posted May 19, 2008 at 14:49 EST in NCAA F Betting Trends

One of the greatest rivalries in all of college football sports betting is the UCLA Bruins vs. the USC Trojans. The Trojans, historically, have had the upper-hand versus the Bruins but all of that looks to change this year in NCAA betting action as new Bruins’ coach Rick Neuheisel, new offensive coordinator Norm Chow, formerly calling plays for the Trojans and the NFL Tennessee Titans, and the return of defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker figure to bring the Bruins back to online betting glory, right?

This Bruins team might even be a BetUS online sportsbook favorite to win the Pac-10 this year! Everybody knows that the coaches are the ones who turn okay college football teams into great college football teams. It’s a given that with Neuheisel, Chow and Walker the Bruins will become automatic studs in the Pac-10, run through their soft schedule with abandon, and then stick it to the USC Trojans in their last regular season game of the season…right? I mean…right?

Uh…no. We shouldn’t be fooled by the fact that the Bruins made an effort to rebuild their coaching program. UCLA understands that in order to become a long-lasting contender in the Pac-10 they needed to find a coach who could recruit. Neuheisel will definitely recruit. They also understood that they needed to find an offensive-coordinator gifted enough to call the right plays for a Neuheisel team. They did that in hiring Norm Chow. Finally, they realized that DeWayne Walker is one of the best defensive-coordinators in college football and retained his services.

All of those changes are well and good, but the fact of matter is that the UCLA Bruins return only 10 starters to their team. They also don’t have a real playmaker, an obvious issue in last year’s team, on either offense or defense. The Pac-10 is just too tough for this team to contend in this year. That means that the BetUS online futurebook betting odds on the UCLA Bruins to win the NCAA National Championship are way underlaid at 60 to 1.

In order to even think about a wager on this team any real college football betting fan should expect nothing less then 100 to 1 and that’s pushing it. 150 to 1 is more like it considering the fact that Neuheisel, Chow and Walker aren’t strapping on helmets and going out there to bang heads themselves. Oh, their starting quarterback, Patrick Cowan, is out for the year as well.

Then again, taking the BetUS online futurebook college football wagering odds on the USC Trojans to win the National Championship at 3 to 1 isn’t exactly a great online wager either.

What’s wrong with the Trojans? Well, first, they don’t appear to have a real answer at quarterback. Sure, Mark Sanchez is supposed to remind everybody of Carson Palmer, but let’s get serious here for a moment, okay? Carson Palmer is a stud in the NFL. Mark Sanchez couldn’t beat out John David Booty last year and barely looked decent in the two games where he subbed for Booty.

With the exception of Joe McKnight, and the rest of those terrific running backs at USC, there isn’t another playmaker on the USC offense that Sanchez can really count on. Yes, I’m basically writing that the USC Trojans still don’t appear to have a solid wide receiver in the Steve Smith mold. That means that Sanchez struggles. That means that a really good defensive team could play with the Trojans.

Finally, I don’t care what anybody says. The loses of Sedrick Ellis on the defensive line and Keith Rivers at the linebacker position will have a huge effect on this team. Forget it. Players like Ellis and Rivers are not easy to replace - - even if you’re USC.

What does all of this add up to? Underlaid BetUS online college football betting odds on the USC Trojans to win the National Championship at 3 to 1. They’ll look good early, they like always do, but then the class of the SEC will rise at the end of the season and Ohio State will once again raise their heads.

Neither USC nor UCLA is worth a bet to hold up that crystal trophy at the end of the season, but I’m going to backtrack a bit and say that if you feel it’s necessary to make a BetUS online futurebook wager on one of these teams, then you’d better take the UCLA Bruins at 60 to 1.

USC to win it all at 3 to 1 just aren’t good enough odds for anybody to swallow.

NCAA football betting has started, and BetUS sportsbook already has tons of college football Futures betting available for those of us who can't wait. Bet on the Heisman winner, Conference and Divisional winners and, of course, the 2008 BCS National Championship winner. Bet NCAA Football Futures in our sportsbook today in the Future / props section!