Lawrence Becomes New Heisman Favorite
While the college football world has been in flux for the last several weeks (and months), the sports betting world has also dealt with challenges.
Game lines and future options were pulled from most American and offshore sportsbooks while the Power 5 conferences figured out if and when they'd be playing this fall.
Now that it appears the ACC, SEC and Big 12 are moving forward with a 2020 season, along with a three Group of 5 leagues, and the Big Ten and Pac-12 are attempting to wait until the spring, new odds are finally being released.
A few months ago, the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy was Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields (+350), but with the Buckeyes sitting out this fall, Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence has taken over the top spot at +200, according to betonline.ag.
Lawrence was previously second behind Fields at 4-to-1 odds. He's now the overwhelming favorite among remaining options. The rest of the betting list speaks to the lack of established stars at the key position nationally, only strengthening Lawrence's chances.
Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler is second at 9/1 in his first year as a starter. Of course, head coach Lincoln Riley has already coached three Heisman finalists and two winners (Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray) in the last three seasons.
Miami's D'Eriq King, LSU's Myles Brennan and Texas' Sam Ehlinger are at 14/1. Only the Longhorns QB completed last season as King redshirted after four games at Houston and Brennan sat behind Heisman winner Joe Burrow.
Clemson running back Travis Etienne is the second non-QB listed at 25/1. Oklahoma State RB Chuba Hubbard is the first at 16/1.
Clemson has never had a Heisman winner, although the award is named after former Tiger head coach John Heisman. Former QB Deshaun Watson was a two-time finalist, but Clemson's lone representative of all-time at the New York City ceremony never took the award home.
There might not be a better year for a Tiger to win the prestigious honor. Lawrence, who entered last season second in Heisman odds behind Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa, had a strong fall camp and despite losing his top two receivers from last year, has Etienne in the backfield to keep defenses honest.
Lawrence threw for 3,665 yards and 36 touchdowns in 15 games. He added nine more scores on the ground but was hurt in the 2019 Heisman race with eight interceptions in his first seven games. He didn't throw another pick the rest of the season and had eight consecutive games with at least three TD passes.
ACC odds update
The ACC announced a few weeks ago that it was going to 10 conference games, one non-conference game schedule and added Notre Dame to the league for 2020.
Betonline.ag kept Clemson as the favorite to win the ACC at -300. Back in March, Clemson was an overwhelming -600 favorite, but the addition of Notre Dame to the league title race plus having Miami, Pitt and Virginia Tech on the Tigers' slate has changed their chances.
Still, Clemson is greatly expected to win this league. Notre Dame is second at 5/1, followed by North Carolina (10/1), Miami (12/1), Florida State (20/1) and Virginia Tech (20/1).
