Arizona State Sun Devils Win Total: o/u 8.5 wins
“You play to win the game!”. Herm Edwards’ famous line needs to be repeated nine times this season for the Sun Devils to hit the over on this bet. Edwards enters his fourth season back in College Football as the head man in Tempe but hasn’t had ASU competing for a Pac 12 title yet. The Sun Devils’ 2020 season only featured four games, including a month-long hiatus after their opener against USC due to positive COVID tests.
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The Schedule:
At Utah (10/16):
The Sun Devils have split the two matchups against Utah under coach Herm Edwards. The Utes enter the season ranked one spot ahead of Arizona State at 24th in the preseason AP poll.
Bovada has these two teams and USC as the favorites to win the Pac 12 South (Arizona State +200, Utah +250). The matchup in Salt Lake City could ultimately decide who represents the division in the conference championship game.
USC (11/6):
The third team listed with Arizona State and the Utes as a favorite to win the Pac 12 South, USC (+250 Bovada), comes to Tempe to start the month of November. The Trojans had an unlikely comeback in the 2020 season opener to beat the Sun Devils by a point in Los Angeles and continued on to win their five regular-season games on the slate.
USC represented the South division in the conference championship but lost to Oregon by a touchdown. Quarterback Kedon Slovis is back for Clay Helton’s team and should be one of the best pass throwers in the conference.
At Washington (11/13):
The Sun Devils won’t have the luxury of expending all of their energy against USC, as they travel to Seattle a week later to face the Huskies, who are ranked 12th in the preseason AP poll. Washington would have represented the Pac 12 North in the championship game a year ago but did not qualify due to a shortened schedule. Jimmy Lake’s team brings a hard-nosed defense and a veteran offensive line into the season, meaning the Sun Devils better buckle those chin straps.
The Team:
The focal point of the Sun Devils will be quarterback Jayden Daniels. Daniels enters his third season as a starter for Arizona State and led an offense that averaged 58 points over their final two games a season ago. In total, the Sun Devils return a total of 15 starters combined on either side of the ball, giving Herm Edwards a veteran team to make a run at their first conference title under his watch.
The Bet:
Under 8.5 wins.
There’s a lot to like about the Sun Devils entering the 2021 season, but there are a variety of reasons to take the under betting line here. Two of the three games on the schedule against ranked opponents come on the road, as do matchups against UCLA and BYU. The Pac 12 has a recent history of cannibalization that has cost the conference chances at participating in the College Football Playoff.
Other Bets:
Jayden Daniels Heisman Trophy Winner:
He was thinking of former Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III here. Most years, the winner of the trophy has been the best player on the best team, but Griffin won the award on a Baylor team that lost three games throughout the season and never cracked the top ten rankings nationally.
Daniels is a dual-threat quarterback that takes care of the ball, and a high volume of yards and touchdowns coupled with a low turnover rate could be enough to land him in the conversation for the Heisman. His odds on BetOnline and Bovada are currently +3300.
Arizona State Pac 12 Champions:
The Pac 12 looks to be the most open in terms of competition when comparing the power five conferences, with there being no clear-cut favorite. Bovada and BetUS each have five teams with betting lines of +550 or better. Arizona State checks in at +400 on BetUS but has some extra juice on Bovada at +500.