Ahead of the 2024 College Football season, I will be providing my college football best bets, organized by division. Not every team will have a bet that I am comfortable with for the season, and this will be noted.

To the left of each team name below, you will see a number. This is where the team ranks in my combined power rankings of the FBS and FCS. This is why some teams are ranked lower than 134, the number of teams in the FBS. 

My strength of schedule metrics below are out of those 134 teams in the FBS. While many use last year’s records – or projected 2024 records – for strength of schedule, my metrics stack schedules by the average strength of weekly opponents using my power ratings. This gives a more accurate gauge of the actual opponents being played. You can also access my full College Football Power Rankings for 2024.

The returning production numbers below come courtesy of ESPN’s Bill Connelly.

Below is where I stand on the Big 12 for 2024.

18. Utah Utes

  • Returning starters: 6 offense, 9 defense
  • Returning production: 43 | Offense: 61 | Defense: 33  

Last year’s injury-ravaged Utes managed to claw to 8-5 in a tough Pac-12. HC Kyle Whittingham’s team is back to full strength just in time for the move to Big 12. QB Cam Rising and TE Brant Kuithe missed the entire 2023 season, and RB Micah Bernard, WR Mycah Pittman, and LB Lander Barton, amongst others, suffered season-ending injuries during it. All are back.

The offense adds WR Dorian Singer, who had a 1,000-yard season at Arizona two years ago before disappearing last year at USC. The OL, traditionally a strength, is a bigger mystery box in 2024 with only two starters returning. Utah’s defenses lost a pair of Day 2 picks in April – EDGE Jonah Ellis and S Cole Bishop – but returns basically everybody else. The offense will be significantly better unless the OL badly flops, while the defense at a minimum should be just as salty.

  • Strength of Schedule: 55

 

  • Thor’s Projected Win Total: 10.0
  • Las Vegas Win Total: 9.5
  • Thor’s Bet: Over

The Utes catch a huge scheduling break in Year 1 in the Big 12, dodging Kansas State, Kansas, and UCF. In another bizarre twist, Utah’s game against Baylor won’t be counted in the conference standings because it was pre-scheduled as a non-conference game. Utah gets cupcakes in its two other OOC games. We agree with the market installing Utah as Big 12 favorites.

19. Kansas State Wildcats

  • Returning starters: 4 offense, 8 defense
  • Returning production: 64 | Offense: 107 | Defense: 12  

QB1 Avery Johnson almost assuredly would have beaten out Will Howard had Howard stayed in Manhattan. Johnson appeared to be a tailor-made fit for departed OC Collin Klein’s system – a dynamic dual-threat who might be the team’s fastest player regardless of position. Will Johnson be as good a fit in the system of new OC Matt Wells? The former Texas Tech HC has historically flung the ball around the yard a little more. KSU needs to sort through an OL that lost three of its starting five, including All-American OG Cooper Beebe.

KSU’s RB room is loaded with DJ Giddens and airback Dylan Edwards. After hitting the portal, Kansas State has the WR depth to spread the field, as is Wells’ prerogative.

KSU’s 3-3-5 defense badly struggled against the run last year. To address this, the Cats got bigger at defensive end through the portal. With the amount of quality teams in the Big 12 that can run the ball, KSU is praying it adequately addressed its Achilles Heel.

  • Strength of Schedule: 48

 

  • Thor’s Projected Win Total: 9.2
  • Las Vegas Win Total: 9.5
  • Thor’s Bet: Pass

Of note, the pre-scheduled home game against Arizona is being considered a non-conference matchup. In actual Big 12 play, KSU hosts Oklahoma State and Kansas. There are no sure-loss road games, but there are plenty of coin-flips – Colorado, West Virginia, and Iowa State. We’re too close to the margins to bet on this one.

23. Kansas Jayhawks

  • Returning starters: 8 offense, 7 defense
  • Returning production: 83 | Offense: 64 | Defense: 90  

Kansas was picked No. 4 in the Big 12 media’s preseason poll. We can make this one short: If QB Jalon Daniels stays healthy for 12 games, that’s too low. If Daniels misses a significant portion of the season again, it’s too generous.

RB Devin Neal will be one of the top RBs taken in next April’s draft, and the Jayhawks are loaded at WR with the top four returning. The OL looked like a question mark until some big portal pick-ups, most recently former five-star Texas A&M C Bryce Foster.

