SEC Betting Odds: Why Is Conference an Underdog to Win BCS Title

The SEC is considered an underdog bet to win the BCS Championship in January by one sportsbook that posted odds Wednesday.

Despite winning the past seven college football national championships and despite the fact that Alabama and Texas A&M hold down the top betting positions on the BCS futures list, the "field" is considered the favorite.

"The field is all the other conferences combined and when you consider that there are some very good teams in other 10 'other' conferences, the Southeast Conference is not a lock to win again," said Jack Randall, a football handicapping at OddsShark.com, who was interviewed Wednesday.

Indeed, an SEC victory in the BCS title game would pay +100 (even odds) as of today. Meanwhile, to wager on the rest of the teams is a -140 moneyline proposition.

Kevin Bradley, the sportsbook manager at Bovada, was asked to explain the decision.

“Even though Alabama and Texas A&M are currently our frontrunners, there are still a lot of quality teams in the BCS and Oregon and Ohio State in particular are legitimate threats to win it all,” he said Wednesday.

“So the line reflects the sheer volume of ‘other’ teams while respecting the SEC domination of the BCS title game.”

And that domination has been thorough and consistent. The last non-SEC to win college football's title game was the Vince Young-led Texas Longhorns over USC in 2006.

Alabama has won two straight titles while outscoring their foes 63-14. Two years ago, LSU joined Bama in the title game, an unprecedented scenario where two teams from the same conference battled for the national crown.

The latest college football betting odds on the BCS title.

Alabama    3/1

Texas A&M    13/2

Ohio State    13/2

Oregon    7/1 

Georgia    14/1 

Stanford    16/1 

LSU    18/1 

Florida State    22/1 

Louisville    22/1 

Clemson    25/1 

Florida    25/1 

Miami    28/1 

Michigan    28/1 

South Carolina    28/1 

Oklahoma State    33/1 

Texas    33/1 

Nebraska    50/1 

Notre Dame    50/1 

Oklahoma    50/1 

UCLA    50/1 

USC    50/1 

TCU    66/1 

Wisconsin    66/1 

Boise State    100/1 

Michigan State    100/1 

Oregon State    100/1