With college football season on the horizon, ESPN Chalk's college football experts -- Phil Steele, "Stanford Steve" Coughlin and Chris Fallica -- combine to give you betting previews of the top 25 teams, according to the ESPN College Football Rankings. They break down each team's strengths and weaknesses, along with season win total bets and national title odds.
Odds from Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook as of Aug. 22.
LSU Tigers
National title odds: 8-1 (opened 15-1)
Season win total: 9.5
FPI win total projection: 10.3
Phil Steele
Strengths: New defensive coordinator Dave Aranda had the best defense in the FBS the past three years at Wisconsin and inherits more talent at LSU than he ever had with the Badgers (the Tigers have my No. 2-rated defense). The offense has my No. 5-rated offensive line, two NFL-caliber wide receivers in Malachi Dupre and Travin Dural, and one of the best running backs in the country in Leonard Fournette.
Weaknesses: Quarterback, quarterback and quarterback again. All LSU needs is for Brandon Harris to give the team slightly above-average quarterback play. Harris is 6-foot-3, 222 pounds with a cannon for an arm, good mobility and two years of reading SEC defenses under his belt. The big question is whether he can he improve his accuracy.
Over/under (9.5): This is one of my favorite plays, and I am surprised at the number. Right now in Las Vegas, the Tigers are favored in all 12 games, so they can absorb a couple upset losses and still go over the total. I like the over here.
National title odds (8-1): I agree with FPI that LSU has a better shot than Alabama to win the SEC West, and the Tigers get to host the Crimson Tide. But LSU is at 8-1 odds, and I'm opposed to taking any team that is under 10-1.
"Stanford Steve" Coughlin
O/U: You all know my love for Baton Rouge and everything that comes with it, including Tigers football. I was not buying all the hype last year because I still thought they needed better play from the quarterback position, and this year I expect Brandon Harris to be better with the experience he gained under heavy criticism.
We all know what a crazy end of the season the Tigers had amidst all the talk about Les Miles and his future with the program. Then we saw them come out and pound Texas Tech, who just couldn't slow Fournette and company; that is the LSU team I am ready to see this year. The Tigers played fearlessly in every facet of the game and showed encouraging aggression.
Moving ahead in 2016, will Miles not hold back on offense? Will he allow offensive coordinator Cam Cameron full reign on the offense? If there is a year when he does, it will be this year. Still, there's enough uncertainty for me to take the under.
National title odds: I have the Tigers in the CFB Playoff, even though I don't think they will win 10 games. I obviously like the 8-1 odds for Les and the boys to win it all.
Chris Fallica
O/U: I can see a lot of people coming in on the over here. I would advise against that, though. The last time LSU won 10 games in the regular season was 2012; the past three years, LSU has won nine, eight and eight regular-season games, including the final regular-season game each time. As such, the under was already in the bag headed into the final contest, including last year, even if the canceled game against McNeese State had taken place and gone in the Tigers' favor.
We know what we're going to get from Fournette, but we don't know what we are going to get from Harris at QB. It certainly makes me think three losses are quite possible from the following seven games: Wisconsin, at Auburn, at Florida, Ole Miss, Alabama, at Arkansas, at Texas A&M. I'm on the under here.
CFB Playoff odds: After advising to play the under, this will sound strange, but I'd almost hedge at 8-1. Wow, is that a short price. I think 9-3 is more likely than 12-1 or 13-0 and a CFP berth. If I'm wrong, 8-1 is a decent overlay to be holding in December/January.