2021 NCAA Football Betting – The SEC is widely considered the deepest conference in college football, although there are plenty of Big Ten fans who would vehemently challenge that assertion. That may be a difficult case to make for the upper Midwest residents, as four different SEC programs have combined to win 11 of the last 15 national championships, including seven in a row from 2006 to 2012 and four of the last six.
Even though some are predicting a down year for the league, especially at the quarterback position, oddsmakers have five SEC teams among the top nine in the odds to win the national championship, claimed by Alabama with their 52 – 24 win over Ohio State after last season. They lead the way, but Georgia is well-positioned at third to possibly give the conference a pair of teams in the College Football Playoff.
Alabama Crimson Tide (11.5 wins, -113 over/ -113 under)
Also Alabama ran the table in a difficult 2020 season, led by quarterback Mac Jones who was selected by the New England Patriots with the 15th pick in the first round of the NFL Draft. The Crimson Tide, who finished the season with a 13-0 record, probably didn’t get the credit they deserved because of all of the distractions throughout the fall.
There doesn’t appear to be much of a drop-off for Alabama as they will be led by Bryce Young at quarterback, a sophomore who barely made it onto the field in 2020. On defense, they bring back eight starters from a squad that wasn’t up to the usual Crimson Tide standards, but it wasn’t as much of a concern with an offense that was second in the nation in scoring and fourth in total yards at 542 per game.
Pick: I have Alabama going 11-1, so take the under as a loss should come at either Florida or Texas A&M.
Georgia Bulldogs (10.5, -113o/-113u)
The Bulldogs had a disappointing offensive campaign in 2020, but their defense was the reason they were able to beat everyone on their schedule except division winners Alabama and Florida. The offense got rolling at the end of the season when J.T. Daniels stepped in at quarterback to lead Georgia to three straight SEC wins, averaging almost 42 points a game.
A defense that ranked second in the country last year might take a step back, but it won’t be significant enough to seriously damage Georgia’s chances of winning the SEC East and advancing to the conference title game in Atlanta. On the other side of the ball, the Bulldogs bring back seven starters off a team that ended the season, defeating a very good Cincinnati team in the Peach Bowl.
Pick: The Bulldogs open against Clemson in Charlotte, but win or lose, they can go unbeaten in the SEC due to a favorable schedule that will put them at 11-1, so bet on the over. Check out the 2021 SEC Football Standings on the ESPN website
Texas A&M Aggies (9.5, -113o/-113u)
Head coach Jimbo Fisher has nine returning starters off the conference’s top defensive unit which gave up just 21.7 points a game in their 9-1 season in 2020 that ended with an impressive 41-27 win over North Carolina in the Orange Bowl. The challenge on offense will be to find a replacement for three-year starter Kellen Mond at quarterback and to fill some holes on the offensive line.
However, there is a lot of good news, with leading rusher Isaiah Spiller coming back after gaining 1,036 yards, averaging 5.5 yards per carry, and scoring nine touchdowns. The Aggies’ entire receiving corps is back as well, including leading producers Jalen Wydermyer and Ainias Smith, who combined for 1070 yards and 12 scores.
Pick: The Aggies host Alabama and play Missouri and South Carolina from the SEC East, dodging the top two teams in the other division. If A&M stays healthy, they should easily blow by that 9.5 win total, so take the over, all day and every day. The 2021 NCAA Football season is set to be an exciting one!
Florida Gators (9.0, -125o/-110u)
The Gators are coming off an SEC East division crown, but they dropped their final three games of the season after starting out 8-1 with visions of a College Football Playoff berth. Ultimately, a defense that ranked well outside the top half of the FBS wasn’t able to rely on quarterback Kyle Trask to bail them out.
Florida gave up almost 31 points a game, including an average of 48 in their season-ending losses to LSU, Alabama, and Oklahoma. Granted, that’s a tough stretch for any team, but it’s still a lot of points to give up for a team aspiring to be relevant at the national level.
The offense will look a lot different in 2021, with dual-threat quarterback Emory Jones leading the way after the departure of Trask, who was drafted at the end of the second round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a possible successor to Tom Brady. It’s doubtful the Gators will again lead the nation in passing offense, but Jones should give them more balance and help to improve a running game that was 96th in the nation.
Pick: This is a tough pick, as I have the Gators winning nine games. If they stumble with a new quarterback and the defense doesn’t come around, it could be a bad year in Gainseville. If you have to bet this one, take the under.
The Rest of the SEC – 2021 NCAA Football
LSU has an over/under total of 8.5 (+105o/-134u), but outside of Alabama and Texas A&M, they should be able to handle the rest for ten wins, so take the over and the good odds. Another good opportunity is Kentucky, who is at 7.0 (-125o/+100u) but could challenge in the SEC East if Florida stumbles and Georgia’s offense isn’t as good as predicted, is a solid bet to win seven games, which at worst is a push.
An over/under total of 7.0 (-110o/-139u) for Auburn looks quite optimistic, with a 6-6 or 5-7 much more likely, with games at Penn State, LSU, Arkansas, and Texas A&M making the under bet the way to go with 7 wins the ceiling for the Tigers. One other good wager is the under for Mississippi State at 6.0 (-113o/-113u), who plays N.C. State and Memphis out of conference and travels to Arkansas and Auburn; two must-wins to get to six victories.
Conference and National Championship Odds
Alabama is the odds on favorite to capture the SEC Championship at -165, despite the strength at the top of the SEC West and with crucial road contests at Florida, Texas A&M, and Auburn. If they win their division, they’ll most likely have to contend with a Georgia team with odds of +200 that could be one the best ever in the storied history of the Bulldog program.
Lurking at third, but with long odds of +1100 to win the SEC, is Texas A&M, who plays a schedule that would allow them to win the SEC West with a home win over Alabama. The way the Aggies finished 2020 and with all of those starters back on defense, watch out for Jimbo Fisher’s fourth A&M team to turn out to be the charm.
SEC Title Pick: It’s about time for Alabama to have things go against them, so at +1100, Texas A&M is worth the wager to defeat Georgia in the title game.
Other Football News
A huge opening weekend game with substantial national implications is Georgia’s showdown with Clemson, who is at +450 to come out on top of the College Football Playoff, just behind Alabama’s nation-leading +260 and ahead of Georgia and Ohio State’s +600. If Georgia can upend the Tigers, it could not only pave the way for an unbeaten regular season but also signal to the rest of the country just how good Kirby Smart’s 2021 Bulldogs really are.
It’s entirely possible that if Georgia knocks off Clemson, the SEC could again be looking at the serious possibility of having a pair of teams in the College Football Playoff. As much as the rest of the Power Five conferences despise the notion, it would be impossible not to take a Georgia win over Clemson into consideration at the end of the season.
Other 2021 NCAA Football News
Oklahoma is at +800 to win the national championship, the last of any team with less than +4000 odds, which belong to Iowa State and Texas A&M. Although Iowa State will surely be in the Big 12 mix, Oklahoma is coming off eight wins to close the 2020 season, and they are absolutely stacked with talent, giving them the edge in the conference. Check out some of the BParlay.com College Football Parlay Picks below:
Pick: A College Football Playoff field in order of ranking of Ohio State (+600 to win it all), Oklahoma (+800), Texas A&M (+4000), and Georgia (+600).
Pick: Georgia over Ohio State and Texas A&M over Oklahoma, with Texas A&M winning the national championship in a rematch win over Georgia in the College Football Playoff championship game, justifying the school’s massive investment in Jimbo Fisher as the head coach.
More news for the 2021 NCAA Football Betting season will be published soon!
