Marvin Harrison Jr. remains popular ticket to win 2023 Heisman as CFB season opens Saturday

With the NFL preseason coming to a close, the start of college football, with seven games on the slate this weekend, becomes the forefront of the sports world over the next couple of weeks.

On Saturday, 2022 Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams and his USC teammates open their season as 30-point favorites against San Jose State, giving fans the first opportunity to see Williams build his Heisman candidacy for 2023 and prove he could be the top overall selection in the 2024 NFL draft.

His reigning Heisman candidacy will be tested by several quarterbacks within the Pac-12, with Oregon’s Bo Nix and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. returning to school for this season. Elsewhere, in the ACC, Florida State’s Jordan Travis and North Carolina’s Drake Maye will stake their claims for the award as well.

» READ MORE: No. 6 USC, No. 13 Notre Dame start season as big favorites in CFB opening weekend

However, it’s not quarterbacks who are receiving the most betting action at BetMGM to win the coveted Heisman Trophy. Ohio State star wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., who lived up to the hype with his dominance last season, continues to lead the sportsbook in betting tickets, but now is receiving the most betting money to become fifth wide receiver in the award’s history to win the award.

Here’s a look at where the odds to win the Heisman stand as the college season officially opens.

*Players listed have odds of 40/1 or better.

Although Harrison is tied for the 12th-best odds to win the award, he has the most betting tickets, with nearly 10% of total tickets on the award, and highest percentage of betting money (8.2%), according to BetMGM insights released on Monday. As one of just two non-quarterbacks with odds of 50/1 or better, Harrison is head and shoulders above Blake Corum’s betting tickets (5.3%) and betting money (3.7%) to win the award.

Behind Harrison, the player who is second in both betting tickets (7%) and handle (8.1%) isn’t one of the quarterbacks mentioned earlier. It happens to be Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton, who started his career at Michigan, transferred, and sat behind Detroit Lions second-round pick Hendon Hooker for the last two seasons.

After a dazzling performance in Tennessee’s bowl game against Clemson, and overall solid numbers in relief of Hooker in blowouts, compiling 10 touchdown passes and just under 1,000 passing yards, Milton is expected to put up big numbers in Josh Heupel’s vertical passing attack. It’s a big reason why bettors are backing Milton, who has a cannon for an arm.

» READ MORE: As college football season arrives, schools pay monitors to stop players and staff from gambling

After those two players, the betting money and betting handle are split; the aforementioned Williams has the third-most betting tickets to repeat (6.8%), followed by Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy (6.4%) and LSU’s Jayden Daniels (5.6%) to round out the top five betting tickets to win the award. For betting money, following Harrison and Milton is McCarthy (7.4%), Seminoles quarterback Jordan Travis (7.1%), USC’s Williams (6.7%), and LSU’s Daniels (6.3%).

One storyline to keep a close eye on is Ohio State’s quarterback situation, with Kyle McCord, who starred at St. Joseph’s Prep with Harrison, and Devin Brown, the No. 5-ranked quarterback in the class of 2022 at 247Sports. Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day hasn’t clued anyone in on who he will go with, so the current odds to win the award, 20/1 for McCord and 40/1 for Brown, could look much different by next week.

Granted, Ohio State’s first real test doesn’t come until Sept.23, when it faces Notre Dame.