Kansas had a strong pass defense last year, and that’ll carry over with one of the conference’s best secondaries. The front seven, however, could get bullied by physical running teams, as was the case last year. There is returning experience along the interior, and the LB corps is big. Will it be any better against the run? The other question here is can the pass-rush stave off regression without EDGE Austin Booker?

  • Strength of Schedule: 66

 

  • Thor’s Projected Win Total: 9.0
  • Las Vegas Win Total: 8.0
  • Thor’s Bet: Over

Kansas faces one of the easiest Power 4 schedules – but that comes with a huge caveat. Due to stadium renovations, Kansas is spreading its home games between the soccer stadium in Kansas City, KS, and the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium on the other side of the border. If Daniels stays healthy, this could be a special season in Lawrence. My system installs Kansas as higher than 6.5-point favorites in nine different games. 

24. Arizona Wildcats

  • Returning starters: 8 offense, 7 defense
  • Returning production: 28 | Offense: 38 | Defense: 41  

Arizona soared over its 5.5 win total last year, finishing 10-3. Jedd Fisch is gone to Washington, and he took several assistants and former players with him. But new HC Brent Brennan ensured the Wildcats would be relevant in their first season in the Big 12 by convincing stars QB Noah Fifita and WR Tetairoa McMillan to stay. RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt was a nice addition. Last year’s mauling OL loses Jordan Morgan but returns everyone else. Proven play-caller Dino Babers was hired as OC.

Arizona’s nasty defensive front from last year is all gone. The Wildcats attacked this area in the portal, but you can only do so much when trying to replace four starters – last year’s stingy run defense is likely to regress. The good news is that the LB corps mostly stayed together, and the secondary is once again a projected strength despite the loss of CB Ephesians Prysock to Washington. The safety duo is one of the best in the conference.

  • Strength of Schedule: 56

 

  • Thor’s Projected Win Total: 8.6
  • Las Vegas Win Total: 7.5
  • Thor’s Bet: Over

Arizona’s game against Kansas State is considered a non-con – Arizona’s two other OOC games are against cupcakes. The Wildcats open Big 12 play at Utah. After that, things get much easier. Arizona managed to avoid Kansas, Oklahoma State, and Iowa State. We see Arizona as a legitimate Big 12 contender.

25. Iowa State Cyclones

  • Returning starters: 10 offense, 9 defense
  • Returning production: 1 | Offense: 3 | Defense: 7

Last September, HC Matt Campbell lost his cool on a fan outside the stadium after a stunning – and controversial – 10-7 upset loss to Ohio to drop to 1-2. But the Cyclones regrouped and went 6-3 in Big 12 play with a young roster, ramping up expectations in 2024. Indeed, Iowa State returns more production than any team in the nation. An offense that averaged 26.2 PPG returns basically everyone. Expect it to be even better in 2024.

Last year’s defense allowed 22.8 PPG, slightly above the final tally of the three seasons before that. That defense loses CB TJ Tampa (along with special-teams ace S Ben Nikkel), but returns most everyone else.

One area Iowa State has stated it wants to improve is the pass-rush, which regressed without EDGE Will McDonald last year. The coaching staff could get creative with blitzes to propel that initiative. Either way, we think the defense will shave a point or two off its PPG ledger.

  • Strength of Schedule: 28

 

  • Thor’s Projected Win Total: 8.2
  • Las Vegas Win Total: 7.5
  • Thor’s Bet: Over

This feels like a classic Matt Campbell team, with a stingy defense and an offense capable of being multiple. ISU is fortunate to duck both Arizona and Oklahoma State in Big 12 play. We think ISU’s core carries over the momentum from last season and gets the Cyclones over the 7.5-win total.

25. Oklahoma State Cowboys

  • Returning starters: 10 offense, 9 defense
  • Returning production: 3 | Offense: 2 | Defense: 10

Oklahoma State had a bizarre 2023. The Cowboys started 2-2, with losses to South Alabama and Iowa State. OSU caught fire in Big 12 – including an upset of Oklahoma – to make the B12 title, where they were mauled by Texas. OSU did, however, benefit from some scheduling luck. After benefitting from three INTs from former KSU QB Will Howard, OSU played WVU without RB Jaheim White, and Kansas and BYU without their starting QBs. The good news is that the Pokes return just about everyone in 2024. 

That includes star RB Ollie Gordon II, the reigning Doak Walker winner, and all five OL starters. While limited, QB Alan Bowman is a steady hand, and he’s got a chain mover in the slot in WR Brennan Presley (101 catches in 2023).

