Just about every major sportsbook out there has already posted its futures odds to win this year’s BCS title in college football, but 5Dimes has taken things one step further to really test your metal by allowing you to wager on a select group of teams against the field in a special prop bet. This type of wager can be extremely lucrative if you guess right on a particular team and ridiculously expensive if you guess wrong on the field.

It would be hard to find a book that has not opened Alabama as its odds-on-favorite to three-peat as national champions this upcoming season which would actually be the Crimson Tide’s fourth BCS title in the past five seasons. They have been opened by 5Dimes as +325 favorites but if you want wager on the field that they will not win it all, it would cost you $400 to make $100 if you are wrong.

Alabama is returning 16 starters from last year’s championship team and while running back Eddie Lacey and cornerback Dee Milliner may be off to play the NFL there is no program in the country better at filling holes than the Tide. Lacey followed in Trent Richardson’s footsteps and TJ Yeldon is ready to follow in his. Quarterback AJ McCarron is back and already on a short list of Heisman Trophy hopefuls and you know that the defense will be as strong as ever. The $100 wager to take Alabama in this prop is well worth the risk for a $325 return.

The next team on 5Dimes list is Ohio State at +650 to win a national title. The Buckeyes would have probably been in last year’s BCS title game with a perfect 12-0 record in the regular season if they were not serving a one-year postseason ban as part of some imposed NCAA sanctions. If you want to bet on the field that Ohio State will not win a national title this season now that it has served-out its ban it will cost you $1000 on a $100 bet if you are wrong.

This is another team that will return quite a bit of talent from last year’s squad and you better believe that every one of those players along with Buckeyes’ head coach Urban Meyer will be coming into this season with a huge chip on their shoulder and something to prove. Ohio State does have some holes to fill on defense in its front seven, but it will be competing in a watered-down Big Ten conference which should at the very least pave the way to an appearance in national title game. I am not convinced that this team is good enough to get past Alabama, but I would think long and hard about risking $1000 that they won’t.

The numbers start to escalate rather rapidly from there with Oregon third on the list at +750 to win it all verse a field bet it will not at -1165. There is no doubt that the Ducks will once again be the class of the Pac-12 with Stanford the only real obstacle in the way, but the big intangible for this prop bet is what kind of impact will the loss of Chip Kelly as head coach have on the overall program. It is probably best to walk away from this one altogether as I anticipate the impact will be greater than most people expect for at least the first season.

The prop bet odds for another high profile program as Texas A&M at +1400 to win the BCS title against a -2500 bet on the field. The bar has been raised extremely high on the Aggies with the emergence of Johnny ‘Mr. Football’ Manziel. In all honesty, after winning the Heisman Trophy as a freshman, he really has nowhere to go but down. Given the brutal nature of this game both on and off the field the fall could be fast and steep especially playing in the highly competitive SEC. The $2500 risk to win $100 is awful high, but if I had to bet the field against one of the top five teams on this list it would against Texas A&M.

The numbers for a few other top contenders have LSU at +1600 verse a field bet of -3200, Louisville at +2200 verse a field bet of -4400 and Florida State at +3000 verse a field bet of -7000. Last season’s national title runner-up Notre Dame has been opened at +3300 to win it this season verse a field bet of -7700.

The last time a Mid-Major football program won a national title was BYU in 1984, but that does not mean that there aren’t a few programs out there that are more than capable of making some serious noise in 2013. The following is a brief look at a few of these schools along with their current odds to win next season’s BSC title as provided by BetOnline.

The team at the top of my list is the Boise State Broncos out of the Mountain West Conference. This has been one of the winningest programs in Division IA over the past decade and a consistent threat to the big boys from the majors in the national rankings. They finished the 2012 season ranked 18th in the final AP poll after going 11-2.

