With our picks on which 12 teams will make the College Football Playoff and who we like to win the national championship this year behind us, it’s time to throw out our predictions for the winners of the top four conferences: the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC.
While we’re at it, let’s also go on the record with our 2024 Heisman Trophy prediction.
2024 College Football Conference Title Odds
Before we dive into our pick in each conference, below are the betting favorites in each league and their odds (available at DraftKings as of August 28) ahead of Week 1 of the 2024 season later this week.
- SEC: Georgia (+190), Texas (+380), Alabama (+500)
- Big Ten: Ohio State (+155), Oregon (+200), Penn State (+500)
- Big 12: Utah (+320), Kansas State (+390), Oklahoma State (+750)
- ACC: Clemson (+280), Miami (+360), NC State (+600), Florida State (+600)
$200 BONUS BETS
DRAFTKINGS SPORTSBOOK
$1,000 FIRST BET RESET (MUST USE CODE NEWSWEEK)
ESPN BET
UP TO $1,000 BONUS BETS
FANATICS SPORTSBOOK
$1,500 FIRST-BET OFFER
BETMGM
$150 BONUS OR $1,000 FIRST-BET SAFETY NET
BET365
$1,000 FIRST BET
CAESARS SPORTSBOOK
$200 BONUS BETS
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK
2024 Heisman Trophy Prediction: Dillon Gabriel
Dillon Gabriel Odds to Win Heisman Trophy (as of August 28)
- DraftKings: +600
- bet365: +600
- FanDuel: +500
We’re aware of the history of this award, which tells us this a bad idea.
We’re nevertheless going with the preseason favorite, though, because of the irresistible combo of sixth-year Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel’s track record and an offensive scheme that allowed Ducks QB Bo Nix to finish in third place in the 2023 Heisman Trophy voting.
It also helps that while Gabriel does have the shortest preseason odds of any Heisman candidate, he still offers plenty of value at 6-to-1.
Nix’s numbers in head coach Dan Lanning and offensive coordinator Will Stein’s system were absurd last year (364-for-470 passing, 77.4 completion percentage, 45 touchdowns, three interceptions.) Gabriel, for his part, arrives in Eugene having thrown for at least 3,000 yards in four different college seasons (2019 and 2020 with UCF, and 2022 and 2023 as an Oklahoma Sooner.)
His numbers in 2022 and 2023 at Oklahoma — 55 total touchdown passes and just 12 interceptions, with 9.1 yards per attempt on 751 attempts — put him in a class of his own among the top offensive players in college football this season.
Gabriel’s supporting cast, including WR Tez Johnson and TE Terrance Ferguson Jr., is loaded despite the losses of WR Troy Franklin and RB Bucky Irving to the 2024 NFL Draft. In addition to Johnson and Ferguson, Oregon returns a stout offensive line and last year’s second-leading rusher, Jordan James (over 7 yards per carry on 107 rushing attempts in ’23).
The Ducks also picked up one of the top players in the transfer portal, former Texas A&M wide receiver Evan Stewart, to keep an offense that averaged 44 points per game last year humming in 2024.
Oregon’s schedule in the new-look Big Ten is tough, but it should be manageable. Gabriel and the Ducks host both Ohio State (October 12) and Washington (November 30), and while they travel to Michigan on November 9, they avoid Penn State, USC and Iowa.
2024 SEC Champion Prediction: Georgia
Georgia Odds to Win SEC (as of August 28)
- DraftKings: +190
- bet365: +170
- FanDuel: +180
No league in the country is deeper than the SEC, which boasted eight teams in the AP preseason top 25: No. 1 Georgia, No. 4 Texas, No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 11 Missouri, No. 13 LSU, No. 15 Tennessee, No. 20 Texas A&M.
Georgia’s conference schedule — which includes road games against No. 5 Alabama on September 28, No. 4 Texas on October 19 and No. 6 Ole Miss on November 9 — is as grueling as it gets, even for the SEC, where there’s no such thing as an easy schedule.
If there’s any team in the country that could survive such a slate, it’s Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs.
