College Football Betting: Countdown To New College Season Continues

Less than a month away from the kickoff of a new college football sports betting season, the anticipation is building for what promises to be an exciting year on the gridiron. The SEC has dominated the national title scene for the past six seasons, with the Alabama Crimson Tide and Florida Gators accounting for four of the conference’s six national championships over that span. The SEC will look to make it seven-straight in 2013, with all of the 5Dimes action set to kick off the first weekend of September.

The defending BCS champion Crimson Tide will kick off their season at Arlington, Texas in Cowboys Stadium, with an intriguing matchup against the Michigan Wolverines. Alabama lost half of its starters on offense and defense following its second national title in three years, but its offensive line remains one of the best in the country and quarterback AJ McCarron is one of the best in the SEC at managing the game.

Head coach Nick Saban has recruited better than anyone else in the nation over the past five years, and while some will wonder how the Crimson Tide will make up for the talent they lost from last year’s team, most are simply wondering which of the newcomers will break through and fill the vacated slots. Michigan is coming off an 11-2 season an Super Bowl win in Rich Rodriguez’s first season, and that has led to heightened expectations at Ann Arbor. Denard Robinson and Fitzgerald Toussaint are elite threats on the ground, but the biggest question heading in to this game will be whether or not Robinson has the arm to move the ball through the air against the Alabama defense.

As for the other SEC team that finished 13-1 a year ago, the LSU Tigers will have a much easier opening day betting opponent when they welcome the North Texas Mean Green of the Sun Belt conference to Louisiana with kickoff one hour prior to the start of the ‘Bama opener. The Tigers get the Crimson Tide at home this season and should have enough motivation to make another title run, beginning when they take their frustrations over last year out on North Texas. Georgia finished with 10 wins in the SEC a year ago and will open that Saturday afternoon against Buffalo, while Florida State, which is considered another SEC contender, takes on Murray State at home.

The school generating the most buzz from outside the SEC in terms of national title contention is USC. The Trojans welcome back quarterback Matt Barkley and wide receivers Marqise Lee and Robert Woods, and could also have running back Silas Redd in time for kickoff if they can convince him to leave Penn State. There is no denying the USC offense as the most dangerous in the country, but the big question there is how it will perform against an SEC defense. The Trojans open their season against Hawaii on opening Saturday, and college bookies aren’t expecting anything less than a dominant, statement performance from Barkley and the offense. For all of the college odds for opening weekend, be sure to check out this football betting site.