The Broncos have been opened at +6600 to win a national title this season and with a good chunk of their offense back from last season there is some solid value in those odds. Quarterback Joe Southwick is back for his senior year after throwing for 2,730 yards and 19 touchdowns last season. More importantly is the return of wide receiver Matt Miller, who earned All-Conference honors for hauling-in 66 receptions for 769 yards. Two major concerns for the team are the loss of running back DJ Harper, who rushed for 1,137 yards, and seven starters from a defense that was ranked eighth in the nation in points allowed last year.

Another quality Mid-Major that has the ability to make a climb up the polls next season is another team from the MWC, the Fresno State Bulldogs. They have been opened as a +2000 field bet to win a BCS title, but with a very manageable non-conference schedule and an early season home game against Boise State, the Bulldogs are in good position to run off quite a few wins if they can get by the Broncos in mid-September.

Fresno State returns 16 starters from last year’s squad that went 9-4 overall and 7-1 in conference play. Leading the way is quarterback Derek Carr, who entertained thoughts of coming out early for this year’s NFL draft after throwing for 4,104 yards and 37 touchdowns as junior last season. He will have his top two targets back as well in wide receivers Davante Adams and Isaiah Burse. Adams earned All-Conference honors with a team-high 102 receptions for 1,312 yards and Burse was second on the team in receiving yards with 851 yards. These two combined to score 21 touchdowns in 2012.

Fresno State will have a good bulk of its defense back from last season especially up front with its entire defensive line intact. This unit was torched for 42 points in a loss to Oregon and gave up 43 points to SMU in the Hawaii Bowl, but it held Boise State to just 20 points in its only conference loss.

While you will not find the East Carolina Pirates in too many preseason polls or futures odds lists, they remain the ultimate ‘under the radar’ team for 2013. They are coming off an 8-5 campaign in 2012 that included an impressive 7-1 record in Conference USA. What makes them so attractive heading into next season is that they will have 18 of 22 starters back from that squad.

Head coach Ruffin McNeill has to be licking his chops to get this team on the field with quarterback Shane Carden as one of the best kept secrets in college football. He threw for 3,116 yards and 23 touchdowns as a freshman while completing 66.1 percent of his passes. The upside potential remains high for a much better performance this season with solid run support from running back Vintavious Cooper. He rushed for 1,049 yards last year to garner All-Conference honors.

Bovada’s futures odds to win next season’s college football BCS title have been out since Alabama rolled over Notre Dame in last season’s title game. While we are waiting for it to release its futures odds for each individual major conference for the upcoming college football season, we can still use the updated BCS odds as a guide to determining which teams should open as the favorite to win their respective conference. The following is a look at a few possible favorites, contenders and longshots to win the Big East title next season.

The Favorite

The Big East continues to evolve into a mid-major conference as opposed to the watered-down major conference it has always been with the loss of Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the ACC starting next season after West Virginia bolted for the Big 12 at the start of last season. Teams such as Central Florida, Houston, Memphis and SMU have been brought in to take their place giving it even more of a mid-major feel.

Through all the change there is still one Big East football program that is expected to make some serious noise on the national level next season after taking home the national title in men’s basketball this year. The Louisville Cardinals have been opened at 20/1 to win a BCS title, which are the eighth-best odds on the board. Much of the hype for the Cardinals’ chances to make a run to the title game revolve around the play of quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who is being touted as an early Heisman hopeful.

He will be joined by six other returning starters on offense including wide receiver Damian Copeland and tight end Ryan Hubbell. Copeland led the team in receptions last season with 50 and Hubbell averaged 17.1 yards a catch. Louisville is expected to return 10 of 11 starters on a defense that gave up an average of just 23.8 points a game. While this team may not go on to win a national title next season, you can probably bet the farm that it wins the Big East.

The Contender

The Big East team with the next best odds to win a national title is the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at 100/1. The Scarlet Knights are coming off a productive season in which they went 9-4 overall and 5-2 in conference play to claim a share of the Big East title. They ended the season with a three-game skid that included losses to Pittsburgh and Louisville in the conference and Virginia Tech in overtime of the Russell Athletic Bowl.

