College Football Conference Championship Future Bets

Once the calendar flips to August, everyone’s brain switches to football mode. You start to look at your team’s schedule, maneuver the power rankings, and find someone to take home the Heisman. 

That’s probably why you’re reading this now. You want to find out what teams give you the best value to win their conferences. I’m here to give you the picks.

Parlay: Ohio State (-230) and Oklahoma (-182). Total Value (+122)

Oklahoma and Ohio State are the best teams in their individual conferences. Ohio State shouldn’t have much of an issue winning the Big Ten. Wisconsin’s the only team standing in their way and even they aren’t much of a threat. Unless Graham Mertz takes huge leaps forward, their defense alone won’t be enough to carry them.

The only problem with Ohio State is their unsolved QB and RB situations. Fortunately, their issue is too much talent, a problem every other team in the Big 10 wishes they had. My only concern with Ohio State losing the Big 10 is CJ Stroud struggles with inexperience in a big game. Other than that, they should be fine. 

The Big 12 at least has one true competitor for the Sooners. Iowa State might just have the second-best QB-coach combo in the conference with Brock Purdy and Matt Campbell. The first best just happens to live in Norman, Oklahoma. 

Luckily, the Cyclones have Heisman hopeful Breece Hall at running back and he’s a guy who could cause major issues in conference play; however, Lincoln Riley finally has a top 10 run defense that will no doubt slow down the combination of Purdy and Hall.

Besides Iowa State, there aren’t many other scary teams in conference play. I wouldn’t bet on either of these teams individually but parlayed together, it’s a solid pick for plus money.

PAC-12 Winner: USC (+500)

No team is being overvalued in the country like Oregon. They’ll be going through a gauntlet of a schedule, and I don’t think they have the QB play to go up with the Trojans.

USC quietly had a very solid season in 2020 going 5-1 but lost a heartbreaker to the aforementioned Ducks in the Pac-12 Championship. Kedon Slovis had a horrible first three drives leading to zero points and two interceptions. From that point on he was really solid.

I think Slovis is what still drives me towards USC to win the PAC-12. I love the 5-1 odds and I think Kedon might also be a dark horse Heisman hopeful. Watch out for the Trojans in conference play this year.

MAC Winner: Kent State (+800)

MACtion football will always be a crapshoot, so you have to find something specific to hang you head-on with each team. That something is Kent State quarterback Dustin Crum.

Crum has started the year on Peyton Manning award watch lists and has started to creep his way into the late rounds of NFL big boards. He’s a big-armed QB that led head coach Sean Lewis’ offense to first in the country to the tune of 50 points per game. 

He lost his best target to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Isaiah McCoy but replaced him with the surprise Wisconsin transfer Taj Mustapha. The Golden Flashes offense will score just as well as last season, but a few defensive transfers might put them past Toledo, Ball State, and Buffalo. 

Vegas doesn’t seem to love Kent, but the MAC coaches picked them to win their division, so I think Vegas might just be looking past the Flashes. I love this pick, but I love the value of this pick even more.

I’ll be throwing out more future bets before the season starts, and remember, bet responsibly.