2021 College Football Conference Odds: Ohio State, Oklahoma, Alabama Become Bigger Favorites

With college football season around the corner, let's take a look at the odds for each team to win their conference.

Squads like Ohio State, Oklahoma and Alabama have become even greater favorites to win their respective conferences relative to a few months ago.

And, no, Texas and Oklahoma won't be in the SEC odds pile — that won't happen until at least 2025 (unless they pay about $80 million in exit fees or the Big 12 collapses before then).

The two teams actually aren't even the biggest liabilities at BetMGM to win the Big 12 this season — that honor goes to Iowa State, whose odds to win its conference have moved from an opening mark of +600 all the way to +275.

2021 College Football Conference Odds

Big 12 Conference Odds

Futures from BetMGM as of Wednesday

Oklahoma opened as -130 favorites before moving to its current post at -175. They will deploy second-year starter Spencer Rattler, who is the early +650 favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. Rattler will look to become the third Oklahoma quarterback in the last five years to take home the trophy after Baker Mayfield (2017) and Kyler Murray (2018) did so before him.

Iowa State firmly sits with the second-shortest odds after a breakout 2020 season in which they won the Fiesta Bowl over Oregon and beat Oklahoma in the regular season. 19 of 22 starters from last season will return, so expectations are high for the Cyclones to make another run at the Big 12 chip, which they lost to the Sooners in a closely contested 27-21 game in 2020.

Texas is +900 to win their first Big 12 title since 2009. The team has only finished with 10 or more wins once since that title, but there's optimism in the Austin air with new head coach Steve Sarkisian at the helm — and news of an impending move to the SEC.

Atlantic Coast Conference Odds

Futures from BetMGM as of Wednesday

Clemson is by far the biggest favorite among Power Five schools to win their conference at -900. That line opened at -900 and has stayed there since. Despite losing Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne, the Tigers have the second-shortest odds to win another national championship at +450. It looks like DJ Uiagalelei will get the nod at quarterback — the 20-year-old filled in admirably for Lawrence when the No. 1 overall pick was out with the coronavirus against Notre Dame last season. Their season ended with a loss to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff Semifinals.

Pittsburgh at +4000 is the conference's largest liability at BetMGM. The team returns fifth-year starter (!) Kenny Pickett and a decent number of NFL-worthy players looking to bounce back from a topsy-turvy 6-5 season in 2020.

Big Ten Conference Odds

Futures from BetMGM as of Wednesday

Ohio State's line has lengthened the most out of any conference favorite, having opened at -150 before settling at its current mark of -225. A key factor is how new 19-year-old starter CJ Stroud will adjust to his role. Stroud has not started a college football game in his career. Luckily for him, the Buckeyes' No. 1 receiver from 2020, Chris Olave, decided to stay. Olave led Ohio State with 50 catches for 729 yards and seven touchdowns last season. The Buckeyes beat Clemson in the CFP semifinals before falling to Alabama in the national championship game.

The Buckeyes are the conference's largest liability at BetMGM.

Wisconsin is another notable mover. Their odds have dipped from +1000 at the beginning of the year to +650 now. They went a disappointing 4-3 last season, but a lot of that can be chalked up to their terrible running game. They hope to revamp their rushing attack with Jalen Berger — who will no longer have to split as many carries as he did last season — and Clemson transfer Chez Mellusi. Their O-Line is still solid, as is their linebacking corps, which is among the best in the nation.

Pac-12 Conference Odds

Futures from BetMGM as of Wednesday

Oregon have moved from co-favorites to favorites since these lines opened. The Ducks are coming off of a Pac-12 championship, but it was a trophy won during a rather tumultuous 4-3 season. Though they have pedigree at every position, the team will be mired in a quarterback competition between Boston College transfer Anthony Brown and freshmen Robby Ashford, Ty Thompson and Jay Butterfield.

Utah are BetMGM's largest liability and their odds have moved from +2000 to +600 since opening. The Utes did not start their season until November 21 last season due to the coronavirus — two weeks later than the rest of the conference — so it's hard to pin their 3-2 record on a lack of talent. They return 10 starters on offense — all except the quarterback. There will be a quarterback competition in Utah, too. This one will be between returning starter Cameron Rising (who was injured in last season's opener and missed the rest of the season), Baylor transfer Charlie Brewer and Texas transfer Ja’Quinden Jackson.

SEC Odds

Futures from BetMGM as of Wednesday

Alabama opened as -105 favorites to win their 29th SEC Championship and have since moved to -165. The defending national champions are also favorites to repeat at +250, but are decidedly a team in flux, with just about half their starters returning from last season. Still, though, it's Alabama, and all those replacements are four- and five-star recruits. This team will undoubtedly be lights out next season.

Georgia is the conference's biggest liability after opening at +250. They will deploy JT Daniels at quarterback, who will finally have a full season to show why he was a five-star recruit coming out of high school. The USC transfer ran the offense with solid efficiency after replacing Jamie Newman following losses to Alabama and Florida. Georgia won out with Daniels at the helm.