The major drawback to Rutgers’ chance to compete for next season’s Big East title is the number of starters that were lost on both sides of the ball. With seven starters back on offense and just four on defense, head coach Kyle Flood will have quite a few holes to fill. Fortunately, quarterback Gary Nova is one of those returning starters and looking to improve his all around numbers after throwing for 2,695 yards and 26 touchdowns last season. Savon Huggins will have some big shoes to fill at running back for the departed Jawan Jamison and wide receiver Brandon Coleman should be Nova’s primary target in the passing game. The biggest losses were on a defense that ended the 2012 season ranked fourth in the nation in points allowed.

The Longshot

The Cincinnati Bearcats finished in a first-place tie for the Big East title at 5-2 last year and went 10-3 overall including a 48-34 victory over Duke in the Belk Bowl. They return a good portion of talent on both sides of the ball, but once again the primary strength of this team should lie in a defense that was ranked 14th in the country in points allowed; giving-up an average of 18.5 points a game.

While we are still waiting for Bovada to release its futures odds for each individual major conference for the upcoming college football season, its 2013 BCS Championship odds have been out for quite awhile and remain an excellent guide to predicting which teams should open as the favorite to win their respective conference The following is a look at a few possible favorites, contenders and longshots to win the SEC title next season.

The Favorite

The Alabama Crimson Tide were quickly opened as the odds-on-favorites to win their third-straight BCS title after disposing of Notre Dame 42-14 in the 2012 championship game. They are currently listed at 13/4 to keep the SEC’s string of seven-straight national champions alive; having already claiming three of those honors during this impressive run.

Alabama is expected to return 16 starters from last year’s team which also helps explain the lofty odds. Running back Eddie Lacy decided to leave early for the NFL but quarterback AJ McCarron is back for his senior year. The Tide will always be known for running the ball and playing shutdown defense, but McCarron does elevate the possibilities for the passing game after throwing for 2,933 yards and 30 touchdowns in 2012 while getting picked-off just three times. Look for TJ Yeldon to fill the void left by Lacy after piling-up 1,108 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns of his own last season.

The Contenders

One of the new kids on the block in the SEC comes in as the second-favorite to steal the Tide’s thunder next season as a 10/1 fourth-favorite to win a national title. The Texas A&M Aggies have already been a thorn in Alabama’s side since joining the conference in 2012 by knocking it from the ranks of the unbeaten last season and would love nothing more than doing it again this year.

Quarterback sensation Johnny ‘Mr. Football’ Manziel, whose game-winning performance in that incredible upset helped tip the scales for him winning last season’s Heisman Trophy as a freshman, is back but he will be missing six other starters from last season’s offense. The Aggies also took a hit on defense with just six starters back on that side of the ball as well. It will be a true challenge for head coach Kevin Sumlin to match last season’s 11-2 record now that the bar has been raised so high for his team.

One of the traditional contenders for this season’s SEC title will be the Georgia Bulldogs, who lost to Alabama 23-28 in last season’s conference title game. They went on to beat Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl to finish 12-2 on the year and ended the 2012 season ranked fifth in the final AP poll. Georgia has been opened at 14/1 to get past the Tide this time around and win the BCS title.

The Bulldogs should be loaded on offense with 10 starters expected back from a squad that showed tremendous balance between running and passing the ball to rack-up an average of 37.8 points a game. The key to their continued success could be quarterback Aaron Murray, who is poised for an even better season in 2013 after throwing for 3,893 yards and 36 touchdowns last year. It could be a bit of a rebuilding project on defense with just five starters back, but power teams in the SEC rarely have trouble recruiting talented replacements on that side of the ball.

