9 Great College Football Futures Bets to Consider This Summer

The long, slow summer season is one of the best times to bet college football odds. That’s because BetMGM has a litany of futures markets to consider while reading your preferred preseason magazine of choice.

I spend a lot of time with the college football win totals during this portion of the year and inevitably land on roughly a dozen bets per year. During that evaluation process, I often find angles on other futures bets in different markets, like BetMGM’s conference odds, or the futures odds to make the 2026 College Football Playoff. 

After a few weeks of review, I’m coming up for air with my first tranche of futures predictions. Here we go. 

Ohio State

I’m starting with a bang here. Ohio State has been the class of the Big Ten in recent years, but I think their playoff certainty is being a little bit overvalued. The Big Ten is no longer a top-heavy monstrosity, and this is probably the weakest preseason position Ohio State has had in the 12-team playoff era.

The main rub here is the schedule. Ohio State will play road games this year at Texas, Iowa, Indiana, USC, and Nebraska. Nebraska should be a win, and your mileage may vary on how tough a road game at USC may be. But I believe the other three will all have a real chance to beat Ohio State. My modeling shows a 1-2 record is the statistically most likely outcome.

That’s to say nothing of Ohio State’s home games, where OSU will play both Michigan and Oregon. Over the last five seasons, Ohio State is 3-5 straight up in games against those two programs – and just 2-5 if you limit the sample to regular-season games. 

A -275 price to make the playoff implies that Ohio State should make the playoff in roughly three out of four playthroughs of this season. That’s a lot of expectation on a team with a question mark at OC, seven departing NFL players on defense, and a schedule this difficult. If Ohio State misses the Big Ten championship game, will its difficult strength of schedule get it into the CFP at 10-2? What about 9-3? 

This +200 price is lucrative enough for me to take the chance. 

Prediction: Ohio State Misses the Playoff (+200)

Yes @ -275 No @ +220

NC State

I like betting ACC win totals because the bottom half of the conference is typically pretty squishy. If you can identify which teams are going to be decent, they often end up with inflated records.

Enter Dave Doeren and NC State. The Wolfpack rattle off eight-win seasons like it’s their job, and they have CJ Bailey back at quarterback this year. A lot of the overall roster is filling holes with transfers, which is kind of standard procedure for power conference teams these days. The defense will be mediocre, but I like what Doeren has cooking with his offensive line. 

NC State’s early schedule is a challenge, partially because a neutral-site game originally scheduled for Brazil is now being played as a true conference road game at UVA. But after the Week 6 game against Louisville, the schedule should be very manageable with a lot of ACC slop. And from Sept. 26 through Nov. 14, NC State will play only one road game. 

Under these circumstances, I like Doeren to deliver another trademark eight-win season. 

Prediction: NC State Over 7.5 Wins (+100)

Over 7.5 @ +100 Under 7.5 @ -120

Fresno State

This might be my favorite bet of the summer so far. Fresno State has former North Dakota State coach Matt Entz at the helm, and he’s building a Bisonesque team. The defense is great up front and has a potential NFL DB with Simeon Harris playing nickel. The power run game should be even better with this year’s deeper, stronger offensive line.

Fresno will play a great clash-of-styles game against USC in Week 1 that I think the Bulldogs have a great chance to steal. But even if they don’t, they look on paper like they’re head and shoulders ahead of everyone else in the newly reformed Pac-12. I don’t like Boise State’s quarterback situation, and San Diego State will have a shockingly beatable defense this year. 

I like Fresno State over 7.5 – I would bet alts if I could – and I’ll take the Bulldogs at +650 to win the conference, too. Did I mention they’re 30-to-1 to make the CFP?

Prediction: Fresno State Over 7.5 Wins (+125); Fresno State Wins Pac-12 (+650); Fresno State Makes the Playoff (+3000)

Fresno State @ +650 Yes @ +3000

Colorado

Coach Prime has had enough. Deion Sanders is no longer coaching via hype, boom-or-bust recruits, annual roster overhauls, and vertical video. 

In Year 4 of the Deion Sanders experiment, everything appears to have changed. He’s rolling up his sleeves and doing the hard work of identifying overlooked talent in the portal, bringing in some impressive FCS guys and giving them a chance to contribute at a P4 school. 

I think this is the right approach for a middle-class program like Colorado, and I think it’s going to pay immediate dividends. I’m bullish on Colorado this year as a team that can make a bowl, which makes this over 4.5 at plus money a bet I quietly like. 

Prediction: Colorado Over 4.5 Wins (+135)

Over 4.5 @ +125 Under 4.5 @ -150

Florida State

If you’ve consumed any summer college football media, you’ve probably heard how tough Florida State’s schedule is in a make-or-break year for Mike Norvell.

And it’s true – Florida State’s schedule is tough. The Seminoles have two different SEC games on the schedule plus road games at Miami and Louisville. There’s also home games against NC State, Virginia, and whatever Clemson may or may not be this season. Oh, and they play stealth playoff contender SMU in Tallahassee in Week 1. 

As many have pointed out, this is a schedule that could get Norvell fired by mid-October. That’s absolutely true.

But there’s also an optimistic case for Florida State. 

Take the Week 1 game against SMU. It’s Monday night, the Mustangs’ season opener, and a true road game for SMU. But that’s not the case for Florida State, as the Noles will play a Week 0 tune-up against New Mexico State. And in college football, the Week 1 edge often goes to the team that’s already lined up and played live football.

How about that Week 3 game at Alabama? The Crimson Tide might have revenge on their mind after last year’s loss in Tallahassee, but they’ve also got a conference game against Kentucky in Week 2. FSU has a Week 2 bye and gets two weeks to prep for a team it beat last year.

I don’t have a rosy picture to paint you for a road game in Miami Gardens. But how confident will Florida State feel in stretch home games against UVA, Clemson, NC State, and Florida if it’s near the top of the ACC standings, with an SEC win already in pocket?

I like the Over 6.5 for Florida State as a zag against the market. But I’m also interested in buying some upper FSU distribution at a great cost. Florida State is a whopping 18-to-1 to make the CFP this season, and with this schedule, the Noles will have some margin for error to slip in as one of the final teams. This is truly great value for a team that I think will surprise people this season with an unforeseen bounceback. 

Prediction: Florida State Over 6.5 Wins (+150); Florida State Makes the Playoff (+1800)

Over 6.5 @ +165 Yes @ +1800

South Florida 

If you’ve checked out my G6 win totals chart already, you know that USF has some of the highest expectations of any non-power school.

That seems strange to me, since Alex Golesh and half the roster are gone. Brian Hartline is a first-time head coach breaking in a lot of new players, and the schedule isn’t exactly easy – Week 2 at Army, multiple weeknight road games, and a difficult final month of games. And the market has them back at 8.5, after last year’s great team finished with nine wins?

This is an under for me. I don’t get this number at all. 

Prediction: Under 8.5 Wins (-145)

Over 8.5 @ +115 Under 8.5 @ -140

Best College Football Futures Bets In the Summer of 2026

• Ohio State Misses Playoffs
• NC State Over 7.5 Wins
• Fresno State Over 7.5 Wins
• Colorado Over 4.5 Wins
• Florida State Over 6.5 Wins
• South Florida Under 8.5 Wins