NCAA Football – 2009 BCS Bowl Rankings

The first Bowl Championship Series rankings (BCS Rankings) of 2009 will be released this Sunday and as it stands, the Top 3 college football teams, according to the Associated Press and ESPN, are the Florida Gators, the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Texas Longhorns.

Let’s take a look at NCAA college football betting odds for the top three teams as the sports betting public prepares for the rankings.

Florida Gators

The song remains the same in the No. 1 position as the Gators have maintained their perch atop the Division I rankings since the preseason rankings were released.

Back in early-August, Florida was listed as the odds-on favorite to win both the Southeastern Conference (-225) and repeat as BCS champions (+200).

While the Gators started off the season with two soft opponents (Charleston Southern and Troy), they have faced three sturdier challenges recently and have passed the test, going 3-0 straight up.

Florida defeated the Tennessee Volunteers 23-13 back on September 19 but failed to cover as favorites of 30-something.

They hammered the Kentucky Wildcats 41-7, covering a 20-something pointspread, but received a scare when star QB Tim Tebow suffered a concussion.

Tebow bounced back in a game against LSU a few weeks later when the Gators defeated the Tigers 13-3, covering at 7.5-points.

Florida Gators Odds: Currently, the Florida Gators’ odds have improved, as they are currently -300 to take the SEC and +125 to win back to back BCS titles.

Alabama Crimson Tide

While the Gators own the best record in the SEC East at 5-0, they don’t own the best record in the SEC overall, the 6-0 Alabama Crimson Tide have that honor.

Currently ranked No. 2 in the AP poll, the Tide have definitely been moving since the preseason, when online sportsbook had them ranked No. 5 and listed at +2000 to take this season’s BCS title.

‘Bama has a tough sked going down the stretch however, as they face a tough divisional matchups the likes of the No. 22 South Carolina Gamecocks (the Tide are -17 for that game), the Tennessee Volunteers, the No. 10 LSU Tigers, the Mississippi St. Bulldogs and then the Auburn Tigers.

Alabama Odds: Like the Gators, the Tide’s odds have also improved as they are currently +350 to win the 2010 BCS championship.

Texas Longhorns

While they are still undefeated and atop the Big 12, the Texas Longhorns have taken a small slip in the AP poll.

Ranked as the second-best team in the nation in the preseason (+700 to win the national title at the time), Texas currently sees itself in the No. 3 spot.

The Longhorns can grab some brownie points this week with a convincing win over the No. 20 Oklahoma Sooners in this year’s Red River Rivalry game—Texas is currently a 3.5-point favorite for that game—just in time for the first BCS rankings.

Prior to the release of those rankings, Texas is a +400 favorite in 2010 BCS championship futures college football betting.

Elevator Going Down!

Oklahoma Sooners

While Texas, Florida and Alabama have seen their odds to win it all improve, the No. 20 Oklahoma Sooners have seen the opposite occur.

The runners-up to the Florida Gators in last season’s BCS championship, Oklahoma was +500 to win the national title in the preseason but in hindsight, a wager on them wouldn’t have been wise.

Oklahoma’s bad luck started in Week 1 when they not only failed to cover a 21.5-point spread against the BYU Cougars, they lost 14-13 as well.

And the Sooners dealt their BCS chances another blow two weeks ago when they lost to the Miami Hurricanes 21-20.

The Sooners currently aren’t an option in 2010 BCS championship futures betting.

There usually is some controversy when the first BCS rankings are released but it’s a pretty safe bet that Florida, Alabama and Texas will be at the top.

Enjoy the weekend NCAA college football betting action.