The Longshot

A couple of other top contenders for SEC title include LSU, South Carolina and Florida which are all listed in the top 10 as far as odds to win it all, but if you are looking for a sleeper team in the conference keep your eyes on the Mississippi Rebels. They have been opened at 125/1 to win a national title which is a vast improvement over this time last year when they were not even listed on the board.

Ole Miss may have turned the corner last season with a 3-5 record in the conference and a 7-5 record overall that included a huge win over rival Mississippi State and Pittsburgh in the BBVA Compass Bowl to close-out the season. What makes the Rebels so attractive is the fact that they remain virtually intact with nine starters back on offense and all 11 starters back on defense.

The BCS odds for a couple of other teams in the SEC include Mississippi State and Tennessee at 150/1 and Arkansas and Auburn at 200/1.

Bovada has yet to release its futures odds for each individual major conference for the upcoming 2013 college football season, but using its updated 2013 BCS title odds as a guide, we can still project which teams will most likely open as the possible favorites, contenders and longshots to win the Pac-12 title next season.

The Favorite

The Oregon Ducks have been one of the elite programs in the Pac-12 over the past few seasons making it all the way to the national title game in 2010 and ending last season’s 12-1 run as the No.2 ranked team in the country. While the architect of this transformation, Chip Kelly has moved on to greener pastures in the NFL, the basic plan should remain the same with former offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich taking his place. He will have nine starters back from an offense that racked-up 49.6 points a game so it is no surprise that the Ducks have been opened as 13/2 second-favorites to win a BCS title in 2013.

The only major loss is running back Kenjon Barner, but quarterback Marcus Mariota will still be at the helm. Last season he threw for 2,677 yards and 32 touchdowns while adding another 752 yards and five scores with his legs. The defense took more of a hit with only seven starters expected back from last year’s squad, but its secondary featuring All-American cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu remains completely intact.

The Contender

The Stanford Cardinal are currently listed at 18/1 to win a national title next season and appear to be the legitimate threat to Oregon running away with the Pac-12 next season. This is a program that has endured its fair share of losses including its head coach Jim Harbaugh a few years back and All-American quarterback Andrew Luck after the 2011 season, but continually finds ways to reload. Stanford is coming off a 12-2 campaign in 2012 that included a stunning 17-14 overtime victory over the Ducks that catapulted it to the Pac-12 Championship.

The offense is a bit depleted with five starters lost from that team, but it returns a good portion of an offensive line that remains one of the best in the country. Both Josh Nunes and Kevin Hogan are back after splitting time at the quarterback position but look for a few new faces to try and make their mark at some of the other skill positions. The Cardinal defense remains basically intact with 10 starters back from last season. This unit finished the season ranked 11th in the country in points allowed (17.2).

The Longshots

The odds drop off pretty dramatically from there with the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans having the third-lowest odds to win a BCS title for a team from the Pac-12 at 50/1. The Bruins won the South Division title last season with a 6-3 record in conference play and gave Stanford all it could handle in the championship game in a 27-24 loss.

They return eight starters on offense including quarterback Brett Hundley. He caught everyone’s attention last season as a freshman with 3,745 yards passing and 29 touchdown throws. He also exhibited excellent mobility with another 355 yards on the ground. UCLA’s defense took a hit with just six starters back from last season so there will be a bit of rebuilding involved on that side of the ball.

Last season, many experts had USC as the team to beat not only in the Pac-12 but in the country as the preseason favorite to win the BCS title. The overall talent on this team including departed quarterback Matt Barkley never came close to meeting these lofty expectations with an overall record of 7-6.

With eight starters back on both offense and defense, the Trojans have a decent nucleus of talent to build from. Max Wittek filled in nicely for an injured Barkley at the end of last season but keep an eye on Cody Kessler to challenge for the starting role at quarterback. The good news for whichever player lines up behind center is the return of All-American wide-out Marquise Lee, who led the team with 1,721 yards receiving and 14 touchdown catches last year.

