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Texas A&M, USC Value Sleeper Picks in CFP Title Chase
During the College Football Playoff era, the sport has not been prone to longshots in the NCAA Football odds winning the national championship. Yet, we are entering a new era with the playoff field expanding from four to 12 teams.
In theory, this opens up the opportunity to win a national title to more teams. This is being highly debated as critics argue that the final four teams are going to look very similar to most seasons.
Yet, we did get a bit of a surprise with Washington making the national title game last season. We will not get into Michigan boat-racing the Huskies in the championship matchup.
Let’s take a look at a few potential national title sleepers heading into the 2024 college football season.
Texas A&M Turns Heads at +3500
A quick glance at Texas A&M’s schedule shows the Aggies have a chance to get off to a fast start. There is no guarantee Texas A&M will be victorious against opponents like Notre Dame and Florida. Yet, the Aggies have plenty of talent to win both of these games.
“I think Texas A&M finishes better than Texas this season in SEC…” – @thatSECpodcast on Texas A&M v Texas in 2024. pic.twitter.com/SJZicrasBi
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) June 3, 2024
If you’re looking for a reason to back TAMU, look no further than new head coach Mike Elko. The sky has been falling in College Station, as evidenced by the athletic department lighting money on fire when the Aggies dismissed Jimbo Fisher last November.
Elko is unlikely to win many press conferences like Fisher did when he was hired. More importantly, Elko is good at winning actual football games.
Just how good? Elko was able to win games at Duke (!) without the same resources afforded coaches at Texas A&M.
Not only do the Aggies benefit from a favorable schedule to start the season, but Texas A&M returns potential NFL quarterback Conner Weigman. The Aggies will likely need to beat either LSU or Texas (potentially both) to have a chance to make the College Football Playoff.
Yet, there is a lot to like with Texas A&M at +3500 title odds at our sportsbook.
Utah Among Big 12 Grab Bag of Favorites
Who comes out of the Big 12 Conference is anyone’s guess, which is reflected in the long championship odds. Utah is technically the “favorite” with the shortest national championship odds at +6000. The Utes move into their new conference plenty tested after the Pac-12’s grand finale was full of quality opponents in 2023. Other Big 12 contenders include Kansas State at +7000.
The majority of Big 12 teams have even longer odds, like Kansas (+15000) Texas Tech (+20000) and Colorado (+25000). With Shedeur Sanders, K.J. Jefferson, Jalon Daniels and Avery Johnson among others, this is a conference loaded with quarterbacks.
jalon daniels highlights just because pic.twitter.com/q30nvxpoLH
— Stefan😶🌫️ (@RoyalsPlsWin) April 29, 2024
This is basic math in that to win the national title, the team needs to make the College Football Playoff. To which you are thinking, thanks for this amazing insight.
My point is one of these Big 12 teams is guaranteed to make the tournament. This puts them games away from winning a national title, likely closer than the fourth-best team in the SEC.
There are worse bets to make than taking a few Big 12 teams as lottery tickets to win the national title.
Lincoln Riley, USC are Lurking at +4000
Lincoln Riley has become a popular punching bag, especially given the team’s lack of success with quarterback Caleb Williams. Riley did not suddenly forget how to coach and has recruited plenty of talent to USC.
Miller Moss 🚀 pic.twitter.com/z73nyhnAwf
— Nick Penticoff (@NickPenticoff) December 28, 2023
Miller Moss is at least an intriguing starting quarterback and I am not exactly scared of the Big Ten, outside of Ohio State. The online betting odds have USC as a juicy title bet at +4000.
Questions Of The Day
Which Big 12 team has the best odds to win the national championship?
Utah leads all Big 12 teams with +6000 odds.
Who is a sleeper team to watch in the SEC?
Keep an eye on Texas A&M, which has +3500 odds to win the national title.
