Best Futures Bets In the FCS

BEST FUTURES BETS IN THE FCS — The FCS is often overlooked, but it shouldn’t be. It’s one of the best ways to make money if you know these teams well, because Vegas just doesn’t care about these games. The sportsbooks take a much greater handle off the big games that end up on television, not the games only available on ESPN+ or another streaming service.

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And that means there’s opportunity if you know these teams well. Last year, for example, Lafayette was an excellent moneymaker because almost nobody saw the Leopards coming. Here are a few good futures bets for the FCS.

South Dakota State, +150

The Jackrabbits are the two-time champions, and with Mark Gronowski returning to Brookings, they have every intention of making it three in a row. Multiple Power 4 programs wanted Gronowski to join them, but he chose to chase another national championship with SDSU, which has replaced North Dakota State as the dominant program at this level.

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The Jackrabbits’ schedule is a load, as they’ll face Incarnate Word and Oklahoma State in addition to their always-loaded Missouri Valley slate. The MVFC did South Dakota State no favors this year, as they play back-to-back rivalry games with North Dakota State and South Dakota. But they have the experience to survive all of that and get themselves back to a No. 1 overall seed.

If you didn’t follow FCS football last year, it’s hard to explain just how dominant South Dakota State was last season. The Jackrabbits have now won 29 straight games, and last year, Southern Illinois was the only team to come within 10 points of them. They’ll put that win streak on the line in Stillwater in week 1, and if they upset the Cowboys, they might run the table again.

Montana State, +350

If you’re looking for value as a potential champion, Montana State has it. Senior dominated team, check. The Bobcats have 21 seniors on this roster and return their offensive line and quarterback Tommy Mellott. Favorable schedule, check. The Big Sky is consistently No. 2 behind the Missouri Valley in FCS, but it delivered Montana State a gift this season.

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Montana, Idaho and Sacramento State all sit in the preseason top 10, and all of them will come to Bozeman this year. The Bobcats’ only road game against a ranked FCS foe is at Cal-Davis near the end of the regular season. If they can avoid that trap (the week before Montana), they could go undefeated.

And yes, that includes a game against an FBS foe. Montana State scheduled New Mexico in the non-conference, and the Bobcats are giving 7.5 points to the Lobos. You read that correctly. Montana State is favored by more than a touchdown against a school from the Mountain West. That’s an FCS program with power.

FCS Over 6.5 Wins Vs. FBS (-120)

I love the idea of this bet. This is a season-long play where we need to find seven FCS winners over FBS opponents. With schools moving up to FBS each year, this bet keeps getting easier to cash.

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Montana State over New Mexico should be No. 1. As stated above, the Bobcats are favored. Sacramento State has beaten an FBS opponent two years running and gets a winnable option in San Jose State. Buffalo faces last year’s surprise in Lafayette, and the Leopards return JaMar Curtis at running back. Colorado didn’t learn its lesson from half the Big Ten and scheduled North Dakota State, which traditionally features excellent defensive line play. Given how the Buffaloes could barely keep Shedeur Sanders upright last year, the Bison have a great chance in Boulder.

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Louisiana Tech and Louisiana-Monroe should be on upset alert against Nicholls and Jackson State. Kent State could lose to Saint Francis. And then there’s Kennesaw State, which didn’t beat an FCS program last year but moves up to FBS this year. The Owls host a Tennessee-Martin team that made the FCS playoffs last year. There are plenty of possibilities.