The BCS title futures odds for a few other teams in the Pac-12 include Oregon State and Washington at 100/1 and Arizona and California at 200/1.

We are still a couple of months away from Bovada’s release of the futures odds for a college football team’s chances to win their respective conference title, but using its updated BCS Championship odds as a guide, we can project which teams will most likely open as the possible favorites, contenders and longshots to win the Big 12 title next season.

The Favorites

The top two teams from the Big 12 in terms of its odds to win the BCS national title next season are the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Texas Longhorns at 30/1. There are 14 other schools with better odds on Bovada’s list which does say too much for the perceived overall strength of this conference in 2013.

The Cowboys finished fourth in the Big 12 last season with a record of 5-4 and they went 8-5 overall. The main reason for such high expectations going into next season is an offense that returns eight starters including quarterback Clint Chelf and All-Big 12 wide receiver Josh Stewart. The big loss off this squad was All-American running back Joseph Randle, who opted to make himself available for the NFL draft. Draining some of the value in these odds is a defense that was ranked 64th in the country in points allowed. Seven starters are expected back on that side of the ball.

Texas is another high-profile program coming off a less than stellar performance in 2012. It finished the season at 9-4 with a 31-27 victory over Oregon State in the Alamo Bowl, but it was barely over .500 in Big 12 play at 5-4 including losses to TCU and Kansas State in its final two regular season games. The good news is that the Longhorns are expected to have 19 starters back from that team including 10 of 11 on an offense that averaged 35.7 points a game.

David Ash is expected to be the Texas’s starting quarterback on opening day after finishing last season with 2,699 passing yards and 19 touchdown throws. Also returning is the running back tandem of Johnathan Grey and Joe Bergeron, who helped the Longhorns average over 170 rushing yards a game. Defense was this team’s major weakness as well in 2013; allowing close to 30 points a game.

The Contender

The Oklahoma Sooners only lost one conference game last season against eight wins but it was enough to cost them a Big 12 title as a result of a tiebreaker with 8-1 Kansas State. Heading into this season they have been opened at 40/1 to win a national title making them the third-best team from the conference on the list. This could be due the mass exodus of talent from last year’s squad. There will be a myriad of holes to fill on both sides of the ball with seven starters back on offense and only five back on defense.

The biggest loss was Landry Jones at quarterback so it looks like it will Blake Bell lining up under center when the Sooners take the field against UL-Monroe on opening day. They will have All-Big 12 fullback Trey Millard back after the NFL prospect decided to return for his senior season.

The Longshot

The jump from the Mountain West to the Big 12 last season was a bit of a rough transition for the TCU Horned Frogs with a 4-5 record in conference play. The entire 2012 campaign appeared to be a struggle at times and was capped off with a tough 17-16 loss to Michigan in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. For 2013, TCU is currently a 66/1 longshot to make a run all the way to a BCS title so its main focus will be on improving its play in its second go round in the Big 12.

The Horned Frogs remain loaded on defense with 10 starters back from a unit that held its opponents to an average of 22.6 points a game. Another year of experience could help to drive that number down into the teens in 2013. There are seven starters back on offense including wide receivers Josh Boyce and LaDarius Brown, but the real question remains at quarterback. Trevone Boykin is penciled-in as the starter pending the playing status of Casey Pachall, who was suspended by the team last season as a result of a DUI charge.

The 2013 BCS odds for two other teams in the Big 12 have Kansas State at 150/1 and West Virginia at 300/1.

Bovada has yet to release its futures odds for winning an individual major conference title for the 2013 college football season, but using its updated BCS Championship odds as a guide, we can still get a good idea as to which teams will most likely open as the possible favorites, contenders and longshots to win the ACC title next season.

The Favorites

Right now it looks like the 2013 ACC title winner is once again going to come out of the Coastal Division with both the Florida State Seminoles and the Clemson Tigers opened at 25/1 to win next season’s BCS Championship. These two battled it out last season with the Seminoles getting the nod as a result of a 49-37 victory over the Tigers that proved to be the division tie-breaker since both teams finished with 7-1 records in conference play.

