Old Dominion Monarchs Odds

Old Dominion Monarchs Odds & Betting Guide — 2026-27 Season

Old Dominion matched the best season in program history in 2025, going 10-3 and 6-2 in the Sun Belt for its first 10-win campaign since 2016. The Monarchs beat Virginia Tech 45-26, lost close games to CFP participants Indiana and James Madison, and closed the year with a 24-10 Cure Bowl win over South Florida behind a defense that allowed just 57 points across its final six games. Ricky Rahne enters his seventh season as head coach off the back of that run, and Old Dominion checks in near the upper half of the Sun Belt in most college football power ratings heading into 2026.

The offense that produced that record is almost entirely gone. Colton Joseph, the Sun Belt's 2025 Offensive Player of the Year, left for Wisconsin after throwing for 2,624 yards and rushing for 1,007 more, and the entire starting offensive line scattered through the transfer portal along with much of the skill-position talent. Rahne handed the offense to first-year coordinator Kody Cook, promoted from receivers coach, and rebuilt the line largely through FCS and JUCO transfers. By one measure, Old Dominion returns just 56% of last year's production and ranks 111th nationally in that category, with 54 newcomers on the roster.

The quarterback job is a genuine fall camp competition between Quinn Henicle, who filled in for an injured Joseph in the Cure Bowl and posted 127 passing yards and 107 rushing yards in his lone start, and Washington State transfer Jaxon Potter, whose game leans more toward the passing attack. How that battle resolves will shape whether this offense runs or throws its way through the schedule.

What didn't change is the defense. Old Dominion ranked 14th nationally in both scoring and total defense in 2025, holding eight of 13 opponents to 10 points or fewer, and brings back four starters including defensive end Chris Forbes and safety Mario Easterly, both preseason All-Sun Belt selections again in 2026. Running back Devin Roche also earned a preseason first-team nod, giving the offense at least one proven playmaker to build around.

Old Dominion & the Sun Belt Conference

The Sun Belt made one swap for 2026: Texas State left for the Pac-12, and Louisiana Tech joined from Conference USA after settling a lengthy dispute over its move timeline, keeping the conference at 14 teams split across its two divisions, the only FBS league still using that format. Both moves affect the West Division, so Old Dominion's own East Division, alongside James Madison, Georgia Southern, Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, and Marshall, looks the same as it did a year ago.

Old Dominion was picked to finish second in the East in the preseason coaches poll, behind James Madison, which won the conference outright in 2025. That's a notable vote of confidence given how much roster turnover the Monarchs are working through, and it reflects how much respect the defense's continuity is buying the program even as the offense rebuilds.

Old Dominion 2026 futures odds

James Madison is the futures favorite to repeat as Sun Belt champion at +230, but Old Dominion is named alongside Troy and Louisiana as one of the next tier of contenders, even without a specific number confirmed in my research. That positioning is notable given James Madison is dealing with its own significant roster turnover after losing its Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year to the transfer portal, similar to Old Dominion's situation.

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The Old Dominion angle: a team that returns an elite, continuity-driven defense but almost none of its offense doesn't behave like a typical 10-win team defending its number. Early-season markets that price Old Dominion off last year's balanced profile may be missing that this year's version is more likely to win low-scoring, defense-driven games than replicate last season's offensive output, at least until the new line and quarterback room settle in.

Betting the Old Dominion moneyline

The moneyline is a bet on the winner, no margin involved. To illustrate: if Old Dominion were priced at -260 at home against a Sun Belt opponent and the underdog at +210, converting to implied probability puts Old Dominion around 72.2% and the underdog around 32.3%, summing to roughly 104.5%. That extra few points is the sportsbook's built-in margin, not a signal about which side is more likely to win.

Worth a direct correction here: a short price on a favorite isn't automatically "less value," and a long price on an underdog isn't automatically "more value." Value depends on whether the number matches the true odds of the outcome, not on how the price looks. Uneven juice tells you where money is landing relative to the book's line, not which side is correct.

Compare current odds across books with an odds calculator before betting anything, particularly early in the season while the quarterback competition plays out. If you're shopping new sportsbook accounts, the FanDuel promo code is one option wor th checking, and our college football betting promos page tracks other current offers.

Betting Old Dominion point spreads

The spread sets a margin rather than just a winner. Betting Old Dominion to cover as a favorite means the Monarchs need to win by more than the number; betting them as an underdog means they need to either win outright or lose by less than the number.

Old Dominion's defense gives the spread a real floor most rebuilding offenses don't have. Track how that shows up against the ATS standings early in the season, since a defense capable of holding opponents to single digits can keep the Monarchs competitive even while the offense is still finding its footing.

Why the quarterback battle matters for Old Dominion spreads: Quinn Henicle and Jaxon Potter represent genuinely different offensive identities, one more rush-oriented, one more pass-oriented. Whichever wins the job will shape how Old Dominion attacks a spread, particularly in short-yardage and clock-control situations late in games. Check our projections as that competition resolves and the staff's plan becomes clear.

If you're comparing odds formats across books or exchanges while tracking Old Dominion through the season, the prediction markets odds converter is a quick way to translate between American, decimal, and share-price formats.

Betting the Old Dominion total

The total, or over/under, is a bet on the combined score rather than the winner. Old Dominion's defense projects to keep totals lower regardless of who wins the quarterback job, given how dominant that unit was in 2025 and how much of it returns.

Check betting splits to see where public money is landing on Old Dominion totals, since the public may be slower than the market to adjust for a team whose offensive identity is still being decided in fall camp. Our expert picks break down specific total calls each week as the new-look offense takes the field.

Old Dominion player props

Player props are limited in college football, and availability varies by state. With the quarterback job unresolved between Henicle and Potter, expect passing and rushing props tied to that position to be thin and volatile until a starter is named, since neither has a meaningful sample as ODU's full-time starter yet.

Where props aren't available or the market is too thin to trust, game-level markets like first-half winner or team total remain a way to get exposure to an Old Dominion game without needing a settled read on the new-look offense. Running back Devin Roche, as the offense's most established returning piece, may offer more reliable prop pricing than anything tied to the passing game early on.