*This is not a sponsored post, we have no affiliation to BetRivers (just pumped to see conference champion futures released this early)
Okay let me make something clear before you screenshot this in June and tag @oldtakesexposed on Twitter.
I am 36 hours removed from appendix surgery and still on heavy dose of pain meds that make me dream about giraffes doing handstands. True story.
But let's have a DISCUSSION, yes a discussion, about who I think has a lot of value on BetRivers college baseball conference futures a month before the season starts.
ACC:
At first glance, Wake Forest at +200 seems like a really safe bet. If you are actually smart with your money you should go ahead and take WF now before these odds get lower. BUT, if you are a thrill seeking loser like me, you should look really hard into taking Duke @ +1400 and have a nice safety net with Clemson at +475. Personally, I am very high on Wake Forest again this year but this conference will be competitive from top to bottom and they will have the target on their backs every single weekend. Duke will have the pitching to compete with anyone, and Clemson looks better all around on paper than last years team who was the #4 overall postseason team.
BIG 10:
We are going to avoid Iowa here boys and girls. The number is way too short, and the whole college baseball world is hyping this team up like crazy this offseason. This formula usually doesn't end up well for teams. Plus, after doing my own Big 10 research I think Iowa is the 3rd or 4th best team in the Big 10. Now I will say that this conference is so much better this year than before. I am truly excited to watch Big 10 weekend ball, especially in the non-conference. All of these teams hit the transfer portal, grabbed some Juco studs, and also return a lot of talent. As far as gambling on who will win the conference... Indiana +700 is my answer. They are going to be dangerous this season fellas. Built for the weekends, and have a huge home field advantage. I was shocked to see the 7/1 number for this team. Another team I would take a flyer on this year is Nebraska, even tho their odds are less than the Hoosiers. The Huskers lost some studs off of their team from last year, including 1st round Shorstop Brice Matthews, but this looks like the best pitching staff they have had in a long time.
BIG 12:
It's exciting to see more than 9 teams in the Big 12 this year, even tho we will be losing Texas and Oklahoma next season. But anyways, this conference is very top heavy. I'm sorry Cincy, BYU, and Baylor... yall have no chance this season. UCF and Houston are interesting to me, but highly doubt they can win the conference regular season. They are both talented and added nice pieces, but this isn't the American Athletic anymore. IF I were to suggest a long shot dark horse, it would be Kansas at +1300 because they loaded up with the #1 JUCO class in America this year. I don't know much about their players yet, but sometimes those JUCO players are savages on the field and dominate D1 ball. I will not be betting Kansas tho. This is where it gets interesting because I believe there are only 3 teams who can win this conference regular season, and they are Texas, TCU, and OK State. They have separated themselves with pitching depth and top round MLB draft prospects. You really can't go wrong with any of these teams because it's going to come down to the last 2 weekend series. Give me TCU +375 and don't yell at me when they finish in dead last.
PAC 12:
Oregon State is going to be a popular pick from everyone, including myself. They are stacked like an SEC team out west and have the best player in the nation, Travis Bazanna. If you are looking for a solid team who recruited well the last 2 years and have a coach you would run thru a wall for, look across the state of Oregon to the Ducks. I think this Ducks team is either going to make it to Omaha or not even make a regional. On paper and after doing research on their roster, I like the pieces they have... a very underrated team I shall add. I am probably going to dabble in a little Ducks action for all future bets. To win the PAC, to make the CWS, and even win the CWS. The potential is there, so why not try to get the best number now before the whole world knows. Also, if you are a SICKO, you should maybe throw a little coin on USC +1500... i know it sounds crazy, but this team is going to be fun to watch and really talented. They probably won't win the conference, but it will be fun to root for.
SEC:
Lastly, we have the king conference of college baseball. This one is going to be a mess because I truly think all 14 teams are good enough to host a regional. Yes I said what I said. As much as I like Mizzou, and UGA as Omaha sleepers this year, let's go ahead and eliminate them from winning the SEC regular season. Ole Miss and Miss St don't have enough proven weekend pitching to win the regular season either, unless someone comes out of nowhere which has happened in the past. You have to remember, it's probably harder to win the SEC than it is to win a regional and super regional. So just because I am eliminating teams, doesn't mean I think they are bad. Personally, I don't think LSU or Florida win the regular season this year because of a few reasons. They are focused more on trying to stay healthy for the postseason, neither have the weekend rotations they had last year, and they will both have a target on their back every damn weekend. So for my betting pick to win the SEC, I'm looking at 2 teams pretty heavy... Arkansas +550 and Texas A&M +650. Both of these teams have hard nosed head coaches who have shown over the last decade that they play the regular season full throttle, and I believe they both reloaded especially with pitching. The Aggies were big transfer portal winners this offseason and brought in huge freshmen who could have signed for $1,000,000+ out of high school. Arkansas probably has the best pitching staff in the nation looking at advanced metrics. I'm thinking this might be the magic year they win the CWS.
