Eight 2019 College Football Betting Predictions

We are still a couple months away from the 2019 college football season, which should feature a lot of high-flying offense due to the high caliber of quarterbacks who are either set to graduate or to head to the NFL after the season. Will Alabama and Clemson play for the national championship yet again? Will the Pac-12 get a team into the College Football Playoff? Will Notre Dame have another dominant season? Don’t miss our 2019 College Football betting insights as you consider your futures wagers for the coming season.

Eight 2019 College Football Betting Predictions

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Notre Dame will not return to the College Football Playoff

Ian Book is back to lead the Fighting Irish offense, and he will be one of the best quarterbacks in the nation, but the offense lost wideout Miles Boykin and two anchors in their offensive line in Alex Bars and Sam Mustipher. Notre Dame has to play at Georgia and Michigan this year, and they also face USC at home and Stanford on the road. Could the Irish lose two games? Definitely — and maybe more. They won’t be in the national semifinals this year.

Nebraska will make the Big Ten Championship

Yes, they finished 4-8 last year. But they are in the Big Ten West, and they do not play road games against any Top 25 teams. They get to play Ohio State at home, and when they play Wisconsin, they do so coming out of the bye. Other than that, they have the softer West Division schedule. Can quarterback Adrian Martinez deliver? We think so.

Alabama will have two Heisman Trophy semifinalists

Jerry Jeudy and Tua Tagovailoa could be the nation’s best quarterback-wide receiver duo. Jeudy won the Biletnikoff Award as a sophomore last year, and Tagovailoa will have tons of motivation after getting demolished by Clemson in the national championship game last year. If Tagovailoa and Jeudy have monster seasons, they would emerge as first-round draft picks next year in the NFL.

Sam Ehlinger will lead Texas to the Big 12 Championship

Sam Ehlinger has developed the leadership abilities to lead the Longhorns to the next level this year. Some observers think he could account for 50 or more touchdowns, which will be necessary if the Texas defense cannot recover from the losses they suffered on the defensive side of the ball. But with few other elite teams in the conference besides Oklahoma, this is the time for Texas to step back into the college football elite.

Georgia will fall to Florida

Both teams could be in the Top 10 when they meet in Jacksonville. Florida will be hard pressed to enter unbeaten, as they face Auburn, LSU and South Carolina in the three games before Georgia. The Bulldogs do have Jake Fromm returning, but the stout Florida defense has a better offense alongside it this year, and the Gators are due.

Oregon will win the Pac-12

Washington State is another sexy pic here, but Oregon’s defense is better. Justin Herbert returns at quarterback to lead a solid offense. The Ducks do play at Stanford, Washington, USC and Arizona State, but in a conference without a true elite team, defense speaks volumes, and the Ducks have better stopping power than many of their competition.

The Big Ten will have zero playoff teams

No Big Ten team has appeared in the College Football Playoff since Ohio State took a 31-0 beating against Clemson in the national semifinals after the 2016 campaign. Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Michigan State will all give each other enough losses to keep any of them from qualifying. It would be very easy to see the Big Ten champion having two losses, and unless Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Oklahoma and Texas all stumble similarly, the committee will not have sympathy.

Clemson will have at least one regular-season loss

They play Syracuse on the road — where they lost two years ago — and they almost lost to Syracuse at home last year. They almost lost to Texas A&M last year, and they face the Aggies again in 2019. They head to North Carolina State and South Carolina, both possible upsets. Given that the Tigers have had a hard time running the table in the past, there’s no reason to predict an unbeaten 2019 either.