Joey Aguilar passes Nico Iamaleava in Heisman Trophy odds after Tennessee, UCLA transfers

On Monday, former UCLA quarterback Joey Aguilar committed to Tennessee via the NCAA Transfer Portal. The move came only one day after former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava officially transferred to UCLA.

In what many fans are calling college football’s first trade, there are endless storylines to pick apart. However, one of the more interesting ones is unfolding on the sportsbooks.

According to FanDuel, Aguilar now has significantly better odds than Iamaleava to win the Heisman Trophy next season. Aguilar has +4500 odds while Iamaleava is sitting at +8000.

In fairness, team success plays a large role in Heisman voting and there was a serious discrepancy between the two programs in that category last season. Tennessee went 10-2 during the regular season and made its first College Football Playoff appearance.

In comparison, UCLA floundered in its first season under head coach DeShaun Foster, posting a 5-7 record and missing out on bowl season. Nonetheless, the Bruins are hopeful that Iamaleava can turn the program in a new direction.

After all, Iamaleava tallied 2,616 passing yards and 19 touchdowns while throwing five interceptions last season. He also recorded 358 yards and three scores in the ground game.

Alas, Iamleava isn’t the only who had a standout 2024 campaign. At Appalachian State last season, Joey Aguilar recorded 3,003 passing yards and 23 touchdowns, in comparison to 14 interceptions. He also notched 207 rushing yards and two rushing scores.

Of course, at Appalachian State, Aguilar wasn’t facing nearly the same level of competition that Iamaleava was battling on a weekly basis. Nonetheless, Las Vegas seems confident Aguilar will meet the challenge head-on in the upcoming season.

To pile on, Tennessee saved a significant amount of money by signing Aguilar to replace Iamaleava. According to a report from Yahoo! Sports, Tennessee is expected to pay Aguilar up to seven figures less than Iamaleava’s scheduled $2.4 million compensation.

Evidently, oddsmakers expect Tennessee to get its money’s worth. They aren’t the only ones. In a column on Monday, On3’s Ari Wasserman raved about the opportunity in front of Joey Aguilar.

“Emerging from the myst of a dysfunctional situation is one of the coolest stories college football has seen recently,” Wasserman wrote. “Yes, it was basically the first trade in modern transfer portal history. But, more importantly, Aguilar suddenly finds himself at a more prominent program with a chance to be a Tennessee folk hero for generations. You can’t make this stuff up.”

Only time will tell which quarterback will have the better season. However, there’s no denying both QBs will have each other in the back of their respective minds.