{"id":253858,"date":"2023-01-16T14:04:06","date_gmt":"2023-01-16T20:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=253858"},"modified":"2023-01-16T15:27:13","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T21:27:13","slug":"why-this-week-is-a-big-one-for-the-2023-college-football-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/why-this-week-is-a-big-one-for-the-2023-college-football-season\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2023 College Football Season Has a Big Week Ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week was the biggest week in the college football season so far, with Georgia capping a perfect record by destroying TCU 65-7 in the national title game. Now, another of the biggest weeks for the upcoming season is coming up.<\/p>\n

\"Stroud\"<\/a>
Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud scrambles to throw a pass in the December 31 Peach Bowl against the Georgia Bulldogs. Stroud on Monday announced he was leaving the school to enter the 2023 NFL Draft. (Photo by Jason Parkhurst\/Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While there are no games being played this week, there are a couple of key deadlines that can shape the course of the 2023 season. One takes place Monday, as eligible underclassmen have until then to enter this spring\u2019s NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

On Monday morning, one of the biggest questions about the draft was answered. Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud announced he will enter the draft after his redshirt sophomore campaign.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stroud finished third in voting last month for the Heisman Trophy after throwing for 3,688 yards and 41 touchdowns while completing 66.3% of his passes.<\/p>\n

Because of all that, it wasn\u2019t a shock that Stroud entered the draft. Draft analysts expect him to go early in the first round.<\/p>\n

\n

News of his announcement changed the Buckeyes\u2019 title odds for next season. At DraftKings<\/a>, they started Monday at +600, and by early afternoon, their odds were +750. Despite that, they still stand behind only two-time defending champion Georgia (+260) and Alabama (+500).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Several key contributors \u2013 such as 1,000-yard receivers Emeka Egbuka and Marvin Harrison Jr. \u2013 are expected to return to Columbus for next season, and while Stroud was a major part of the Buckeyes’ success in 2022, a program like Ohio State always has capable backups in waiting. Expect a battle between highly rated recruits Kyle McCord and Devin Brown in the spring and summer.<\/p>\n

Transfer Portal Closing Soon<\/h2>\n

The other deadline comes Wednesday. That\u2019s the final day players have to enter the transfer portal.<\/p>\n

Players won’t need to find a new school by then, but if a player is highly coveted, they won\u2019t last in the portal for long, and the NCAA now allows transfers to play immediately – although there has been a recent change to curtail students transferring for a second time.<\/p>\n

\n

College teams are using the portal to quickly revamp their rosters. An ESPN<\/em> article in November noted that 20.9% of starters for teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision \u2013 the top tier of college football \u2013 were transfers. Teams have 22 starters \u2013 11 each on offense and defense \u2013 so that works out to roughly 4.5 per team.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

And many players are benefiting from transferring to new teams. USC quarterback Caleb Williams, who followed coach Lincoln Riley to the Trojans last off-season, served as the highest profile example. Williams led USC to the Pac-12 title game and won the Heisman Trophy.<\/p>\n

The portal will open up again in May for a 15-day period.<\/p>\n

Who Could Be the Next TCU?<\/h2>\n

TCU\u2019s Cinderella run to the College Football Playoff caught the attention of fans everywhere. The Horned Frogs, who hadn\u2019t made a bowl game since 2018, were a 200-1 shot<\/a> at winning the title as recently as October at BetMGM.<\/p>\n

Is there another 200-1 team that could make a surprise run next season? BetMGM doesn\u2019t have its futures board up yet, but let\u2019s look at DraftKings at some intriguing long shots.<\/p>\n

Colorado<\/strong> \u2013<\/strong> The Buffaloes made waves in the off-season by hiring Deion Sanders as their new head coach. \u201cCoach Prime\u201d said he was bringing his players with him to Boulder.<\/p>\n

Colorado went 1-11 last season, and the Buffaloes have just two bowl bids since 2008. However, if Sanders can follow through on his promise to bring in high-level talent, he can turn CU around quickly.<\/p>\n

Louisville<\/strong> \u2013<\/strong> The Cardinals bring back former QB Jeff Brohm to coach the squad after Scott Satterfield bolted for Cincinnati and Brohm led Purdue to a Big Ten West title. U of L doesn’t have nearly the rebuilding project that Colorado has, as the Cards won eight games this past season.<\/p>\n

Louisville\u2019s schedule is also friendly. The Cards get Notre Dame at home and would avoid either Clemson or Florida State until possibly the ACC championship game. Still, their chances took a hit after star linebacker Monty Montgomery announced he was entering the transfer portal Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Texas Tech \u2013<\/strong> The Red Raiders are expected to bring back 16 starters from an 8-5 team that finished with four straight wins. That includes a 42-25 victory over Ole Miss in the Texas Bowl. They also employ an explosive offense that could catch the eye of fans and pollsters next season.<\/p>\n

