We’ve learned a lot about most of the Group of Five teams through the first five weeks of the season.
Who’s a legitimate contender for the College Football Playoff, and who’s not. Which teams are struggling or thriving under first-year head coaches. And which teams could have a shot at winning their respective conference championships.
We know the easy answers and which teams are locked in as favorites like Boise State and Liberty, but who are some of the other teams that have great college football betting odds value to win their league title?
Navy +600 To Win The AAC
What a pleasant surprise the Midshipmen have been so far this season. They are currently tied for first in the AAC with Army. Both teams are 3-0 in conference play.
This isn’t a crazy selection, but there is still plenty of value here. Navy’s odds to win the conference are fourth shortest in the league after it was a +3500 long shot in the preseason.
The Midshipmen already knocked off Memphis but still have to play the other top teams in the league. They should have no problems with Charlotte or Rice. The final three conference games of the season will be telling, however. Navy faces South Florida, Tulane, and East Carolina to close out the conference slate.
Navy’s final game of the year is of course the meeting with Army, but that contest will not count as a conference game despite both teams being in AAC. There’s already been discussion that Army and Navy could meet in back-to-back weeks, both in the AAC title game on Dec. 6 and then again in their annual meeting on Dec. 14.
This outcome looks more and more realistic each week.
Sam Houston +600 To Win Conference USA
Last week, Sam Houston picked up a huge upset win over Texas State. The Bearkats were able to keep pace with the Bobcats’ offense and prevailed on a last-second field goal from Christian Pavon. The win moved them to No. 10 in the HERO Sports G5 Top 25. Outside of a loss to UCF, the Bearkats have looked great this year. They were +1800 to win the conference in the preseason.
From the way it looks now, SHSU should have no trouble with the remainder of its CUSA games besides Western Kentucky and Liberty. It plays WKU in two weeks and hosts Liberty in the final week of the season. If the Bearkats can defeat WKU, then their odds to make the CUSA Championship obviously drastically increase. There’s a chance they could meet Liberty in back-to-back weeks.
The Bearkats have already knocked off one of the top G5 programs. Who says they can’t do it again?
Marshall +1400 To Win The Sun Belt
The odds for the Thundering Herd to win the Sun Belt have barely moved since the preseason when they were sitting at +1600. They haven’t really done much for their odds to be any shorter than that.
What’s encouraging is that, outside of James Madison, the rest of the conference hasn’t looked much better. I like the way the Herd’s schedule plays out, and I think they have a serious chance to win each of their conference games. They avoid Texas State and Louisiana and get App State and Coastal Carolina at home. A win against App State this weekend will be key. Marshall’s toughest game will be in Week 14 against JMU.
They’ll need to clean some things up, but the Thundering Herd could easily go 6-2 in league play, which could be enough to land a spot in the Sun Belt title game.