Florida State will first have to find a way to replace EJ Manual at quarterback on the offensive side of the ball and then replace the seven starters it lost on defense. Right now, Clint Trickett is penciled-in as the new starter, but lacks any real experience with a total of 34 passes last year for 22 completions and 272 yards. This situation could easily change as head coach Jimbo Fisher has remained quiet as to which of the four quarterbacks he currently has on his roster will get the nod on opening day.

Clemson is more than set at the quarterback position for 2013 with Tajh Boyd back for his senior year. Last season he passed for 3,896 yards and 36 touchdowns while adding another 514 yards and 10 scores with his legs. Running back has Andre Ellington moved on and All-ACC wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins declared himself eligible for the NFL draft so the Tigers will have a couple of big pairs of shoes to fill in their place. Look for wide receiver Sammy Watkins to try and fill the void for Hopkins and running back Roderick McDowell to try and fill Ellington’s shoes.

Defensively, Clemson is expected to return seven starters from last season’s squad. The front seven remains basically intact but there are some question marks in the secondary with the loss of one of two starting cornerbacks and both starting safeties.

The Contenders

The Miami Hurricanes self-imposed postseason ban is now over, so they will be back in the conference title picture in 2013. Bovada has opened the Hurricanes at 28/1 to win the BCS title so they appear to be the class of the ACC Coastal Division. They ended the 2012 regular season 7-5 overall and 5-3 in conference play with an encouraging 3-1 finish that followed a crushing three-game losing streak during the month of October.

The one thing that is for sure is that Miami’s starting lineup should remain very similar to last season’s with all 11 starters back on offense and nine starters back on the other side of the ball. Competition could be fierce this summer as a few new faces try and work their way into the mix. Look for All-ACC running back Duke Johnson to pick-up where he left off after racking-up close to a 1000 yards rushing as a freshman.

The Longshot

Another team that was on the sidelines when the postseason got underway last year due to NCAA sanctions was the North Carolina Tar Heels. They have been opened at 100/1 to stun the nation with a run to the BCS title, but with more than half their starters back from last year’s 8-4 campaign the Tar Heels are more than capable of making some noise in the ACC.

Bryn Renner will be back at quarterback after throwing for 3,356 yards and 28 touchdowns while completing a respectable 65.4 percent of his attempts. The Tar Heels will also have wide receiver Sean Tapley and All-ACC tight end Eric Ebron back as part of an offense that averaged 291.8 passing yards a game last season. The biggest loss will be felt in the running game with Giovani Bernard (1,228 yards rushing) hoping to continue his football career by playing on Sundays next season.

The 2013 BCS odds for a few other teams in the ACC include Virginia Tech at 150/1, Georgia Tech at 200/1, and Pittsburgh (which is new to the conference in 2013) at 200/1.

With March Madness still in full swing for college basketball, it is a bit early for Bookmaker to release its futures odds to win the Big Ten Conference for the 2013 football season. However, by using its current BCS Championship odds as a guide, we can still get a good idea which teams are the favorites, contenders and possible longshots to win the Big Ten title next season.

The Favorite

The Ohio State Buckeyes have been opened at 7/1 third-favorites to win the national title next season, so it is safe to say they will open as the prohibitive favorites to win the 2013 Big Ten title. In his first season as the Buckeyes’ new head coach, Urban Meyer immediately recreated some of the same magic that led to two national titles during his tenure in the same position at Florida. The only difference is the perfect 12-0 record during the regular season added-up to nothing due to the one-year postseason ban as part of NCAA sanctions leveled against the program.

None the less, Ohio State is expected to have nine starters back on offense including quarterback and Heisman hopeful Braxton Miller. Meyer will have to plug some holes on defense with just four starters returning, but one of the four is All-American cornerback Bradley Roby.

