What are the Odds? A Look At Penn State’s Dark-horse Chances
After another chaotic weekend of football, Penn State and Saquon Barkley’s stock are both on the rise. The Westgate Las Vegas Superbook released its latest odds to win the National Championship and Heisman Trophy, and Penn State and Saquon Barkley are both dark-horse candidates.
Penn State now has the 9th best odds to win the College Football Playoff at 50/1, well behind Alabama at 4/5. The Nittany Lions are also behind Big Ten foes Ohio State at 2/1, Michigan at 15/1, and Wisconsin at 15/1.
Sitting at 50/1 currently is a significant increase from opening at 300/1 before the season started. With a few more wins, and a couple of other teams (Michigan) losing, Penn State could see its odds shoot up in the next two weeks if it heads to the Big Ten Championship Game as Big Ten East Champions.
But Penn State isn’t the only one hoping to play spoiler this season. Saquon Barkley sat with 80/1 odds to win the coveted Heisman Trophy last May. Now, his odds have increased to 30/1 — good enough for the 6th best odds along with Washington’s Jake Browning — who sat right behind Jackson not long ago.
Lamar Jackson (@UofLFootball) is an even heavier Heisman favorite after the weekend, per @LVSuperBook. pic.twitter.com/sCcL6Gjf8m
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 14, 2016
It would take almost a perfect storm for Barkley to overcome heavy favorite Lamar Jackson who currently sits at 1-50 odds, but it’s still impressive nonetheless.
Barkley is sure to remain in Heisman consideration the rest of this year, and most likely next year as he attempts to become Penn State’s 2nd ever Heisman winner after John Cappelletti did it in 1973.
With Penn State favored in it’s final two regular season games vs Rutgers and Michigan State, both Penn State and Barkley are poised for big games which could help increase the Vegas odds even further. So if you like to roll the dice a bit and cheer for the underdogs, here is your perfect shot.
Also, Michigan quarterback Wilton Speight is reportedly out for the season. Remember that perfect storm?
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