Went to Fanduel sportsbook by Giants Stadium expecting to get 20-1 and be happy with it - got there and saw a 50-1 sitting there for some nonsensical reason so took it for what I consider to be a hefty sum. Guessing the odds are out of whack since nobody in the tri-state area bets on CFB futures at these new shops, and those who do all want PSU, Michigan, or the conventional SEC names given that B1G schools are the only prominent programs anybody here actually attends for undergrad and the SEC names + Clemson are the only other household names.
I like the combination of experienced QB with a fully returning offensive line, with a defense that is also returning a fantastic amount of talent. The ASU game last year definitely happened and is not to be completely dismissed, but this team has been as consistent as any in the country under Peterson. Coming off a bowl loss, all this noise about UW's schedule being crap, AND having to do it in SEC country, I think the angle to be focused against Auburn is there. Win that game and you even give yourself wiggle room to lose a bad game in PAC 12 play and still make the playoff. Lose the Auburn game, you're probably going to be favored by more than 1 score in all of your remaining games and have a good shot of winning out:
North Dakota
at Utah
ASU
BYU
at UCLA
at Oregon
Colorado
at Cal
Stanford
Oregon State
at Wazzu
B2B road games only once, no USC game, and Stanford at home. Every player on the D line returns except Vea, and all they have to replace in the back 7 is inside linebacker snaps which are the most replaceable snaps in the sport right now. Losing Hunter Bryant to injury already hurts, but at least they knew they had to deal with it heading into camp rather than mid-season.
Big writeup, but short summary is that if they beat Auburn then you're looking at the team with the cleanest path to the playoff, and even if they lose respectably to Auburn in Atlanta, they'll have a solid opportunity to win out and still make it as a Pac 12 champ with only 1 good looking loss. On paper right now they're no more than a 3-5 point dog against Bama / Clemson / OSU, and were somehow available at 50/1. Anybody living in this area I'd suggest getting to that book before they get a handle on what the hell they're doing with their own lines.
Side note: I think Michigan has a lot of potential to be VERY good this year if they can at least dip one of two feet into the modern offensive era, just don't see any value at all on their futures with the schedule they have to play. Will be taking a weekly approach with them.
I like the combination of experienced QB with a fully returning offensive line, with a defense that is also returning a fantastic amount of talent. The ASU game last year definitely happened and is not to be completely dismissed, but this team has been as consistent as any in the country under Peterson. Coming off a bowl loss, all this noise about UW's schedule being crap, AND having to do it in SEC country, I think the angle to be focused against Auburn is there. Win that game and you even give yourself wiggle room to lose a bad game in PAC 12 play and still make the playoff. Lose the Auburn game, you're probably going to be favored by more than 1 score in all of your remaining games and have a good shot of winning out:
North Dakota
at Utah
ASU
BYU
at UCLA
at Oregon
Colorado
at Cal
Stanford
Oregon State
at Wazzu
B2B road games only once, no USC game, and Stanford at home. Every player on the D line returns except Vea, and all they have to replace in the back 7 is inside linebacker snaps which are the most replaceable snaps in the sport right now. Losing Hunter Bryant to injury already hurts, but at least they knew they had to deal with it heading into camp rather than mid-season.
Big writeup, but short summary is that if they beat Auburn then you're looking at the team with the cleanest path to the playoff, and even if they lose respectably to Auburn in Atlanta, they'll have a solid opportunity to win out and still make it as a Pac 12 champ with only 1 good looking loss. On paper right now they're no more than a 3-5 point dog against Bama / Clemson / OSU, and were somehow available at 50/1. Anybody living in this area I'd suggest getting to that book before they get a handle on what the hell they're doing with their own lines.
Side note: I think Michigan has a lot of potential to be VERY good this year if they can at least dip one of two feet into the modern offensive era, just don't see any value at all on their futures with the schedule they have to play. Will be taking a weekly approach with them.