There are more questions on the other side of the ball. Last year’s run defense was terrible. While OSU has a very good LB corps, the defensive front deserves scrutiny heading into the season. The Pokes’ secondary also doesn’t engender the most trust. OSU finished No. 132 in explosive pass rate against and No. 103 in PFF’s team coverage grades in 2023. OSU lost CB D.J. McKinney to Colorado and didn’t add an obvious name to replace him. 

  • Strength of Schedule: 38

 

  • Thor’s Projected Win Total: 8.4
  • Las Vegas Win Total: 8.5
  • Thor’s Bet: Pass

Oklahoma State’s offense is strong, but Bowman’s inability to consistently test defenses deep caps its ceiling. In conjunction with a defense that doesn’t project to be great, Oklahoma State is more of a Big 12 gatekeeper than a Big 12 contender.

The Vegas number is spot-on. Pass.

35. West Virginia Mountaineers

  • Returning starters: 8 offense, 5 defense
  • Returning production: 32 | Offense: 14 | Defense: 86  

West Virginia was one of my biggest misses in last summer’s series – the Mountaineers surprised with an 8-4 regular season. Though WVU was fortunate to face multiple backup QBs along the way, the Mountaineers used a physical, downhill rushing attack to punish Big 12 defenses that have taken to regularly playing a fifth DB on the field to combat the spread.

WVU’s strength in 2024 is the same as it was last year: A top-10 national OL clearing lanes for the thunder/lightning RB duo of CJ Donaldson and Jaheim White, along with QB Garrett Greene’s scrambling machinations.

Last year’s defense shaved off nearly one full TD from its PPG ledger (to 26.2 PPG). After struggling with injuries in 2023, the LB corps is fully healthy. In conjunction with a DL that helped lead WVU to the Big 12’s lead in sacks last year, the front seven is solid. The question mark here is the secondary, which projects to an underwhelming set of starters with little proven depth on standby.

  • Strength of Schedule: 17

 

  • Thor’s Projected Win Total: 6.6
  • Las Vegas Win Total: 6.5
  • Thor’s Bet: Pass

HC Neal Brown saved his job with the resurgent 9-4 campaign in 2023. Hopes for reaching double-digit wins in 2024 are tampered by a brutal schedule that my metrics say is the second-toughest in the conference. The OOC features both Penn State and Pitt. In Big 12 play, WVU gets all the big boys except for Utah. In lieu of all these factors, we think the Vegas total is spot-on.

38. TCU Horned Frogs

  • Returning starters: 7 offense, 9 defense
  • Returning production: 39 | Offense: 73 | Defense: 21  

The Horned Frogs flat-lined to 5-7 one year after reaching the national title. The QB situation at long last has resolved itself, with Chandler Morris’ transfer to North Texas leaving Josh Hoover as the unchallenged QB1.

Hoover has a ton of skill talent to work with, here. TCU might have a young star at RB in Cam Cook, and the WR corps has three good starters. The question mark is an OL that returns just 77 career starts (only 16 of which came at TCU).

Last year’s defense was, in essence, a statistical mirror image of the one before it – offensive struggles just made it less viable for TCU to come out on the right side of shootouts. Former DC Joe Gillespie was fired in December, with TCU hiring former Boise State HC Andy Avalos to replace him. TCU, in kind, transitions from Gillespie’s 3-3-5 to Avalos’ 4-2-5. So long as the transition into Avalos’ system goes smoothly, this should be the best defense Dykes has fielded in three years at TCU.

  • Strength of Schedule: 53

 

  • Thor’s Projected Win Total: 6.6
  • Las Vegas Win Total: 7.5
  • Thor’s Bet: Under

TCU’s overall schedule strength is average. But that’s a bit deceiving – this slate is filled with tricky road trips, and there are a lot of games on this schedule that could go either way. The Horned Frogs will travel to Stanford, SMU, Kansas, Utah, Baylor, and Cincinnati. TCU will need a few wins from that grouping because four of the home games – UCF, Texas Tech, Arizona, and Oklahoma State – could have spreads of -4 or less to either side. We see TCU a bit more pessimistically than the market does, and are going under this number.