*This is not a sponsored post, we have no affiliation to BetRivers (just pumped to see conference champion futures released this early)
Okay let me make something clear before you screenshot this in June and tag @oldtakesexposed on Twitter.
I am 36 hours removed from appendix surgery and still on heavy dose of pain meds that make me dream about giraffes doing handstands. True story.
But let's have a DISCUSSION, yes a discussion, about who I think has a lot of value on BetRivers college baseball conference futures a month before the season starts.
ACC:
At first glance, Wake Forest at +200 seems like a really safe bet. If you are actually smart with your money you should go ahead and take WF now before these odds get lower. BUT, if you are a thrill seeking loser like me, you should look really hard into taking Duke @ +1400 and have a nice safety net with Clemson at +475. Personally, I am very high on Wake Forest again this year but this conference will be competitive from top to bottom and they will have the target on their backs every single weekend. Duke will have the pitching to compete with anyone, and Clemson looks better all around on paper than last years team who was the #4 overall postseason team.
BIG 10:
We are going to avoid Iowa here boys and girls. The number is way too short, and the whole college baseball world is hyping this team up like crazy this offseason. This formula usually doesn't end up well for teams. Plus, after doing my own Big 10 research I think Iowa is the 3rd or 4th best team in the Big 10. Now I will say that this conference is so much better this year than before. I am truly excited to watch Big 10 weekend ball, especially in the non-conference. All of these teams hit the transfer portal, grabbed some Juco studs, and also return a lot of talent. As far as gambling on who will win the conference... Indiana +700 is my answer. They are going to be dangerous this season fellas. Built for the weekends, and have a huge home field advantage. I was shocked to see the 7/1 number for this team. Another team I would take a flyer on this year is Nebraska, even tho their odds are less than the Hoosiers. The Huskers lost some studs off of their team from last year, including 1st round Shorstop Brice Matthews, but this looks like the best pitching staff they have had in a long time.
BIG 12:
It's exciting to see more than 9 teams in the Big 12 this year, even tho we will be losing Texas and Oklahoma next season. But anyways, this conference is very top heavy. I'm sorry Cincy, BYU, and Baylor... yall have no chance this season. UCF and Houston are interesting to me, but highly doubt they can win the conference regular season. They are both talented and added nice pieces, but this isn't the American Athletic anymore. IF I were to suggest a long shot dark horse, it would be Kansas at +1300 because they loaded up with the #1 JUCO class in America this year. I don't know much about their players yet, but sometimes those JUCO players are savages on the field and dominate D1 ball. I will not be betting Kansas tho. This is where it gets interesting because I believe there are only 3 teams who can win this conference regular season, and they are Texas, TCU, and OK State. They have separated themselves with pitching depth and top round MLB draft prospects. You really can't go wrong with any of these teams because it's going to come down to the last 2 weekend series. Give me TCU +375 and don't yell at me when they finish in dead last.
PAC 12:
Oregon State is going to be a popular pick from everyone, including myself. They are stacked like an SEC team out west and have the best player in the nation, Travis Bazanna. If you are looking for a solid team who recruited well the last 2 years and have a coach you would run thru a wall for, look across the state of Oregon to the Ducks. I think this Ducks team is either going to make it to Omaha or not even make a regional. On paper and after doing research on their roster, I like the pieces they have... a very underrated team I shall add. I am probably going to dabble in a little Ducks action for all future bets. To win the PAC, to make the CWS, and even win the CWS. The potential is there, so why not try to get the best number now before the whole world knows. Also, if you are a SICKO, you should maybe throw a little coin on USC +1500... i know it sounds crazy, but this team is going to be fun to watch and really talented. They probably won't win the conference, but it will be fun to root for.
SEC:
Lastly, we have the king conference of college baseball. This one is going to be a mess because I truly think all 14 teams are good enough to host a regional. Yes I said what I said. As much as I like Mizzou, and UGA as Omaha sleepers this year, let's go ahead and eliminate them from winning the SEC regular season. Ole Miss and Miss St don't have enough proven weekend pitching to win the regular season either, unless someone comes out of nowhere which has happened in the past. You have to remember, it's probably harder to win the SEC than it is to win a regional and super regional. So just because I am eliminating teams, doesn't mean I think they are bad. Personally, I don't think LSU or Florida win the regular season this year because of a few reasons. They are focused more on trying to stay healthy for the postseason, neither have the weekend rotations they had last year, and they will both have a target on their back every damn weekend. So for my betting pick to win the SEC, I'm looking at 2 teams pretty heavy... Arkansas +550 and Texas A&M +650. Both of these teams have hard nosed head coaches who have shown over the last decade that they play the regular season full throttle, and I believe they both reloaded especially with pitching. The Aggies were big transfer portal winners this offseason and brought in huge freshmen who could have signed for $1,000,000+ out of high school. Arkansas probably has the best pitching staff in the nation looking at advanced metrics. I'm thinking this might be the magic year they win the CWS.
