The college football season is now three months away, with the calendar moving into June. When the action begins at the very end of August, which defenses can fans and analysts expect to be the very best in the nation? This is always an urgent question, but how much volatility will be involved in terms of year-by-year supremacy among certain college football programs? As you will see in the selections below, there is a slight degree of variance, but not too much. Odds are courtesy of BetDSI.
Boise State Broncos
Odds To Win National Championship: +10000
Six players who were All-Mountain West defense selections last year and return this year, featuring defensive lineman Curtis Weaver, who had 13 tackles for loss. The biggest reason why Boise State figures to have an excellent defense is a little different from the other four teams on this list. Boise State is playing in a Mountain West Conference where multiple first-round NFL Draft picks – Josh Allen of Wyoming and Rashaad Penny of San Diego State – are no longer with their Mountain West teams. Fresno State is the team expected to offer the stiffest challenge to Boise State in the Mountain West, and the Bulldogs’ offense is not that powerful. Fresno State’s defense is the strength of the Bulldogs. Boise State’s defense is in position to face a series of weak offenses. Few defenses are going to end the regular season with better numbers than this Bronco unit.
Wisconsin Badgers
Odds To Win National Championship: +3000
Linebackers T.J. Edwards and Ryan Connelly will continue the longstanding tradition of the Badgers having sound, well-schooled, responsive linebackers who manage to find the ball and make timely tackles. Wisconsin is one of those programs which always seems to turn over a large number of players and find the right recruits to fill gaps and keep the program’s momentum rolling. There is very little slippage from one year to the next with Wisconsin’s defenses, and since the Big Ten West does not have dynamic offenses – the league is not nearly as imaginative or wide-open as other conferences around the country – the Badgers normally succeed in smothering opponents. The other thing in favor of Wisconsin’s defense: The offense controls the ball a lot. This defense will stay fresh.
Clemson Tigers
Odds To Win National Championship: +640
A front four of Clellin Ferrell, Austin Bryant, Christian Wilkins, and Dexter Lawrence should dominate opponents. These are four proven players on a team which will be extremely effective at rushing the passer and winning battles on third and long. Teams will have to get lots of yards on first down. If they don’t, they will have a very small margin for error, and Clemson’s front four will play downhill all season, making life miserable on opposing offensive lines.
Linebacker Tre Lamar and cornerback Trayvon Mullen will also beef up Clemson’s defense in its other two layers, in the linebacker corps and in the secondary.
Ohio State Buckeyes
Odds To Win National Championship: +600
Ohio State, being an college football elite program, has developed a noticeable reputation for turning out monster defensive linemen and super-athletic cornerbacks. Defensive end Nick Bosa is the younger brother of NFL superstar Joey Bosa. He will continue to be overwhelmingly great. In the secondary, the Buckeyes are loaded with Jordan Fuller, Damon Arnette and Kendall Sheffield. They’re going to be nasty and relentless, and they are faster than any of the much slower offenses in the Big Ten with the possible exception of Penn State.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Odds To Win National Championship: +225
Raekwon Davis and Isaiah Buggs, the unit’s leading returning tacklers, should be beasts. Then again, everyone on Alabama should be beasts. It always happens. The thing about Alabama which trumps every program with the possible exception of Clemson is this: depth. Alabama has the most quality depth of any college football program in the country. Players who don’t start on defense in their first or second seasons are special teams stars. Then they move to defense in their second or third seasons and blow everyone away. All the recruiting rankings and all the offseason analysis points to another Alabama defense regenerating itself. The Tide will continue to roll on defense.
