Heisman Trophy Odds & Power Rankings for Week 8: Hendon Hooker Takes Top Spot After Tennessee Upsets Alabama
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images. Pictured: Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker.
I might be sounding like a broken record here, but what a fun week of college football.
From the upset in Knoxville, to the stunners in Fort Worth and Salt Lake City, there was awesome football being played all day long on Saturday.
Luckily, it allowed for a lot of discourse in the Heisman futures realm, and we're here to cover where the betting value lies with the recently updated odds.
5.
Alabama QB Bryce Young (+2000)
It's been a rough two weeks for Bryce Young's Heisman odds, which now sit at a season-high of +2000. Following his injury and missed game against Texas A&M, Young took the field again in a losing effort against Tennessee.
Young did light up the box score with 455 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns, but the loss is not going to help the Tide's chances of making the College Football Playoff, which in turn hurts Young in the Heisman race.
The window for Young to repeat is not very thin, but there's still an opportunity for him to make some noise at the end of the season if he can lead the Crimson Tide to some big victories down the stretch.
4.
Michigan RB Blake Corum (+1200)
Another conference game, another big-time performance for the Michigan running game and star tailback Blake Corum.
Once again, Jim Harbaugh stuck to his guts and trusted the Michigan ground attack, trusting in Corum for 28 rushing attempts and 166 yards on the ground in a big win over Penn State.
Corum has been featured more than any back in the country over the last four weeks with 112 rushing attempts since Big Ten play began. The Wolverines' bell cow now ranks second in the country with 901 rushing yards on the season.
Michigan has continued creeping up the polls this season, sitting at No. 4 in the most recent AP Poll.
Should Michigan's winning ways continue and the Wolverines return to the College Football Playoff, Corum at +1500 will be a fine ticket to hold at the end of the season.
3.
USC QB Caleb Williams (+900)
A loss is a loss, and USC is going to be upset about this one at the end of the season. But in a bizarre way, the loss strengthens Caleb Williams' case to hoist the Heisman.
Going on the road to face a Top-25 conference opponent at night and still throwing for 381 yards and five touchdowns is nothing to scoff at.
Similar to Young, the video-game performance, combined with a loss on the road, can be seen as both quarterbacks carrying what appears to be a pretty inferior defense.
Williams owns the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in the country with 19 passing touchdowns to just one interception.
USC has five games remaining in the 2022 season with only UCLA figuring to be a tough out at the moment. I'm penciling the Trojans into the Pac-12 title game in what could potentially be a rematch with the Utes.
2.
Ohio State QB CJ Stroud (+110)
CJ Stroud and the Buckeyes kicked their feet up on the coffee table and enjoyed the week of college football just like the rest of us. The bye week allowed Ohio State to sit back and recover just a bit.
The upcoming game against Iowa doesn't necessarily catch my eye, as I expect the Buckeyes to win convincingly yet again this weekend. But the following game on the road against Penn State in the White Out will make or break Stroud's Heisman campaign.
A strong showing in the next two weeks would just about silence the chatter entirely and end up the race.
The reason for Stroud coming in at No. 2 on this week's power rankings is the result of the Alabama-Tennessee game and the fact that Hendon Hooker's odds still look favorable.
1.
Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker (+450)
Welcome to the top spot, Hendon Hooker.
I mentioned last week that a win over Alabama would likely catapult Hooker into the top spot, and sure enough, here we are. Regardless of the bounces that went Tennessee's way, the Vols took down No. 1 Alabama in impressive fashion.
With the way Hooker has played this season, combined with the Vols' undefeated record, that +500 value to lift the Heisman Trophy has my full attention.
Again, Hooker's not the favorite to win the award. But at his current price and with where things stand in the college football world, he's my favorite value bet in the race.
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