Analyzing 2019 College Football Season Win Totals Odds

We’re about six weeks away from the first games in the 2019 NCAA football season. Who are the two top favorites? The usual suspects — the Clemson Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide. Georgia is up there as well, but until they can finish a game against one of the top two, it will be hard to take them seriously as a national contender. When it comes to win/loss totals, though, sports betting enthusiasts can often find some room for value as the totals (and the associated moneylines) can have a lot more to do with program reputation than actual quality. Let’s take a look at some of the most promising moneylines for win/loss totals as far as making money goes.

Analyzing 2019 College Football Season Win Totals Odds

College football 2019 conference power rankings https://t.co/rUJzrtmv4J pic.twitter.com/SBjAVaOh8X

— Athlon Sports (@AthlonSports) July 10, 2019

Oklahoma

• 2019 College Football Win Total Odds: 10.5 (Over -134 / Under +110)

This is a pretty sweet slate for the Sooners this year. They open at home against Houston and South Dakota — and then head to UCLA, who is an underdog at Cincinnati in their opener. Houston has Dana Holgorsen, an offensive genius, as their incoming head coach, but Oklahoma has better personnel on offense — and Holgorsen does not really believe in defense. So that’s a 3-0 start. Then they get their first bye week, and then comes Texas Tech at home. They do not have anything approaching a tough road game until November 16, when they head to Baylor. They have Texas in their annual neutral-site rivalry game in Dallas, and that’s the only real potential pitfall I see. So an 11- or 12-win season is very doable for the Sooners. Despite the low value, I like Oklahoma to go over.

UCF

• 2019 College Football Win Total Odds: 10 (Over +120 / Under -148)

The Knights start with two in-state games: a laugher against FCS foe Florida A&M and then an interesting trip to Florida Atlantic in the second week. FAU is the home of Lane Kiffin, who led the Owls to an 11-3 record in his first season and a win in the Boca Raton Bowl…but then fell off to 5-7 last year. Will he get things going in the right direction this year? Then UCF hosts Stanford in an intriguing game against a Power 5 school, and finishes non-conference play at ACC foe Pitt. I see UCF sitting at 2-2 here, which means they would have to run the table just to push. They have tough road games at Cincinnati and Temple, and they have to face Charlie Strong’s South Florida Bulls in AAC play. Here, I like UCF to go under. 

Washington State

• 2019 College Football Win Total Odds: 8 (Over -118 / Under -104)

Let’s start with a look at that non-conference slate: home games against New Mexico State and Northern Colorado before an interesting trip to Houston to take on the Cougars. Two offensive minds, in Mike Leach and Dana Holgorsen, will square off in what will be a track meet. Either way, I see the Cougars coming into Pac-12 play at either 2-1 or 3-0. Then they host an iffy UCLA team before heading to Utah and Arizona State for two very tough games — the Cougars don’t play well on the road, and they do not play a lot of defense. Homecoming comes against Colorado, and then the Cougars head south to face Oregon and Cal. Home games against Stanford and Oregon State follow before the finale at Washington. Mike Leach has been at Washington State too long to surprise anyone. I see them at 4-2 heading into Homecoming, and then at 5-4 when they return from Cal. Can they run the table for the push? I do not see that happening, so I like Washington State to go under.