All week we have been rolling through the four power conferences with picks to win, value wagers, long shots and bets to avoid when it comes to conference title futures. And while the conference title odds are not available yet for the Group of Five conferences at many of the most popular sports books, what we do have is the opportunity to identify some preseason picks from across the AAC, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West and Sun Belt.
One popular theme you’ll notice throughout these picks has to do with the transfer portal’s impact on Group of Five teams. The narrative that these schools get picked over by power conference schools has been proven to be somewhat misguided, as some of the G5 schools with the most portal exits this offseason have also been the programs going through a coaching change. Portal exits in a coaching transition is something that not even Alabama was able to prevent, so perhaps the idea that every team outside the power conference is on the verge of losing all its best players is a little overblown.
But there is some truth to the notion that the portal, or more specifically the current transfer rules that allow players to transfer as many times as they want without penalty, has hurt the ability of coaches at the G5 level to retain talent that they have developed. The instant impact effect of these new rules have allowed many college football programs to answer depth chart needs immediately, but it’s also created situations where coaches suddenly lose pieces that were a pivotal part of the plan for the upcoming season with little to no warning. Monitoring this movement is crucial for setting expectations for 2024, and it’s been applied to our picks below.
Memphis: Over 9.5 wins (+128)
One example of a…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/2024-group-of-five-odds-picks-memphis-liberty-could-exceed-expectations-ohio-hit-hard-by-transfer-portal/
Author : Chip Patterson
Publish date : 2024-05-31 17:08:23
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