The Contenders

It was a lean year when it came to the other 11 teams in the Big Ten in 2012 with Northwestern (No.17), Michigan (No.24) and Nebraska (No.25) the only other conference teams listed in the AP’s final Top 25 poll of the year. Looking at Bokmaker’s BCS futures list, the next best team in the Big Ten is the Michigan Wolverines at 35/1. They will have quite a few new faces on both sides of the ball next season with just 12 starters returning from last year’s squad.

Devin Gardner is poised to step in as their starting quarterback after backing up Denard Robinson last season and Fitzgerald Toussaint should become a much bigger part of the running game after posting 514 yards on 130 carries in 2012.The key to the Wolverines’ success still lies with a defense that was ranked 20th in the nation in points allowed last season.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers are next on the list to win a national title at 50/1. They will need a number of things to go right just to make it back the Big Ten title game after getting blown-out by Wisconsin 70-31 in last season’s championship game. Taylor Martinez will be back under center for opening day and he will have a couple of quality targets back as well in wide receivers Kenny Bell and Quincy Enunwa.

The problem could be replacing seven starters on a defense that was already suspect at times last year. This unit gave up an average of 27.6 points game and was torched for 45 points in a loss to Georgia in the Capital One Bowl.

Top Value Longshot

Wisconsin would be the logical choice in this category given its 50/1 odds to win the BCS title, but the Badgers will have to contend with a bowl-eligible Ohio State to win the Leaders Division this year. Michigan State is another good choice at 100/1 to win a national title, but the team to watch as a longshot to win the Big Ten is Northwestern Wildcats. They do not even have odds listed on Bookmaker’s board to win a BCS title, but they do have quite a few players back from a team that won 10 games last year and were a couple of plays away from beating Nebraska and Michigan.

With no dominant team in the Legends Division in 2013, the door could be wide open for the Wildcats to sneak into the top spot. They should have a solid defense that returns seven starters from 2012 and All-Conference running back Venric Mark, who led the team in rushing with 1,366 yards on 226 carries.

At the top of Bovada’s current list of futures odds to win next season’s award is this last season’s winner, Johnny Manziel at 4/1. Johnny Football, as he is more commonly referred to, came out of nowhere to help lead Texas A&M to an improbable 11-2 record and No.5 ranking in the final AP Top 25 Poll. The team’s most memorable moment of 2012 was its 29-24 victory over then-No.1 Alabama as a 13.5-point road underdog. Manziel finished the season with 3,706 passing yards and 26 touchdowns while completing 68 percent of this throws. He also added another 1,410 yards and 21 touchdowns on the ground. Given the fact that he accomplished all this as just a freshman, the pressure to deliver these kinds on numbers next season will be dialed-up pretty high making a repeat performance all the more difficult.

The second-favorite on the list at 7/1 is Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller. He is another player that was extremely instrumental in his team’s success last season, but given that the Buckeyes were serving-out a one year suspension from postseason play as a result of NCAA sanctions, the team’s perfect 12-0 campaign did not receive the recognition it deserved. With full eligibility for next season restored, look for Miller to not only make a strong push for winning the Heisman, but for Ohio State to make and even stronger push for a national title. While Miller’s overall numbers last season did not come anywhere close to Manziel’s with 2,039 yards passing and 1,271 yards on the ground, his upside potential for this upcoming season adds tremendous value to his current odds.

The last time a wide receiver won this award was back in 1991 when Michigan’s Desmond Howard took home the Heisman. That fact alone drains some of the value for third-favorite Marquis Lee at 9/1 to win. The USC wideout turned in a stand-out season in 2012 despite his team playing well below expectations. Lee caught 118 passes for 1,721 yards, which was the second-highest total in Division IA last season. He also scored 14 touchdowns, which was the most on the team. His quarterback last season, Matt Barkley is trying to move on to the NFL, but Lee should still get his fair share of opportunities to catch the ball in 2013 no matter who is behind center.

