The start of the college football season has been a little odd, with the lack of audiences, very few non-conference games and some conferences either delaying their start or not playing at all. However, this only tightens the odds for the candidates on the Heisman Trophy oddsboard.

With the Big Ten deciding to play a shortened season that will commence in late October, we now have a shootout on the 2020 Heisman Trophy board between Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State QB Justin Fields.

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Online sportsbook Bovada has listed Lawrence and Fields as the co-favorites at +275 to win the award. They are followed by Spencer Rattler at +700, Sam Ehlinger at +1000 and Kyle Trask at +1800 to round out the top five names on the oddsboard.

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Heisman Trophy Betting Odds

Player Odds Trevor Lawrence (Clemson) +275 Justin Fields (Ohio State) +275 Spencer Rattler (Oklahoma) +700 Sam Ehlinger (Texas) +1000 Kyle Trask (Florida) +1800 D’Eriq King (Miami) +2000 Najee Harris (Alabama) +2200 JT Daniels (Georgia) +2200 Myles Brennan (LSU) +2500 Mac Jones (Alabama) +2500 Travis Etienne (Clemson) +2500 Jaylen Waddle (Alabama) +2500 Bryce Young (Alabama) +2800 Trey Sermon (Ohio State) +2800 Kellen Mond (Texas A&M) +3000 Sam Howell (North Carolina) +3300 DeVonta Smith (Alabama) +4000 K.J. Costello (Mississippi State) +4000 Bo Nix (Auburn) +4500 D’Wan Mathis (Georgia) +4500 Chuba Hubbard (Oklahoma State) +5000 Sean Clifford (Penn State) +5500 Ian Book (Notre Dame) +6000

Odds as of September 21 at Bovada

New to betting on college football? Be sure to take a look at our CFB betting guide to help you get in the action. Also, keep an eye on our college football odds page for the latest up-to-date betting lines.

Big Ten Reverses Cancellation, SEC Set To Begin

Fans of the Big Ten got some great news – in a time when we all could use some good news – when the conference announced it would move forward with an eight-game schedule kicking off in late October. With that announcement, eyes will be on Justin Fields and the Ohio State Buckeyes, both from a Heisman perspective and in terms of national championship aspirations as well.

While we still have to wait for the Big Ten, another powerhouse conference in the SEC is set to have opening games this weekend. That conference will be playing a 10-game season with plenty of new-look squads, especially at the quarterback position with Tua Tagovailoa (Alabama), Joe Burrow (LSU) and Jake Fromm (Georgia) all collecting cheques in the NFL now.

Lawrence or Fields, Which QB Has The Edge?

The 2020 Heisman Trophy race really could be a coin flip between Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields as both players have tremendous skills and the potential to lead their team to a perfect season and a national title.

Trevor Lawrence

Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence has just one loss on his college record, leading the squad to a national championship in his true freshman season and falling in the national title game in 2020. Another year of growing mentally/physically and the sky is the limit in the 2020-21 season for Lawrence.

The only thing that holds him back from winning the coveted award is the conference in which he plays. The ACC isn’t exactly known as a world-beater in the college football sphere. So, outscoring your opponent by 25-plus points every weekend for a perfect regular season doesn’t seem to impress the voters as that’s what he has done twice already.

The junior quarterback has started 2020 on fire, completing 81.1 percent of his 37 pass attempts with an average of 14 yards per completion and tossing four touchdown passes without an interception in two decisive victories. The Tigers will have their toughest test in early November when they visit No. 7 Notre Dame.

All things considered, though, looking at the body of work Lawrence has put together in his college career, it’ll be hard to take votes away from him come December.

Justin Fields

There was perhaps nobody more excited to hear the Big Ten news than Ohio State signal-caller Justin Fields. The junior QB, who transferred from Georgia, had a strong 2019 campaign that saw him complete 67.2 percent of his 354 pass attempts with a remarkable 41:3 touchdown-to-interception ratio – two of those picks came in a narrow 29-23 loss to Clemson in the CFP semifinal.

In my opinion, the one thing that may hinder Fields’ chances of being named the Heisman Trophy winner is that he will only have eight games in which to state his case. However, he will have a couple of opportunities to show up on big stages: at Penn State in the second game and closing the season at home to Michigan.

Had Ohio State knocked off Clemson in last year’s CFP semifinal, it may have given Fields a slight edge over Lawrence. But with a reduced schedule and given the choice between the two at even odds, I’d take the Clemson QB.

Heisman Trophy Historical Odds

By now, everyone is aware that LSU Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow won the Heisman Trophy in 2019 and was selected first overall by the Cincinnati Bengals in the NFL draft. But did you know his odds to win the award prior to the start of the season were +4000?

That’s the best part of betting on this prop. Players can be huge underdogs before the season starts and emerge from nowhere to take the spotlight. At some sportsbooks, Burrow wasn’t even listed as a Heisman candidate until after LSU’s second game.

Here at Odds Shark, we have compiled the opening and closing odds for every Heisman winner dating back to 2009, when Alabama’s Mark Ingram took home the hardware. These odds are courtesy of sportsoddshistory.com.

Here are the opening/closing betting odds along with the preseason favorite for the Heisman Trophy since 2009:

Heisman Trophy Odds History Year Winner Preseason Odds Closing Odds Preseason Favorite (Odds) 2019 Joe Burrow +4000 -12500 Tua Tagovailoa (+250) 2018 Kyler Murray +3000 +700 Tua Tagovailoa (+400) 2017 Baker Mayfield +700 -1800 Sam Darnold (+500) 2016 Lamar Jackson +10000 -1350 Deshaun Watson (+450) 2015 Derrick Henry +2500 -465 Trevone Boykin (+650) 2014 Marcus Mariota +425 -1500 Marcus Mariota (+425) 2013 Jameis Winston +600 -15000 Teddy Bridgewater (+450) 2012 Johnny Manziel N/A -1000 Matt Barkley (+300) 2011 Robert Griffin III +2800 -1000 Andrew Luck (+325) 2010 Cam Newton N/A -450 Mark Ingram (+450) 2009 Mark Ingram N/A -250 Tim Tebow (+225)

Making a Futures Bet

A futures bet is a wager made on events or milestones that will happen in time. The Heisman bet is a form of futures betting because you are making a pick based on an outcome determined at the end of NCAA football season. The trophy is given out in mid-December and if you want to get a bigger payout, it’s best to lock in your bets sooner rather than later so you can take advantage of better odds. The closer it gets to Heisman voting, the more the odds will change.

How to Read Heisman Trophy Odds

The above chart features the odds for each top player in college football. At your sportsbook of choice, the betting lines would look something like this:

Trevor Lawrence +275

Justin Fields +400

Bo Nix +2600

This means that Lawrence is the favorite since he has the lowest odds and the highest chance of winning the prop, according to oddsmakers. If you were to bet $100 on Lawrence and he won, you would get a payout of $375 – your original $100 is returned along with your winnings of $275.

On the other hand, if you strongly believe that Bo Nix is going to outdo himself at Auburn and give the performance of a lifetime, a winning $100 bet on him would yield $2,700 – your $100 comes back along with your prize of $2,600.

Our Odds Calculator will show you how much you’d win based on the odds and amount bet.

Handicapping Your Heisman Bet

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