Senior QB Carson Beck is among the Heisman favorites, and his experience will put Georgia over the top, as the other contenders in this conference enter the season with bigger questions than the Dawgs. For example:
- How will the Texas offense look after losing so much talent to the 2024 NFL Draft?
- Could Alabama really win this conference in its first year following Nick Saban’s retirement?
- Can Ole Miss hang with the best, most physical teams in this conference after losing 24-10 to Bama and 52-17 to UGA in 2023?
2024 Big Ten Champion Prediction: Oregon
Oregon Odds to Win Big Ten (as of August 28)
- DraftKings: +200
- bet365: +200
- FanDuel: +200
On paper, the Big Ten looks like it will be decided by a conference championship matchup between newcomer Oregon and favorite Ohio State.
The Ducks were one of the most dominant teams in the country last year, but just couldn’t figure out Michael Penix Jr. and Washington. The Huskies accounted for Oregon’s only two losses in 2023.
Top-to-bottom, Ohio State might have the best roster in the nation, but I like Heisman favorite Dillon Gabriel and Oregon to pull out a thriller over the Buckeyes in the conference title game.
2024 Big 12 Champion Prediction: Utah
Utah Odds to Win Big 12 (as of August 28)
- DraftKings: +320
- bet365: +275
- FanDuel: +280
The Big 12 is another tough conference to predict this year.
The fact that Utah has the shortest odds to win the Big 12 — but is longer than 3-to-1 at sportsbooks like DraftKings — speaks to the balance and depth of the conference.
Arizona is an intriguing longshot, and Kansas and Oklahoma State both have the offensive firepower to win this league if they can stay healthy, but this feels like a two-horse race between Utah and Kansas State.
The Utes get the slight edge thanks to their experience advantage at quarterback. Utah’s 25-year-old signal caller, Cam Rising, brings unmatched experience as a seventh-year senior, while speedy Kansas State sophomore Avery Johnson is a dynamic but unproven talent under center.
2024 ACC Champion Prediction: Miami
Miami Odds to Win ACC (as of August 28)
- DraftKings: +360
- bet365: +360
- FanDuel: +350
Speaking of up for grabs, if there’s anything we’ve already learned about the ACC this season, it’s that Florida State is plenty beatable.
Georgia Tech’s Week 0 upset of the Seminoles in Dublin last Saturday provided even more reason for bettors to invest in an outsider finally breaking up the dominance of the FSU-Clemson duo in 2024. Those two have combined to win the ACC 12 of the last 13 years.
Given Florida State’s lackluster showing in its season opener and the uncertainty around Clemson QB Cade Klubnik and the Tigers offense, the question is whether to go with Miami, NC State, Louisville, Virginia Tech, newcomer SMU … or perhaps Georgia Tech? (though the Jackets remain massive longshots entering Week 1.)
The Wolfpack and Cardinals both picked up a ton of talent in the transfer portal this offseason, while Virginia Tech brings back as much production from a year ago as anyone in the country.
But we like the Miami Hurricanes, who enter the season at No. 19, as the safest bet to break through. Since the ACC betting market opened over the summer, the Canes have gone from 4-to-1 or longer across the board to significantly shorter than 4-to-1 as of August 28.
The Canes have recruited as well as anyone in the ACC the last three years. And this year’s signal caller, Washington State transfer Cam Ward, is arguably the best quarterback this program has had since Ken Dorsey led the star-studded 2001 Hurricanes to the national championship.
The Canes have a tough Week 1 test in Gainesville this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET that should tell us a lot about Ward and this team’s ceiling in 2024.
A loss in the Swamp shouldn’t shock anyone, but for now, we’re buying Ward being a difference-maker for a team with five preseason first-team All-ACC players in Ward, WR Xavier Restrepo, DE Rueben Bain Jr., LB Francisco Mauigoa and punter Andres Borregales.
Newsweek may earn an affiliate commission if you sign up through the links in this article. See the sportsbook operator’s terms and conditions for important details. Sports betting operators have no influence over newsroom coverage.
