to Colorado. He had 57 catches and 721 yards and five touchdowns. On defense, he had 30 tackles, three interceptions and five pass breakups in nine games.

There were 18 players with better odds than Hunter to win the Heisman when the season began. Hunter turned out to be a great college football pick early this season, anyone who jumped on the +3300 odds for Hunter to win the Heisman figure to be happy campers on Saturday night.

Travis Hunter. Heisman Finalist. #HE12MAN pic.twitter.com/T2hlXqHOuX

— Colorado Buffaloes (@CUBuffs) December 9, 2024

Hunter finished with 92 catches for 1152 yards and 14 TD grabs in 12 regular-season games. He also had a scoring run. He also had 32 tackles, 11 pass breakups and four interceptions. He is now at -1200 to win the Heisman according to the BetUS sportsbook.

Hunter is priced at +165 to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, with only teammate Shadeur Sanders (-150) having shorter odds to go first overall.

Both players plan to play in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28, where Colorado is listed at a three-point favorite over BYU in NCAA football betting lines.

2. Ashton Jeanty Has Season for the Ages

In most seasons, Jeanty would be the betting favorite to win the Heisman Trophy after one of the best seasons for a running back in college football history.

Jeanty carried the ball 344 times for 2497 yards and 29 touchdowns. For those who question the quality of competition while Jeanty led Boise State to the Mountain West title and the No. 3 seed in the College Football Playoff bracket, please remember that he ran for 192 yards against No. 1 Oregon early in the season.

Congratulations to the 2024 Heisman Trophy finalists, @oregonfootball QB Dillon Gabriel, @CUBuffsFootball CB/WR Travis Hunter, @BroncoSportsFB RB Ashton Jeanty and @CanesFootball QB Cam Ward! #HeismanTrophy #MoreThanATrophy pic.twitter.com/ESmBdLSxWX

— The Heisman Trophy (@HeismanTrophy) December 9, 2024

The only game that he failed to score a touchdown was the matchup with FCS Portland State as the Boise State coaches limited Jeanty to 11 carries. Per NCAAF stats, he went over 200 yards on six occasions. Jeanty has 10 running plays of at least 60 yards. No other team has more than six runs of 60 yards or longer during the 2024 season.

After running for 821 and 1,347 yards in his first two seasons with the Broncos, he was not among the more than 70 players priced from +600 to +20000 in the Heisman Trophy odds at the start of the season. Now, Jeanty has +650 odds to win the Heisman after being priced at +800 earlier this week.

Touchdown Profits! Bet $200, Get $450 Bonus on first time deposit.

3. Gabriel Found a Home With No. 1 Oregon

It was not going to be an easy task replacing Bo Nix as the Oregon starting quarterback.

Gabriel didn’t approach the 4,508 passing yards, 77.4 completion percentage, 45 TD passes and just three interceptions that Nix had a season ago. However, the 3,558 passing yards while completing 73% of his passes are still pretty impressive.

A three-game stretch against Maryland, Wisconsin and Washington, when Gabriel averaged 203.3 passing yards, pretty much ended his chances of winning the Heisman Trophy. Gabriel has a chance at another title as undefeated Oregon is the top seed in the College Football Playoffs.

Gabriel is priced by the NCAAF odds at +20000 to win the Heisman in his lone season at Oregon after stints at UCF and Oklahoma.

4. Tough Final Stretch Dooms Ward, Miami

Miami was looking good to be a part of the College Football Playoff as the Hurricanes were undefeated after Ward threw for 400 yards and five touchdowns in a win over Duke. Even though Ward passed for 348 yards with three TD passes and no interceptions against Georgia Tech and had 349 yards with two TDs and no interceptions versus Syracuse, Miami lost both of those games.

That sealed Ward’s Heisman Trophy fate and kept Miami out of the ACC title game and, ultimately, the College Football Playoff field. Ward was priced at +1200 to win the Heisman Trophy at the start of the season. Now, he has +25000 odds to take home the most prestigious individual award in college football.

Ward also made college football news this week when he said he plans to play in the Pop-Tarts Bowl against Iowa State on Dec. 28.

Heisman Trophy Betting Lines

Odds and information are accurate at the time of writing. Please check with official sources for the latest updates before placing any bets

Questions Of The Day