40. UCF Knights

  • Returning starters: 7 offense, 8 defense
  • Returning production: 67 | Offense: 75 | Defense: 47

QB KJ Jefferson is a great fit for HC Gus Malzahn’s up-tempo system. Malzahn will make great use of Jefferson’s legs. The Knights will put one of America’s best RB duos – Peny Boone and RJ Harvey – beside him. Can Jefferson take advantage of the one-on-one downfield looks that this system reliably generates? Unfortunately, he will not have the use of WR Javon Baker, who now plays for the Patriots.

The OL lost a couple of starters but replaced them with plug-and-play portal additions. UCF has averaged between 31.3 and 32.9 PPG in three seasons under Malzahn, and we think they will again.

Last year’s defense was lopsided – the pass defense was very good, and the run defense was terrible. UCF hired veteran DC Ted Roof to try to fix the latter. Can Roof coax improvement out of a front seven that loses three of its top four tacklers? Roof’s last two years at Oklahoma suggest we should no longer be attributing mystical powers to his coaching ability. Roof has a solid LB corps to work with, and UCF’s secondary remains objectively good. 

  • Strength of Schedule: 43

 

  • Thor’s Projected Win Total: 7.0
  • Las Vegas Win Total: 7.5
  • Thor’s Bet: Under

We adore UCF’s rushing offense and passing defense. But with the passing offense looking less dangerous without Baker, and the run defense still a major concern, we’re going to fade the 7.5 number. Going over would require UCF to add two regular-season wins from last year – we don’t see enough year-over-year improvement to project that.

44. Colorado Buffaloes

  • Returning starters: 8 offense, 8 defense
  • Returning production: 18 | Offense: 48 | Defense: 18  

The Buffaloes improved from No. 122 in our power rankings at the end of 2022 to a No. 73 finish in 2023. This year’s team is going to improve again. Coach Prime’s chief offseason priority was improving trench play on both sides – CU’s No. 2 portal class was filled with linemen. The OL has four new starters, including the No. 1 OT in the 2024 class, Jordan Seaton. On the other side, CU signed three top-125 overall DL in the portal. It would be shocking if Colorado’s line play wasn’t better on both sides in 2024.

Colorado still has star power in spades, of course. The Buffs start top-10 overall NFL Draft prospects at three different positions with QB Shadeur Sanders and Travis Hunter at WR and CB. The Buffs have a ludicrous WR corps, with standout transfers LaJohntay Wester and Will Sheppard joining Hunter and Jimmy Horn Jr.

The viability of the rushing attack is going to come down to just how significant the OL’s improvement is. Last year’s defense allowed 34.8 PPG, which was actually a 10-point improvement from the year before. CU has an experienced LB room and a strong secondary. Will the new-look DL pick up its end of the slack?

  • Strength of Schedule: 19

 

  • Thor’s Projected Win Total: 5.5
  • Las Vegas Win Total: 5.5
  • Thor’s Bet: Pass

This is a fascinating schedule in that it leaves all possibilities on the table. My system projects single-digit spreads in all 12 of CU’s games! It gives Colorado at least a 20% win expectancy in every game, but no higher than 80% in any. We see Colorado as tangibility improved – they jump 29 spots from the end of last season’s Power Rankings – but don’t see any value at this number. Against a top-20 schedule strength, our number falls smack-dab on Vegas’s.

45. Texas Tech Red Raiders

  • Returning starters: 9 offense, 5 defense
  • Returning production: 70 | Offense: 71 | Defense: 66

QB Tyler Shough came to Lubbock with considerable fanfare, but he only ended up posting a 20/11 TD/INT over bits and pieces of three seasons.

Beyond that, Shough’s constant injuries robbed the offense of continuity. Now that he has transferred to Louisville, Tech has clarity in the QB room with Behren Morton as the unchallenged starter. RB Tahj Brooks is one of the best in the nation, and Tech’s pass-catchers are improved after adding WR Josh Kelly and TE Jalin Conyers in the portal along with five-star true freshman WR Micah Hudson. The OL struggled in 2023 and must gel under a new position coach, but it does return 125 career starts.

The defense improved to 26 PPG allowed in 2023. That unit has a clear weakness up front. Tech needs multiple portal additions at DL to be playable immediately in its 4-2-5 scheme. The strength of the defense is at LB, where Tech starts a pair of difference-makers. A secondary that replaces three starters – including Round 4 pick S Dadrion Taylor-Demerson – may be in line for some regression this fall.

