Bet on these college football win totals ahead of the 2024 season

Amid widespread modifications within the faculty soccer panorama, the three groups below new management are most probably to win whole in 2024.

All three groups, all below first-year head coaches, have what it takes to advance and have favorable odds to take action.

Duke, 5.5 +150 (BetMGM)

Duke basketball’s success contrasts with Duke soccer’s inconsistency: With Manny Diaz taking on in 2024, the soccer Blue Devils have had extra head coaches since 2021 than the hardwood Blue Devils The workforce has had extra head coaches since 1980.

Mike Elko had a brief however profitable tour earlier than committing to Texas A&M, totaling 17 wins in 2022 and 2023. That is the second time in three seasons that the workforce has gained greater than eight video games. Oddsmakers do not like his probabilities: FanDuel and DraftKings every supply Duke odds of +140, eclipsing 5.5 wins, whereas BetMGM gives odds of +150. Caesars Sportsbook is providing +115 for wins over 5.

However Diaz is a defensive-minded coach who led Penn State to a mean of 13.5 factors per sport in 2023, and he inherited a Duke protection that allowed simply 19 factors per sport final season. Linebacker Tre Freeman returns after making 106 tackles final season, and he is joined by FCS All-American Ozzie Nicholas from Princeton. Cornerback Chandler Rivers and security Terry Moore have All-ACC potential within the secondary.

A go to to Northwestern in Week 2 might make the distinction, as Duke will host rival North Carolina on Sept. 28 with an opportunity to maneuver to the center of the convention schedule at 5-0.

James Madison, 8.5 wins, +135 (BetMGM)

In simply its second season in FBS play, James Madison is grabbing nationwide consideration with a 10-0 begin to 2023. , however Duke nonetheless reached 11 factors to win for the fifth time since 2016.

Extra importantly, the long-term Soccer Championship Subdivision powerhouse program has confirmed its model of soccer can translate to the FBS and Solar Belt Convention. First-year Duke coach Bob Chesney acquired the same alternative from Holy Cross School.

Chesney coached the Crusaders to 4 straight playoff appearances. Over the previous two seasons, Holy Cross has averaged about 37 factors per sport, matching the 34.1 factors JMU averaged final season.

Chesney additionally continues at the least one space the place JMU has thrived below Signetti: discovering veteran playmakers by means of the switch portal.

A bunch of skilled newcomers fills out Duke’s roster, together with Holy Cross All-American linebacker Jacob Dobbs and former Washington Huskies beginning quarterback Dylan Morris.

The faces could also be new, however the outcomes ought to be acquainted. Duke is predicted to be in rivalry for the Solar Belt title and the double-digit victory threshold when the common season ends at Appalachian State and takes on Marshall.

Washington, 6.5 wins +112 (BetRivers)

First-year Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch inherits a workforce that was arguably the worst within the energy convention when he was employed to Arizona.

By his third yr, the well-traveled Fish led the Wildcats to top-of-the-line seasons in franchise historical past. Arizona State went 11-3 within the Alamo Bowl final season, beating Oklahoma State.

Fish takes over for Nick Saban at Alabama’s place vacated by Kalen DeBoer as head coach of nationwide runner-up Washington State within the 2024 School Soccer Playoff. Regardless of the departures of big-name gamers on the Huskies’ 2023 roster, Fisch is in a considerably higher place in Yr 1 than he was a yr in the past. Fish and his workers made some key transfers from Tucson to Seattle, together with two-way operating again and receiving risk in operating again Jonah Coleman.

Washington’s big-name switch arrives from SEC Nation: Quarterback Will Rogers, a four-year starter at Mississippi State who arrived in Montlake with 12,315 passing yards and 94 touchdowns. If Fish and passing sport coordinator Jimmy Dougherty can create the identical magic they did final season with Noah Fifita in Arizona, Rodgers might instantly set up himself as one of many Huge Ten’s prime quarterbacks.

Washington’s largest impediment to seven or extra wins is the division change.

In a brief turnaround, the Huge Ten organized a cross-country trek to Rutgers, a go to to convention champion darkhorse Iowa per week after a rematch with nationwide champion Michigan and a highway journey to Penn State, a pair of Wisconsin Nothing good comes of it.

The primary month was manageable.

Sweeping a non-conference slate that features rival Washington State, adopted by wins over Northwestern and Rutgers to open Huge Ten play ought to make bettors really feel assured come October.