The fourth-favorites to win next season’s Heisman Trophy at 10/1 are a couple of SEC quarterbacks in Alabama’s AJ McCarron and Georgia’s Aaron Murray. If you are looking for the best value in these odds, than you have to go with Murray as your pick. McCarron will once again be tasked with managing the game while the Crimson Tide’s bruising running game and shutdown defense try and add a third national title trophy to the case in a four-year span. McCarron’s total passing yards improved slightly from 2011 to 2012 with an additional 300 yards and he went from throwing 16 touchdowns as a sophomore to 30 last season as a junior.

Murray threw for close to 4000 yards last season after throwing for 3,149 his sophomore year. His touchdown passes remained basically the same with 35 in 2011 verse 36 last year, but his completion percentage shot up from 59.1 percent to 64.5 percent from 2011 to 2012. Given the Bulldogs reliance on Murray to move the offense up and down the field, the potential remains high for Murray to put up even more impressive numbers next season.

Everyone knows that Alabama and Notre Dame finished as the top two college football teams in the nation last season with the Crimson Tide making sure that we all know which team was the best. As impressive as their combined straight-up record of 24-1 in the regular season was, these two teams were actually no bargain to wager on last year with a combined 13-12 against the spread.

The following is a brief look at the top moneymakers in college football last season ATS as well as a look at a few teams that proved to be major drains on the bankroll.

Top 2012 Moneymakers

The two teams at the top of this list were the Northwestern Wildcats in the Big Ten and the Mountain West’s Fresno State Bulldogs. Each team played 12 regular season games and each covered the spread 11 times. They both happened to finish with a 9-3 record SU and the total stayed UNDER in six of 11 games.

The tie-breaker goes to the Wildcats with a 34-20 victory over Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl as 1.5-point favorites. The Bulldogs were crushed by SMU 43-10 as 13-point favorites in last year’s Hawaii Bowl.

A close second to these two teams was the Utah State Aggies, out of the Western Athletic Conference. They went 10-2 SU in the regular season and covered in 10 of 12 of the games with one game ending as a PUSH. The total stayed UNDER in eight of 11 games with a posted line. The Aggies finished the season on a high note by waxing Toledo 41-15 in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl as 10-point favorites.

A few of the other top moneymakers ATS last season were San Jose State at 10-2, Kent State at 10-2-1, Kansas State and Penn State at 9-2-1 and Northern Illinois at 9-2-2.

Top 2012 Bankroll Busters

The following are a few teams that bettors should have avoided at all costs and if they did not, it ended-up costing them dearly. The team at the top of this dubious list was the ACC’s Virginia Cavaliers. It was a tough year all around for the Cavaliers with an overall SU record of 4-8 and just two SU victories in the ACC, but where they really took it on the chin was ATS at 2-9-1. The one bright spot was covering in a season-ending 17-14 loss to rival Virginia Tech as 9.5-point underdogs on the road.

Speaking of the Hokies, they were one of 11 teams that were just a tad better ATS at 3-9. Fellow ACC foe Florida State joins Virginia Tech in this group, but at least the Seminoles had a winning season SU at 11-2 as opposed the Hokies disappointing 6-6 SU mark.

Another notable team in this group was USC, which actually began the 2012 season ranked No.1 in a number of preseason polls. That run for a national title never materialized and to go along with a 3-9 record ATS, the Trojans stumbled to a 7-5 record SU.

Two teams that actually had worse SU records at 1-11 were the Colorado Buffaloes out of the Pac-12 and the WAC’s Idaho Vandals. A close second at 2-10 SU were the SEC’s Kentucky Wildcats and the Big Ten’s Illinois Fighting Illini.

The other four teams that proved to be a major money drain at 3-9 ATS were Southern Mississippi, California, Air Force and Nevada.