  • Strength of Schedule: 53

 

  • Thor’s Projected Win Total: 6.7
  • Las Vegas Win Total: 7.5
  • Thor’s Bet: Under

Though we like Tech’s skill talent, we have trench concerns on both sides of the ball. We also have a mystery box of a secondary. If those three spots don’t exceed expectations, Tech could be in for a frustrating fall. We see 6-6 or 7-5 as more reasonable expectations than 8-4 or better, and thus are going under the number.

53. Baylor Bears

  • Returning starters: 10 offense, 9 defense
  • Returning production: 9 | Offense: 18 | Defense: 6

Dave Aranda is this summer’s Neal Brown. Baylor is either going bowling this year, or they’ll have a new HC in 2025. Facing a no-tomorrow scenario, Aranda made some big changes this offseason. He hired OC Jake Spavital to take over the offense, and signed QB Dequan Finn to replace Blake Shapen.

Baylor’s OL returns all five starters and should be much better than last year. The skill group lacks star power but is teeming with experience.

In perhaps his biggest move, Aranda named himself defensive play-caller for 2024.

Aranda is an extremely creative defensive mind. Last we saw him as a defensive play-caller at LSU, Aranda was interchangeably shifting between three- and four-man fronts, mixing where the pressure was coming from, and running a myriad of exotic coverage looks. Will the Baylor defenders be able to pick up Aranda’s complicated scheme on this timeline? Or are we going to see communication issues and big plays ceded early on? With nine starters back, there is a path to significant improvement if the answer is the former and not the latter.

  • Strength of Schedule: 41

 

  • Thor’s Projected Win Total: 5.3
  • Las Vegas Win Total: 5.5
  • Thor’s Bet: Pass

The Week 2 game at Utah is being considered a non-conference game. Baylor avoids Kansas State and Arizona, but must play the conference’s other big boys. We’re so close to the margins, here. The most likely outcome is a 2-1 OOC record. If that’s true, then the 3.3 wins my system is calling for in Big 12 play would put us right up against the Vegas number. It feels like Baylor will either flatline – firing Aranda before the end of the season – or have a resurgent season reminiscent of Brown’s breakthrough at WVU last year. We aren’t confident enough in our read either way to make a referendum.

59. Cincinnati Bearcats

  • Returning starters: 8 offense, 7 defense
  • Returning production: 65 | Offense: 24 | Defense: 107

Cincy returned only eight total starters last year, and not surprisingly fell to 3-9 in HC Scott Satterfield’s first season. The Bearcats – who now return 15 starters – should be significantly improved in Year 2. I wasn’t a fan of Satterfield’s portal addition at QB for 2023 – the scrambler Emory Jones – but I loved his signing of ex-Indiana QB Brendan Sorsby.

Sorsby flashed an intriguing dual-threat skillset on a D.O.A. Hoosier team last fall. RB Corey Kiner ran for over 1,000 yards in 2023, and all five OL starters return in front of him. The WR corps is better after signing ex-UTEP 1,000-yard WR Tyrin Smith.

The Bearcats return one building block on the other side of the ball – NT Dontay “The Godfather” Corleone. After an aggressive offseason in the portal, numerous names around him are new. We think the DL and secondary are both amongst the Big 12’s best. The LB corps has lost big names to graduation each of the past two offseasons and doesn’t have the star power it has had recently. It does, however, return two 2023 starters. The Bearcats should transition smoothly into their new 3-3-5 alignment.

  • Strength of Schedule: 59

 

  • Thor’s Projected Win Total: 5.4
  • Las Vegas Win Total: 5.5
  • Thor’s Bet: Pass

Cincinnati went 1-4 in one-possession games last fall and were only outgained by 43 YPG in conference games despite going 1-8. There are surface-level similarities here to West Virginia from last summer – you’ve got a nasty OL clearing the way for one of the conference’s best ground games, and an exciting dual-threat QB. The Bearcats need big defensive improvement to make the leap. We think that’s possible, but we’re not convinced. The Vegas number is spot-on.

72. Brigham Young Cougars

  • Returning starters: 8 offense, 6 defense
  • Returning production: 55 | Offense: 52 | Defense: 51

Are we reaching the end for HC Kilani Sitake? The past four seasons, his teams have regressed from 11-1 to 10-3 to 8-5 to 5-7. To turn that around, BYU needs significant improvement from an offense that flat-lined last season. In lieu of that, the signing of QB Gerry Bohanon was a head-scratcher. In the spring of 2022, Bohanon lost Baylor’s QB1 job and was essentially encouraged to transfer. He was bad at USF in 2022, and then did not play one singular snap for the Bulls last year, which in itself was essentially encouraging him to transfer. This is the guy that’s saving your wretched offense?

