All eyes on Jim Harbaugh as college football betting kicks off
Intensity burns in his crazy eyes, and his ego runs wild. Jim Harbaugh is just different in ways some love and some hate. But he’s great for college football, and there’s no debate.
In his first season as Michigan coach, Harbaugh won 10 games. And since then he has feuded with the media, fearlessly picked a fight with Alabama’s Nick Saban and ticked off other coaches by staging satellite camps deep in the heart of Southeastern Conference country.
What will Harbaugh do next? All eyes are on him.
“I think the guy is a brilliant coach,” South Point sports book director Chris Andrews said. “He will be really successful at Michigan. He wears thin after awhile, but I think he’s a better fit for college.”
Harbaugh reached a Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers before wearing out his welcome. Now, he welcomes the challenge of beating rivals Michigan State and Ohio State and winning the Big Ten.
Andrews posted regular-season win totals on all 128 Division I teams — something never done before in Las Vegas — in late May. The Wolverines opened at 10 wins, and the number remains the same three months later. Andrews said there has been strong action on both sides.
Michigan is projected to be a double-digit favorite in its first seven games and might not be an underdog until its season-ending road game against the Buckeyes.
Harbaugh has coached star quarterbacks — Andrew Luck at Stanford and Colin Kaepernick with the 49ers — but he’s searching for one in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines will go with Shane Morris, Wilton Speight or John O’Korn, a Houston transfer, after a tight competition in camp.
“Harbaugh has had a lot of success with finding and developing quarterbacks,” Andrews said. “I expect whoever he picks will play well.”
Michigan’s schedule almost guarantees nine wins. The Wolverines’ only tricky games are at Michigan State, Iowa and Ohio State. Harbaugh might not be perfect this season, but it’s difficult to see his team being any worse than 10-2.
Four more teams to watch:
■ Brigham Young: Bronco Mendenhall bolted Provo, Utah, for big money at Virginia. The Cougars’ new coach, Kalani Sitake, has a defensive background. Sitake is fortunate to inherit two talented quarterbacks and unfortunate to get handed a brutal schedule.
BYU faces Arizona, Utah, UCLA, West Virginia, Toledo, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Boise State and Cincinnati before the schedule softens late in the season.
“It’s Sitake’s first time as a head coach. I love the hire,” WagerTalk.com handicapper Preston Johnson said. “But with new coaching philosophies being implemented on both sides of the ball, and one of the toughest schedules in the entire country, I would not be surprised if BYU is 1-8 in the first nine games.”
Taysom Hill, a senior returning from a foot injury, is expected to win the quarterback job over Tanner Mangum. The Cougars should be competitive in most of those first nine games, but Johnson recommends betting BYU under 7½ wins.
■ Miami: The Hurricanes won eight games last season, yet that was not enough to prevent a coaching change. Mark Richt takes over at Miami after being fired at Georgia. Richt is known for tutoring quarterbacks, and he gets to work with an experienced passer in Brad Kaaya.
Andrews opened the Hurricanes’ win total at 6½. Bettors have raised the stakes by pushing the number to eight, mostly because of the hyped hiring of Richt.
“I don’t like a new coach coming in,” Andrews said, “but I think Richt has a very good team and he’s got a good quarterback in Kaaya.”
■ Nebraska: Mike Riley’s first season as Cornhuskers coach was a disaster at 6-7, and losing seasons do not go over well in Lincoln. Riley had an excuse, because quarterback injuries wrecked the offense. Tommy Armstrong Jr. returns for his senior year and has the potential to lead an improved team to the Big Ten title game.
“If there’s a sleeper pick, Nebraska would be my sleeper,” said Andrews, who set the Cornhuskers’ win total at 8½.
■ San Diego State: Running back Donnel Pumphrey, a former Canyon Springs High School star, carried the Aztecs to an 11-3 record in 2015. Pumphrey is back, and it’s possible he’s leading a team that will be favored in all 12 games.
“San Diego State won a lot of close games and had a big turnover margin in their favor last year,” Andrews said. “I think the Aztecs come back to earth a little bit.”
Pumphrey is the player to watch in the Mountain West. Look for him to lift the Aztecs to 10 wins, one over their posted total.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports betting columnist Matt Youmans can be reached at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts “The Las Vegas Sportsline” weekdays at 2 p.m. on ESPN Radio (1100 AM). Follow on Twitter: @mattyoumans247