Gambling experts believe Penn State is national championship dark horse
Penn State kicks off preseason practice later today and expectations couldn’t be higher. Following a 10-2 season and a win over Utah in the Rose Bowl, head coach James Franklin and his staff have assembled one of the most talented teams under his leadership.
With top players like Kalen King, Abdul Carter, Chop Robinson and others returning on defense, there’s a case to be made that the Nittany Lions have one of the most talented defenses in the country this year.
During this week’s Big Ten betting preview on The Action Network’s “Big Bets on Campus” podcast, lead college football analysts George Stuckey and Collin Wilson supported that claim. In fact, Wilson took it a step further.
“I’d put money on it right now, and I don’t know how we grade it: this is the best defense in college football, by far,” he said, referring to Penn State. “I think this team raced out to 100 PBUs last year by game seven. That’s not going to change. You got Kalen King at cornerback, Abdul Carter and Curtis [Jacobs] at linebacker. Both play excellent pass coverage.
“Then, when you go to the offensive side of the ball, I saw Nick Singleton in the Rose Bowl. I mean, he’s just unbelievable in space.”
When discussing the Nittany Lions, which starts around the 12:35 mark in the video above, Wilson mentioned that one of his best bets so far in the futures market is to take the Nittany Lions to make this year’s College Football Playoff.
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“My bet that I’ve already thrown money on is Penn State to make the College Football Playoff at +440.”
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Wilson went on to add, “If I can find a better number, which I’ve been on the search for, I’m going to take it again because I love this team. And, there’s a book out there offering exact wins and I’ve played Penn State at 11. That may not be available to everybody, but I see this as an 11-1 team. I see them right there in that fourth, fifth, sixth slot in the very last college rootball ranking. I think this future’s got legs.”
Stuckey, who was one of the best public handicappers in the country last year with a record of 175-107-4 (62.1%), took it even further, mentioning that he’s going to bet Penn State to win the national championship.
“If they win the Big Ten or they get to the College Football Playoff, that means [Drew] Allar exceeded or lived up to his lofty expectations,” Stuckey said. “That’s really all they need with this defense. That means, to me, with the landscape of college football this year, they’re fully capable of winning the national title and I would love to have a 25 or 30-1 [future bet] in my pocket.”
Just like Stuckey, Wilson was among the nation’s best public college football handicappers last year, winning 49.82 units.
