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. 28.
USC Trojans
National title odds: 7-1 (opened 8-1)
Season win total: 10.5
FPI win total projection: 9.1
Phil Steele
Strengths: Once Sam Darnold took over as the starting quarterback and the defensive line matured, the Trojans were the one non-playoff team that no one wanted to play at the end of the year. I rate them top 10 in the country on both offense and defense this season.
Weaknesses: USC's lowest-rated unit is the defensive line, which is "just" No. 17. However, I will go with the special teams as the weakness. They were No. 9 last year, but the unit loses the kicker, along with super return man Adoree' Jackson.
Over/under (10.5): It is tough to win 11 games in college football, but this team is loaded. They will be favored in their three toughest road tests: Washington State, Notre Dame and Colorado. Overall, the Trojans will be favored in all 12 games this year. Even at 10.5, I'm still on the over.
National title odds (7-1): USC has not fared well in seasons when they are ranked in the preseason top 10, and that would have me a little hesitant if not for their talent and schedule. They should be one of the prime favorites. There's not a lot of value at 7-1, but even still, I would have them priced closer to 4-1.
"Stanford Steve" Coughlin
Over/under (10.5): There is just nothing like the USC hype train. We got the Heisman front runner, a hot team, the fight song, the Coliseum -- it's all about the aura of the Men of Troy. Still, it once again seems like there is work to be done before we can give the Trojans all this love. It feels like yesterday that Lane Kiffin held a press conference in front of a Christmas tree to announce that Matt Barkley was returning as the quarterback in SoCal before that team went 7-6 and lost five of their last six games.
Even so, I will admit there is a lot to like about this Trojans team, including head coach Clay Helton, who doesn't get enough credit for the job he did last year. The offensive line helped make Sam Darnold the least sacked quarterback in the country last year, and running back Ronald Jones II has accumulated over 2,000 yards over the last two seasons. I do worry about the schedule, though. First off, there is no bye week. There's a game against Texas right after playing Stanford, there's a trip to Pullman on a Friday night to play Washington State that has "Let's Get Weird" written all over it, and there's also a trip to South Bend. Plus, I haven't yet even mentioned a game in their division. I'll call the under.
Chris Fallica
Over/under (10.5): The reigning Rose Bowl champions have the preseason Heisman front-runner in Sam Darnold at quarterback, but gone is a good chunk of the offensive line, as well as Adoree' Jackson, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Darreus Rogers. Per FPI, the Trojans have three 50-50 games (Stanford, at Washington State and at Notre Dame) and have the sixth-toughest schedule in the nation. Keep in mind that USC last won 10 regular season games in 2011. Sure, sanctions may have had something to do with that, but it seems USC has found ways to struggle and lose games it should win as of late. That wasn't the case last year, as all three USC losses came with the Trojans as the underdog.
Still, needing 11-1 to cash an over is a steep proposition, especially knowing that the Trojans play in 12 straight weeks without an idle week, have lost seven of nine to Stanford, have to go to Pullman to play the Cougars on a short week and a late October game in South Bend could be a bad weather situation. 10-2 and a berth in the Pac-12 title game seems like a very realistic finish, but that unfortunately won't give you the over.
National title odds (7-1): 7-1 seems like a tempting price...almost too tempting. The bandwagon is full and a trip to the CFP may hinge on beating Stanford twice or Washington in the Pac-12 title game. I'll pass for now, but should the Trojans drop that game to Stanford, there may be a better buying opportunity.