College Football Review: Big Ten May Return Sooner, Some Books Post Title, Heisman Odds (VIDEO)

Posted on: September 14, 2020, 06:00h. 

Last updated on: September 14, 2020, 08:33h.

Steve Bittenbender Read More
Expertise: Legislation, Sports Betting, Horse Racing.

The will-they-or-won’t-they saga that’s become the Big Ten’s 2020 college football season may have a final decision coming in the near future, perhaps as early as Monday.

Big Ten college football
Ohio State coach Ryan Day has been vocal about the Big Ten playing football this fall. League officials may decide if that happens in the coming days. (Image: The Ohio State University Athletics)

Over the weekend, Bruce Feldman, college football reporter for The Athletic and Fox Sports, revealed that the presidents and chancellors who head the 14 universities that make up the major college conference had a productive meeting to discuss medical advances made on COVID-19 testing since the schools’ first vote. The meeting included talks on scheduling details and broadcasting options.

A month ago, the Big Ten and PAC-12 made headlines for announcing they would delay college football until the spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That move caused waves in some circles, as representatives from Iowa, Nebraska, and Ohio State expressed a desire to play this fall.

A group of players from Nebraska filed a lawsuit against the conference. President Trump has used his Twitter account in response to an ad from Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to push the Big Ten to reconsider.

Besides the PAC-12, the Mid-American, Mountain West, and some independent schools have chosen to sit out until possibly the spring. It does not appear those schools would consider changing their minds.

Day Keeps Calling for Return

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day issued a statement on Friday saying he understood the health and safety factors for delaying the season. But “disappointing and often unclear” messages have been coming from the conference’s hierarchy.

He’s hopeful his team can get back on the field in a month

These young men and their parents have asked so many questions that I do not have an answer to. But the one that hurts the most is, ‘Why can these other teams and players play and we can’t?’” Day said. “Our players want to know: Why can’t they play?”

It’s still uncertain when the conference would restart if it approved a fall season. It would seem that a vote this week would allow the conference to return by mid-October. That could allow schools to get as many as eight games in and potentially still have a team considered for the College Football Playoff.

It’s also uncertain if all 14 teams would agree to play, and as we’ve seen through the first couple weeks of the season, there’s not even a guarantee that all games will be played, as more outbreaks may occur.

Usual Suspects Atop College Football Title Oddsboard

We’re now through two weekends of college football action, and we finally saw some major teams play this past Saturday, as the ACC and Big 12 kicked off their seasons.

And as the season is starting to progress, we’re seeing odds for a college football championship start to reappear. Here’s a look at the top teams on the FanDuel and DraftKings futures boards.

Team DK Odds FD Odds Last Game
Clemson +150 +175 Beat Wake Forest 37-13
Alabama +225 +200 Season Starts Sept 26
Georgia +400 +600 Season Starts Sept 26
Oklahoma +800 +1400 Beat Missouri State 48-0
Florida +1000 +800 Season Starts Sept 26
Texas +1400 +1600 Beat UTEP 59-3
LSU +2000 +4000 Season Starts Sept 26
Notre Dame +3300 +2000 Beat Duke 27-13
Texas A&M +3300 +2500 Season Starts Sept 26
Auburn +5000 +5000 Season Starts Sept 26

No Big Ten teams are currently listed on either sportsbook’s board.

Heisman Favorites Starred Saturday

FanDuel and DraftKings also have odds on the 2020 Heisman Trophy race. Here’s a look at the current odds of the top college football players and their most recent performance.

Trevor Lawrence, Clemson quarterback +175 DraftKings, +300 FanDuel – The junior completed 22-of-28 passes for 351 yards and a touchdown in the 37-13 win at Wake Forest.

Spencer Rattler, Oklahoma quarterback +400 DK, +900 FD – The senior completed 14-of-17 passes for 290 yards and four touchdowns in the Sooners 48-0 shelling of Missouri State. The redshirt freshman, in his first start, sat in the second half with the game in hand.

Sam Ehlinger, Texas quarterback +600 DK, +1400 FD – Threw for 426 yards and five scores on 25-of-33 passing in the Longhorns 59-3 blowout win over UTEP. Played only through the middle of the third quarter.

JT Daniels, Georgia quarterback +1000 DK, +1400 FD – The redshirt sophomore will start his season on Sept. 26.

Travis Etienne, Clemson running back +1400 DK, +2000 FD – The senior ran 17 times for 102 yards and a touchdown in the win over the Demon Deacons.

D’Eriq King, Miami (Fla.) quarterback +1800 DK, +650 FD – Dual-threat senior threw for 144 yards and ran 12 times for 83 more in the Hurricanes 31-14 win over UAB on Thursday. In his debut for the Canes, he accounted for two scores, one passing and one rushing.

Keep an eye on: Micale Cunningham, Louisville quarterback +3300 DK, +2500 FD – The redshirt junior completed 19-of-34 passes for a career-best 343 yards in the Cardinals’ 35-21 win over Western Kentucky. Threw for three of the touchdowns and ran in another. Louisville plays Miami Saturday night in a nationally televised game that could vault Cunningham into contender status, or shorten King’s odds.