Heisman Trophy ballots will be issued to voters on November 29th, but the odds at 18+ college football betting sites have already posted their top players in the United States and those lines will receive action until a winner is decided.
Sophomore quarterback for the University of Alabama Crimson Tide, Bryce Young, is currently the most likely to win according to NCAAF oddsmakers and the activity of college football gamblers. He’s been the projected winner since the below line debuted at Bovada Sportsbook, and he has distanced himself from the pack over that timespan.
2021-2022 Heisman Trophy Winner
- Bryce Young +180
- CJ Stroud +450
- Kenneth Walker +500
- Matt Corral +500
- Caleb Williams +800
The reason that Young has remained at the top has a lot to do with the Crimson Tide and their ability to keep on winning. Take Matt Corral of the Ole Miss Rebels as an example.
After Saturday’s loss to the Auburn Tigers by a score of 31-20, Matt Corral has now plummeted to the fourth overall spot in the Heisman odds.
The best player in college football would certainly impact their team’s ability to win games. One would not expect a Heisman Trophy winner to come from a program that is hovering around .500.
That said, the Heisman is not an MVP Trophy. Did Corral suddenly become less talented because Ole Miss lost to a stacked Auburn Tigers team?
NFL Draft betting odds still suggest that Matt Corral will be the top quarterback selected next April, and could be the number one pick depending on which franchise is doing the choosing.
Bryce Young is not currently listed in those NFL Draft odds, indicating his intentions to remain with Alabama for at least his junior season. That could change if the Crimson Tide rolls all the way through January 10th and wins yet another National Championship.
The odds at CFP betting sites still place Alabama number two overall behind the Georgia Bulldogs, indicating that the SEC Championship Game will decide the bracket seeding which could provide room for both the Crimson Tide and UGA to make it depending on the final result.
If Alabama loses the SEC Championship to Georgia, the Crimson Tide will have suffered their second loss and will almost certainly be excluded from the College Football Playoffs. The loss would also likely cause Young to stick around for another season at ‘Bama.
If the Tide wins, then that opens the door for both Alabama and Georgia to take up two of the final four CFP spots, and that means bad news for either the Cincinnati Bearcats, Oklahoma Sooners, or the eventual winner of the Big Ten.
The SEC Title Game will occur on December 4th. All Heisman votes are due two days later on the 6th, and that evening, the finalists will be announced. The timing is strategic, but do voters really need more evidence of the top player’s talent or are they simply looking for a loss as a convenient excuse to downgrade an athlete?
Also worth considering – Bryce Young’s 2022 NFL Draft potential if Alabama wins the National Championship. After checking that box, Young will be tempted by the dollars that can be earned by a top quarterback in the draft, and his inclusion will certainly disrupt the current projections.
Hindsight is 20/20, but in the present, analysts grab hold of what they can and hope for the best. The window of opportunity is so tiny in NCAAF that voters have limited snaps to evaluate skill levels. Therefore, a loss is just as important of a stat as any other, perhaps more so.