Buying USC Hype Among Three Early College Football Bets For 2023 Season

With spring ball now in the rearview mirror, we're inching ever closer to the college football season.

Let's examine three early bets to make in the college football futures market, starting with the SEC, the nation's toughest conference

(All betting odds from DraftKings Sportsbook)

LSU Over 9.5 Wins (+105)
Every year, the SEC is a gauntlet. Alabama and Georgia are dominant, while Tennessee, Auburn, Florida and LSU are almost always viable and relevant. In recent years, teams like Kentucky, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and South Carolina have had resurgences. Most teams in this conference have elite head coaches, but outside of Nick Saban and Kirby Smart, I would argue LSU is at the top of the food chain with Brian Kelly. For years, he was unheralded and criticized for not winning a national championship at Notre Dame. However, Kelly finished his tenure with the Fighting Irish touting a 92-40 overall record with 11 bowl game appearances. You could also make the case that with demanding academic standards and the less-than-ideal climate of South Bend, Indiana, Kelly overachieved during his time leading the Irish. In his first year in Baton Rouge, Kelly's LSU bunch finished with an impressive 10-4 record and won the Citrus Bowl. Their signature win was beating Alabama in the Bayou with a thrilling overtime finish. With quarterback Jayden Daniels back for another year in the offense and four productive RBs returning to fold, I'll take a flyer on the underrated coaching ability of Kelly to lead LSU over the win total.

Florida State to win the ACC (+165)
The Florida State Seminoles have not won the conference since 2014, but their time has come. All-ACC QB Jordan Travis is one of the best signal-callers in the country and has plenty of weapons at his disposal. Although there are other schools like Ohio State with bigger names at the wide receiver position, I would argue Florida State might have the best overall receiving core in the country. Johnny Wilson is the top dog in the group. He's a towering 6-foot-7 force who runs a 4.4-second 40-yard dash at 235 pounds and has great hands. He's joined by other stud wideouts Mycah Pittman, who is elite in the slot, and Winston Wright Jr., a do-it-all playmaker on the outside who also returns kicks. Florida State is seemingly always formidable on the defensive side of the ball, as well. Defensive end Jared Verse and tackle Fabien Lovett are both uber-athletic with high motors, earning them attention from NFL scouts. The Noles finished with an impressive 10-3 record last season and are coming into this season with so much momentum after beating Oklahoma in the Cheez-It Bowl.

USC to win the national championship (+1600)
The Trojans have an embarrassment of riches at the most important combination in football: quarterback and head coach. Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams are arguably the best in their respective positions in the country. At the end of last season, USC nearly made the College Football Playoff before a shocking loss to Utah in the Pac-12 title game. That the Trojans were that close to making the postseason with a historically bad defense speaks to the overall dominance of Williams and Riley. Defensively, opponents pushed the Trojans around every week and subpar teams stayed in the game because of it. This is where Riley's appeal comes into play as an advantage. USC has beefed up the defense considerably with the coach's ability to attract transfers in the portal. A number of those players were solid defensive options at other schools and are now projected to star at their new home in LA, including linebacker Mason Cobb from Oklahoma State, defensive end Jack Sullivan from Purdue and explosive tackle Anthony Lucas from Texas A&M. Riley also worked his transfer portal magic to beef up the offensive line. With the trenches being improved on both sides of the ball, I believe USC will be able to push through and get into the postseason this time. Once they are in, anything can happen when you have Williams leading the way. I'll roll the dice on the Trojans to win it all.