Oklahoma State Cowboys

A lot of NCAA football betting cappers are talking about Oklahoma State as being a potential Big 12 Champion this year and maybe - just maybe - a National Champion. Sounds good, sure, but I’d like to smoke some of that too. The truth of the matter is that the Cowboys are in a position to be what the Texas Tech Red Raiders were last year, but potentially worse.

The Cowboys have an opportunity with Georgia coming to town in Week 1, and if they can win that game, it will vault them into the Big 12 debate. But the Cowboys have a soft defense, just lost their starting middle linebacker for the season, and Georgia is one of the best road teams in the country. An SEC school versus a Big 12 school? I’ll take the SEC.

Look for the Cowboys’ bubble to burst very early on. Then they’ll add losses to Texas and Oklahoma later in the year.

Mississippi Rebels

For the first time in a long time, some people are mentioning a potential BCS berth at The Grove. Myself and a lot of other online betting cappers would like to wish Ole Miss good luck in their future endeavors. The Rebels are a good team and a contender, but the difference between them, Alabama and LSU is that they don’t have as much depth.

Realistically, Ole Miss can compete with those two juggernauts and is probably on par or better than both because of their quarterback play. But people making their sports picks should be weary that they’ll have to get all the breaks and they’ll have to stay healthy to truly be a national championship contender.

California Golden Bears

USC is supposedly rebuilding. Right. And Cal is supposedly going to finally win the Pac 10. Right. Anyone who watches college football knows that USC doesn’t rebuild, they reload. They are the heavy favorites to win the Pac 10 once again because they have more talent and depth than anyone in the conference.

For Cal, they have a good defense and arguably the best running back in the nation, but who’s their quarterback? If you’re counting on Kevin Riley as your starter then you’re counting on a Holiday Bowl appearance – not a BCS game.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The Fighting Irish are the darlings in the media, mostly because of how they stomped Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl and how easy their schedule looks this year. But even though every sports betting blog in the world thinks they’ll be world beaters doesn’t mean that will actually be the case. The Fighting Irish are better than last year but they still have a couple of issues. Their running game is suspect and always has been under Charlie Weis and their defense lacks top-line playmakers. 8-4 is far more likely than 11-1.

Ohio State Buckeyes

The Buckeyes aren’t going to be the biggest bust of the year, but they aren’t going to be BCS-bound either. Penn State is the best team in the Big Ten and the conference is stronger all the way around. Michigan State might surprise, Iowa is decent and Illinois has potential. The Buckeyes are reloading/rebuilding, and although Terrell Pryor is a stud, he alone isn’t enough for this team. Even though most betting system picks have them winning the conference, they’ll be a brick short of a load this year.