Texas Tech could see their title odds shorten early. The second game of the season is a home contest against Pac-12 power Oregon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week was the biggest week in the college football season so far, with Georgia capping a perfect record by destroying TCU 65-7 in the national title game. Now, another of the biggest weeks for the upcoming season is coming up. While there are no games being played this week, there are a couple of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":253859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[82967,1074],"tags":[80967,82227,83728,82948,84548],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe 2023 College Football Season Has a Big Week Ahead<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two key deadlines approach this week in college football, and who could follow in TCU's footsteps to make the title game as a 200-1 longshot?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The 2023 College Football Season Has a Big Week Ahead\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two key deadlines approach this week in college football, and who could follow in TCU's footsteps to make the title game as a 200-1 longshot?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/why-this-week-is-a-big-one-for-the-2023-college-football-season\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-16T20:04:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-16T21:27:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/20221231_NCAAF_CFAPB_OSU_UGA_1035.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"858\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Bittenbender\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steve Bittenbender\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/why-this-week-is-a-big-one-for-the-2023-college-football-season\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/why-this-week-is-a-big-one-for-the-2023-college-football-season\/\",\"name\":\"The 2023 College Football Season Has a Big Week Ahead\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/why-this-week-is-a-big-one-for-the-2023-college-football-season\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/why-this-week-is-a-big-one-for-the-2023-college-football-season\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/20221231_NCAAF_CFAPB_OSU_UGA_1035.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-16T20:04:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-16T21:27:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eb30e765d812fc9b38b333f8d13068b2\"},\"description\":\"Two key deadlines approach this week in college football, and who could follow in TCU's footsteps to make the title game as a 200-1 longshot?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/why-this-week-is-a-big-one-for-the-2023-college-football-season\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/why-this-week-is-a-big-one-for-the-2023-college-football-season\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/why-this-week-is-a-big-one-for-the-2023-college-football-season\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/20221231_NCAAF_CFAPB_OSU_UGA_1035.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/20221231_NCAAF_CFAPB_OSU_UGA_1035.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":858,\"caption\":\"Ohio state quarterback CJ Stroud scrambles to throw a pass in the Dec. 31 Peach Bowl against the Georgia Bulldogs. Stroud on Monday announced he was leaving the school to enter the 2023 NFL Draft. (Photo by Jason Parkhurst\/Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/why-this-week-is-a-big-one-for-the-2023-college-football-season\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sports Betting\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"The 2023 College Football Season Has a Big Week Ahead\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eb30e765d812fc9b38b333f8d13068b2\",\"name\":\"Steve Bittenbender\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-7-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-7-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Steve Bittenbender\"},\"description\":\"Steve Bittenbender covers Midwest and Gulport news for Casino.org. He also specializes in sports betting and horse racing. Steve is a veteran reporter and brings more than two decades of experience covering sports, business and politics. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Steve has also covered major collegiate and professional sports for the Associated Press and the Louisville Courier-Journal and is frequently featured on local network TV newscasts and podcasts for his horse racing business and legislative expertise. A Reuters contributor, he has also previously served as editor for Government Security News. Steve lives in Louisville, Kentucky -- the epicenter of the US horse racing industry -- with his wife and son. He is also an avid poker player, having learned from his uncle as a wholesome after-school pastime with cookies and milk. Contact Steve at stevebittenbender@casino.org.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/steve-bittenbender\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The 2023 College Football Season Has a Big Week Ahead","description":"Two key deadlines approach this week in college football, and who could follow in TCU's footsteps to make the title game as a 200-1 longshot?","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The 2023 College Football Season Has a Big Week Ahead","og_description":"Two key deadlines approach this week in college football, and who could follow in TCU's footsteps to make the title game as a 200-1 longshot?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/why-this-week-is-a-big-one-for-the-2023-college-football-season\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2023-01-16T20:04:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-01-16T21:27:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":858,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/20221231_NCAAF_CFAPB_OSU_UGA_1035.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Steve Bittenbender","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Casino_Org","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Steve Bittenbender","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/why-this-week-is-a-big-one-for-the-2023-college-football-season\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/why-this-week-is-a-big-one-for-the-2023-college-football-season\/","name":"The 2023 College Football Season Has a Big Week Ahead","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/why-this-week-is-a-big-one-for-the-2023-college-football-season\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/why-this-week-is-a-big-one-for-the-2023-college-football-season\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/20221231_NCAAF_CFAPB_OSU_UGA_1035.jpg","datePublished":"2023-01-16T20:04:06+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-16T21:27:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eb30e765d812fc9b38b333f8d13068b2"},"description":"Two key deadlines approach this week in college football, and who could follow in TCU's footsteps to make the title game as a 200-1 longshot?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/why-this-week-is-a-big-one-for-the-2023-college-football-season\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/why-this-week-is-a-big-one-for-the-2023-college-football-season\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/why-this-week-is-a-big-one-for-the-2023-college-football-season\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/20221231_NCAAF_CFAPB_OSU_UGA_1035.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/20221231_NCAAF_CFAPB_OSU_UGA_1035.jpg","width":1200,"height":858,"caption":"Ohio state quarterback CJ Stroud scrambles to throw a pass in the Dec. 31 Peach Bowl against the Georgia Bulldogs. Stroud on Monday announced he was leaving the school to enter the 2023 NFL Draft. (Photo by Jason Parkhurst\/Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/why-this-week-is-a-big-one-for-the-2023-college-football-season\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sports Betting","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The 2023 College Football Season Has a Big Week Ahead"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eb30e765d812fc9b38b333f8d13068b2","name":"Steve Bittenbender","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-7-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-7-1-96x96.png","caption":"Steve Bittenbender"},"description":"Steve Bittenbender covers Midwest and Gulport news for Casino.org. He also specializes in sports betting and horse racing. Steve is a veteran reporter and brings more than two decades of experience covering sports, business and politics. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Steve has also covered major collegiate and professional sports for the Associated Press and the Louisville Courier-Journal and is frequently featured on local network TV newscasts and podcasts for his horse racing business and legislative expertise. A Reuters contributor, he has also previously served as editor for Government Security News. Steve lives in Louisville, Kentucky -- the epicenter of the US horse racing industry -- with his wife and son. He is also an avid poker player, having learned from his uncle as a wholesome after-school pastime with cookies and milk. Contact Steve at stevebittenbender@casino.org.","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/steve-bittenbender\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253858"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}