Stanford is a big favorite
The Stanford Cardinal are among the few teams to play on college football’s opening day, Saturday, Aug. 26, at 7 p.m., and the team is a prohibitive favorite over the Rice Owls.
The point spread for the game, to be played in Sydney, is 31 points, according to Jason McCormick, director of race and sports at Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas.
Stanford’s former star running back, Christian McCaffrey, has moved on to the pros, making Stanford a 75to-1 long shot to capture the national title. Red Rock’s line gives Stanford a 6-to-1 chance of winning the Pacific-12, behind USC at even money (1-to-1) and the Washington Huskies at plus-150 (3-to-2).
The Cal Golden Bears are forecast to be at the back of the pack. Red Rock has Cal at 350-to-1 to win the Pac-12, and Bovada lists Cal’s odds of winning the national title at 1,000-to-1. The real odds are probably higher, but Bradley said Bovada doesn’t offer odds higher than 1,000-to-1.
Stanford, however, has bright prospects, with a majority of players on both offense and defense returning from last season.
“How does a team recover from the loss of a player like McCaffrey?” McCormick asked. That’s not easy, but he says McCaffrey’s replacement, Bryce Love, looks ready to fill the void: “I’m a huge fan of Love. Kid comes out of nowhere and makes great plays.”
And Stanford’s talented coach, David Shaw, is a big plus for the team. “Shaw gets that team ready to play,” McCormick added. “They’re still a scary team.”
Most sports betting is illegal in California, but anyone can bet online on websites such as Bovada.
The overall favorite at Bovada is perennial powerhouse Alabama at plus-240 (bet $100 to win $240), followed by USC at plus-600 and Ohio State at plus-650. Not only are Alabama and USC the favorites, those two teams are attracting the most bets, said Kevin Bradley, the top oddsmaker at Bovada.
Michigan, led by former 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, is plus-1,600 and getting lots of bets, Bradley said.
“We take a lot of money on Michigan every year, but Harbaugh helps,” he said. “In college football we get a lot of regional bets from alums supporting big-name teams.”
In the race for the Heisman Trophy, which goes to college football’s most valuable player, USC quarterback Sam Darnold is the favorite at 4-to-1, Penn State running back Saquon Barkley is 7-to-1, and three quarterbacks follow at 8-to-1: Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield, Louisville’s Lamar Jackson (who won the trophy last season) and Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett.
It’s hard to predict the Heisman winner, McCormick said: “You never know — no one knew who Lamar Jackson was before the season last year, and he won the Heisman.”