To make matters worse, RB1 LJ Martin has been withheld from contact in camp due to an upper-body injury. The pass-catching corps lacks a legitimate WR1, and the OL is mediocre.

Defensively, BYU has a workman-like DL that can occupy against the run but doesn’t appear to have much pass-rushing juice. The LB corps lost its two best players, exasperating concerns along the front seven. The relative strength of the defense is an experienced secondary that returns three starters. BYU’s last two defenses both allowed 29 PPG and we see something similar coming in 2024.

  • Strength of Schedule: 29

 

  • Thor’s Projected Win Total: 3.7
  • Las Vegas Win Total: 4.5
  • Thor’s Bet: Under

BYU started 5-2 last year but faded with five straight losses to end the season. That was seen as a transition year into the Big 12, and Sitake basically got a mulligan for it.

We wonder if he will be afforded the same leash this year if things go south. Simply put, we do not believe that BYU improved its roster enough to contend for a bowl game against a top-30 schedule.

75. Houston Cougars

  • Returning starters: 5 offense, 5 defense
  • Returning production: 74 | Offense: 47 | Defense: 96

We loved the hiring of HC Willie Fritz. But Houston fans are going to have to be patient as the Cougars transition from Dana Holgorsen’s Air Raid to Fritz’s establish-the-run philosophy. I did not love the hiring of OC Kevin Barbay, who is at his fourth stop in four years. I question whether QB Donavan Smith is a fit for Barbay’s pro-style, play-action-heavy system. Houston wants to pound the rock, but may have issues against upper-tier defenses due to questions along the OL, and an uninspiring RB room. The WR corps is also significantly down from where it has been in recent years under Holgo.

Houston has given up 31.5 and 32.2 PPG, respectively, over the past two seasons. Fritz is going to protect this unit more with his ball-control inclinations than Holgorsen did with his aerial aggression. The front seven does appear to be around average for the Big 12. But a secondary that breaks in four of five new starters may struggle this fall.

  • Strength of Schedule: 13

 

  • Thor’s Projected Win Total: 3.2
  • Las Vegas Win Total: 3.5
  • Thor’s Bet: Pass

This is not the kind of schedule a first-year HC wants to see. In the OOC, Houston travels to Oklahoma and hosts a pair of G5 bowl teams. The Big 12 schedule is no easier, with Houston catching the top-four teams in the conference by my Power Rankings. Fritz went 9-15 his first two years at Tulane before going 45-32 with five bowl appearances in the last six. We see another slow-burn rebuild situation here. We lean under, but are going to pass.

84. Arizona State Sun Devils

  • Returning starters: 6 offense, 4 defense
  • Returning production: 49 | Offense: 51 | Defense: 48

Last year’s offense was an out-manned, injury-ravaged disaster, finishing No. 121 with 17.8 PPG. Injuries at QB and along the OL forced ASU to get creative, with passes coming out immediately after the snap, and heavy doses of Wildcat. If QB Sam Leavitt doesn’t work out, get ready for another fall of defenses loading the box. The OL can’t help but be better. But defenses won’t be scared of a pass-catching group that lost WR Elijah Badger and TE Jalin Conyers. Though I think ASU is going to be in for another frustrating year on offense, the defense holds a bit of intrigue. 

Last year’s hyper-aggressive defense had its moments, holding Washington’s offense to 15 points, harassing QB Cam Ward in an upset of Wazzu, and springing another two weeks later by holding UCLA to seven points. ASU has a pair of proven pass-rushers at EDGE, and hopes that transfers on the interior can improve the run defense. ASU’s solid LB corps will have a say in that. The pass rush needs to be fierce, however, to mask a poor secondary that got lit up last year and didn’t appear to improve much over the offseason.

  • Strength of Schedule: 24

 

  • Thor’s Projected Win Total: 2.8
  • Las Vegas Win Total: 4.5
  • Thor’s Bet: Under

There are no breaks on this schedule. The OOC features a G5 bowl team (Wyoming), a road trip to one of the G5’s best teams (Texas State), and a home game against Mississippi State. ASU also drew one of the hardest Big 12 conferences – the gauntlet features five of the top six teams in the conference in my Power Rankings. ASU has gone 3-9 in consecutive seasons. Our system sees a third straight year of that coming.

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