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New coaches can immediately turn around a team, but if you think new Miami Hurricanes head coach Mark Richt can swoop in and collect a national championship his first year, well, Vegas wants to tamper your expectations. Las Vegas sports betting websites have released their (possibly way too) early odds for next year’s title.
The Hurricanes are a 66-to-1 long shot.
Alabama, 7-1
Clemson, 15-2
Baylor, 12-1
Michigan, 12-1
Ohio State, 12-1
The Canes, meanwhile, have the same odds as South Carolina, Washington, Utah, and Washington State.
Of Miami’s opponents next season, Notre Dame has the best odds, at 14-1. Florida State isn’t far behind, with 16-1 odds. North Carolina, meanwhile, is the only other team on the schedule that has higher odds than Miami, coming in at 50-1.
But how much do these stats really matter? Well, last year at this time, Bovada gave Alabama, the eventual champ, 10-1 odds, the third highest. Ohio State, the 2014 champ, was Vegas’ favorite last year, but a regular-season loss to Michigan State put Ohio out of the national title discussion.
Clemson, which came within five points of taking home the title this season, wasn’t high on Vegas’ radar last January. The Tigers had a more meager 33-1 odds (the same as Richt’s then-team Georgia, for what it’s worth).
Miami, meanwhile, had 75-1 odds in Bovada’s early odds last year. So
Of course, a first-year coach taking it all home is virtually unheard of in college football. The only man to do so happened to be Canes coach Larry Coker, who, as we all know, had the advantage of coaching a team largely assembled by Butch Davis.
