College Football Conference Title Futures: Week 3
Betting

College Football Conference Title Futures: Week 3

John Supowitz highlights three college football conference championship bets to make heading into Week 3 of the season.

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We’re just a couple of weeks into college football, and we’ve already seen some major surprises. Recent upsets have reshaped the national championship picture.

It has shifted some teams’ outlook on whether they can win their conference. Let’s examine three conference title futures as we head into Week 3.

College Football Conference Title Futures for Week 3

Texas Tech Red Raiders (+100)

The Red Raiders would likely prefer Brendan Sorsby as their quarterback, but Will Hammond has been efficient so far, ranking 11th in completion percentage (76.7%).

For the Red Raiders, their run game has been leading the charge. J’Koby Williams has been the catalyst, starting the season with 5.2 yards per carry and leading the team with ten catches.

Texas Tech's biggest threat in the conference will again be BYU. Bear Bachmeier is likely the best quarterback in the conference, but he was awful against the Red Raiders last year, averaging 151.5 passing yards with one touchdown and three interceptions across two games. Those two games were also the only ones in which BYU scored under 20 points, with just seven in each.

Georgia Bulldogs (+225)

Texas might be the trendy pick this week after their amazing comeback against Ohio State, but they may still not be the best team in the SEC.

Georgia has been quietly going about its business, outscoring opponents 133-23 and outgaining them 1,153-334.

Gunner Stockton has been stellar to start the year, leading the FBS in passing touchdowns (8) and passing efficiency (284.5).

This could be one of the country's more explosive offenses. Stockton has been great at spreading the ball, with 11 players making at least two catches. Six of those 11 players are averaging more than 16 yards per reception. 

The run game has performed just as well; Nate Frazier is averaging 12.7 yards per carry, and four players have at least one run of 29 yards or longer.

The defense has looked great, allowing the fewest yards per play (2.5), ranking third in passing efficiency allowed (79.8) and tenth in rushing yards allowed per game (60.0). It doesn’t matter that the Bulldogs are facing inferior teams, as most of the top brass in college football at this time.

Georgia has been one of the SEC’s most dominant teams in recent history. They have appeared in five consecutive SEC championship games, winning four, including the last two. They always find a way to get into the game, and head coach Kirby Smart has an excellent record in winning the conference championship.

USC Trojans (+900)

With Ohio State and Oregon both going down in Week 2, they may not be as strong a contender as initially thought. Ohio State played a tough game against Texas, so we’ll see if they can rebound. However, Oregon’s near-loss to Boise State in Week 1, followed by a loss to Oklahoma State in Week 2, suggests they might have been over hyped as a preseason Big Ten title contender.

This appears to be the best USC team under Lincoln Riley. 

The offense might be better than last year’s, which ranked 13th in points per game (35.8). Jayden Maiava could be a Heisman Trophy candidate, as he currently leads the country in passing yards (896) and ranks seventh in completion percentage (80.7%). 

Maiava is accomplishing this with two true freshmen as his top receivers. Trent Mosley has scored in all three games and has had at least 100 receiving yards in two, while Kayden Dixon-Wyatt has scored in two.

The defense may be the Trojans' best in recent years, ranking 42nd out of 136 teams in red zone defense (75.0%) and 43rd in yards allowed per game (270.0). Over the last three seasons, they never finished in the top ten in their conference in points allowed per game, but that could happen this season.

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