The college baseball season is officially underway. For those unaware of this because they were more engaged with college basketball action and what was happening at Pebble Beach over the weekend, don’t worry. There is still ample time to jumpstart a futures portfolio. 

An overall lack of liquidity in the college baseball futures market allows the odds to stay steady throughout February and March unless the books take on some unexpected early liability. 

Understanding this market tendency is an important part of handicapping college baseball. Futures bets made at this point should be based on getting ahead of the hyper-focused population of college baseball bettors. Then comes making wagers before the rest of the betting public starts jumping aboard this growing bandwagon. 

This is likely going to happen even more this season now that DraftKings is prominently displaying the NCAA Baseball tab on its homepage. So let’s be proactive and identify some investments to make now while most bettors have their attention elsewhere. 

Balancing Act 

Compared to the rest of the spring betting menu, college baseball often prioritizes futures over daily plays. Wagering on single games tends to be tricky since many favorites come at a ridiculously high cost (think -275 and above). Then factor in the uncertainty of run lines when weaker bullpen arms come in late, along with team motivation that can change on a daily basis within a series. 

Remember, Fridays are when both teams use their No.1 starters. If a team is winning a series 2-0 or 3-0, they often punt on the final game to avoid taxing their top arms. However, going with the underdog in that scenario is not a given since this team—obviously the lesser of the two since it hasn’t won a game in the series —might be down to the end of its pitching depth chart. 

A strategy to consider based on the intricacies of college baseball is making some calculated futures plays early in the year and being judicious with daily wagers during the regular season. Hopefully come late March, while teams are deep into conference play, bettors will be positioned to rollover some college basketball winnings into the College World Series market. 

Embrace the Chalk 

Last year at this time, when I wrote the college baseball futures piece for VSIN.com,  I stressed that if a bettor makes one wager, it should be on LSU to win the CWS. 

No crystal ball was needed; rather, it was just understanding the sport’s most profound trend: the team that wins it all usually comes from the SEC. 

The most powerful of the power conferences has won six straight national titles and filled 9 of the last 10 spots in championship series (in 2022, Oklahoma was in the Big 12 but now in the SEC).

Any college baseball futures portfolio should be skewed towards the SEC. Yes, the ACC sends teams to Omaha (at least one has made the CWS for 19 straight seasons), and Coastal Carolina out of the Sun Belt made last year’s championship series before falling to LSU. However, a majority of the teams in Omaha this summer should come from the SEC. 

LSU (+700) is once again the foundation of my portfolio. The Tigers start the season atop many of the national rankings with an offense led by key returners Derek Curiel (OF) and Steven Milam (SS). The rotation will be anchored by RHP Casan Evans, who will help fill the void left by the departures of No.1 starter Kade Anderson and No. 2 starter Anthony Eyanson. 

Of course, the reigning national champ found riches in the portal as Jay Johnson brought in pitcher Cooper Moore (Kansas) and first baseman Zach Yorke (Grand Canyon) to replace Jared Jones. 

Look for Mavrick Rizy to become one of the top starting pitchers in the SEC, which then makes him one of the best arms in the nation.

The Bayou Bengals have all the talent to win their 3rd national championship in the last four years. 

Their odds will only get lower as more people start gravitating towards college baseball. Get this favorite in pocket now. 

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Mississippi State (+1800) will be one of the most discussed teams in college baseball this season. Brian O’Connor, who led Virginia for 22 years and made back-to-back Omaha appearances in 2023 and 2024, takes over this marquee program.

After winning the 2021 national championship, Mississippi State has yet to return to Omaha.

O’Connor has an All-American third baseman in Ace Reese and some of his former UVA players now in Stark Vegas. 

The clock is already ticking for hard-throwing freshman lefthander Jack Bauer to become a big part of a young pitching staff anchored by Friday starter Ryan McPherson. 

The Bulldogs have odds higher than the next tier of SEC contenders, including Arkansas (+1100), Tennessee (+1500) and Texas (+1700), but Mississippi State could be the best of this group.  

The Razorbacks odds seem inflated and based more on last year’s performance, but the current version doesn’t have Gage Wood or Wehiwa Aloy. Don’t forget that Tony Vitello left Knoxville to take over the San Francisco Giants. 

UCLA (+1200) is another team that should make Omaha. The Bruins have arguably the best player in the country in Roch Cholowsky, a junior shortstop who hit 23 home runs a year ago. 

Cholowsky is a favorite to win this year’s Golden Spikes Award and be the top pick of the MLB Draft.

Being the best team west of the SEC footprint bodes well for the Bruins in terms of tournament matchups and hosting a super regional

Like Mississippi State, these double-digit odds will start eroding very quickly. 

Diversify 

Most of the major books are now offering the Make the College World Series market throughout the season—an indication of how much the betting interest for this sport has risen over the past two to three years. 

Even though the SEC should (will) send plenty of teams to Omaha, that doesn’t mean that wagering on a number of them needs to be done now. There has to be enough ROI to justify such a February wager.

LSU (+105), Arkansas (+140), Georgia (+165), Texas (+175) and Tennessee (+180) all reside in the penthouse of the CWS board. Still at less than 2/1, consider making a college basketball futures play instead because that will be decided well before Omaha. 

Also, based on following this market over the past few years, these teams will all hover just over even money for the next month. 

The same rationale also holds true for UCLA (+175).  

Mississippi State at (+260) is situated on the cusp of providing current value. Once again, a better wager now would be Michigan or Arizona in the 5/1 range with a No.1 seed in sight for a national championship in basketball. That type of futures play is just weeks away from being decided.  

With the 4/1 mark serving as the baseline, here are possible CWS wagers to make as these teams are somewhat overshadowed by conference foes to start the season. 

Georgia Tech (+400) – Last year’s ACC regular season champions have the league’s best offense. 

Kentucky (+500) – Shortstop Tyler Bell returns for a team that went big into the portal for pitching to support the returning positional group that accounted for 219 starts last year.  

North Carolina State (+500) – A program that often goes portaling did it again. 

UC Irvine (+1000) and UC Santa Barbara (+1100) – One of these Big West teams could host a regional and then have odds high enough to monetize during a super regional, regardless of where it is played. 

Be Realistic 

Longshot lovers should be careful about throwing darts at the futures board now, based on what Murray State did last year and Oral Roberts’ historic run to Omaha in 2023.  Playing mid-major squads from one-bid leagues is better suited for the Conference Winner Market. 

Currently, DraftKings is listing this for the AAC, ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Big West, C-USA and SEC.  

A long shot I just added to my portfolio is Michigan (+2000) to win the Big 10. The Wolverines, priced behind UCLA (+100), Oregon (+320), USC (+800), Iowa (+1100), Nebraska (+1300), and Indiana (+1400), started this season with wins over Oregon State, Stanford and Arizona.

If it was a college basketball team that started the season with those types of prodigious wins, kind of like the Wolverines hoops team did this year, the books would have already significantly altered their future numbers. The 20/1 is still there. 

Fading the Favorites 

For college baseball, this strategy is best used during conference tournaments when the top-ranked teams with a guaranteed NCAA tournament bid avoid exposing their top pitchers to unnecessarily high pitch counts.

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