2024 Heisman Trophy Odds and Predictions

The time of year is finally here where voters pick the Heisman Trophy winner. For the last few years, the winner was met with approval from most pundits, voters and fans. That will change this year as there’s already a great debate brewing over the 2024 Heisman Trophy Award winner.

Although some sportsbooks will list a handful of Heisman betting options, there’s really only two players that have a real shot at winning this year’s award: Travis Hunter and Ashton Jeanty.

According to the latest NCAAF odds, Hunter is a sizable favorite. And that’s where the great debate begins. While Hunter and his Colorado Buffaloes are playing in a bowl game, Jeanty and his Boise State Broncos are in the College Football Playoffs and contending for the 2024-25 College Football National Championship.

Keep reading as we dissect this Hunter vs. Jeanty debate and examine if any other Heisman hopeful is worthy of a flier.

When Is The Heisman Trophy Ceremony?

The 2024 Heisman Trophy ceremony will take place on Saturday, December 14, 2024. Heisman Finalists will make the trip to New York for the presentation which will air live on ESPN at 8pm ET.

2024 Heisman Trophy Award Odds

Check out the latest Heisman Trophy odds:

In October, there were a handful of players with a realistic shot at winning this year’s Heisman Trophy Award. In fact, it was a tight race at that point with the best handicappers casting their predictions across the favorites.

However, as the 2024-25 College Football regular season came to a close, Hunter distanced himself from the pack according to the sportsbooks. Now, Hunter is a commanding favorite to win the award with only Jeanty having any shot at pulling off the upset.

It’s important to note, that prior to the Week 15 College Football Conference Championship games, Hunter was listed as a -4000 favorite with Jeanty well behind at +1000 odds. After Jeanty’s performance in the Mountain West Championship, Hunter’s odds fell to -1600 and Boise State’s running back saw his odds shrink to +750.

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Heisman Trophy Favorites

A look at the remaining candidates to win the Heisman Trophy Award according to the top sports betting sites:

Travis Hunter (Colorado)

Since Week 10, Colorado’s phenomenal two-way player Travis Hunter has been the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy odds. In fact, after each week since then, Hunter has continued to pull away from the back as he became a massive -4000 betting favorite following Week 14.

Yet, as mentioned, those odds were chopped down by Jeanty’s MWC performance. However, even with that performance, Hunter is still far enough ahead that most bettors believe he will be announced as the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner on December 14.

Although Colorado fell short in their quest to make the Big 12 Championship game, they are still bowl eligible and will take another step forward in the College Football landscape. Fortunately for Hunter, the Heisman Award will be settled long before that Bowl Game because odds are that Hunter won’t play in it.

The two-way star finished the season with 32 tackles, 11 passes defended and four interceptions while playing corner on defense. The Big 12 recently announced that Hunter was the defensive player of the year.

On offense, the junior tallied 92 receptions for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns at wide receiver. It truly is an anomaly in the College Football landscape as 99% of the sport plays on only one side of the ball.

There are questions and concerns regarding whether or not Hunter can play on offense and defense in the NFL. Furthermore, would NFL teams or coaches even let him play both ways?

As of now, Hunter is the large favorite to win this year’s Heisman Trophy memorial award and there’s very little reason to think that his odds will change much between now and the ceremony on December 14.

Ashton Jeanty (Boise State)

Ashton Jeanty seemingly came out of nowhere to run into the hearts of fans and the record books of College Football.  

Not only was he the heart and soul of Boise State’s remarkable run to the College Football Playoffs, but Jeanty is chasing after Barry Sanders’ all-time rushing record for a single season.

Sanders’ 1988 season is the greatest season for a running back. He finished with 2,628 yards and 37 TDs in 11 games. If you include his Bowl Game appearance, which NCAAF didn’t at the time, then he would’ve finished with 2,850 yards and 42 TDs after a monster performance against Wyoming in the Holiday Bowl.

Jeanty will most likely fall short of those marks, but that doesn’t make his season less remarkable especially considering that he is this team’s entire offense and everyone knew he was going to run the ball.

After 13 games, as Jeanty still has at least one CFP game left, the talented running back has tallied 2,497 yards and 30 total TDs. He’s also close to Sanders’ ypc mark as Jeanty is averaging 7.3 yards per carry. Let that sink in for a moment.

The 2024 MWC title game was a good example of Jeanty’s season. UNLV knew that Jeanty would be the focus of Boise State’s offense. And, even after stacking the box to try and stop the Broncos’ star running back, Jeanty would finish the game with 205 yards and a touchdown.

As Jeanty enters the College Football Playoffs, he’s just 131 yards shy of Barry’s record. The Hall of Fame running back is even rooting for Jeanty to break his record as he’s a fan of the Boise State star.  

Dillon Gabriel (Oregon)

It’s just bad timing for Oregon’s star QB that he’s competing for the Heisman Trophy award against two other players that are making history. Yet, that doesn’t diminish what Dillon Gabriel has won.

Not only did he lead the Oregon Ducks to a Big Ten Championship over Penn State on December 7, but Gabriel has also led the Ducks to an undefeated regular season and the #1 ranking heading into the College Football Playoffs. In fact, Oregon is the odds-on favorites to win the National Championship in large part due to Dillon.

After 13 games, Dillon tallied 3,558 yards, 28 TDs and just 6 INTs. He also rushed for 192 yards and seven touchdowns.

These aren’t record breaking numbers like Hunter or possibly Jeanty, but they are good enough to put Dillon and his Oregon team a few steps away from winning the College Football Championship.

Cam Ward (Miami)

It’s a shame that the Miami Hurricanes will come up short in their quest to make the College Football Playoffs, but it’s not because of QB Cam Ward. The future NFL first round pick finished the season with 4,123 yards, 36 TDs and 7 INTs. He also ran for 196 yards and four TDs. He ranked 1^st in TD passes and second in passing yards.

Compared to Dillon, Ward’s stats are better and showed why he was one of the top QBs in the nation. Unfortunately, Ward has no shot at winning the National Championship, but he will be one of the first draft picks in the NFL Draft next year and he will go much higher than Gabriel.

In fact, many pundits are projecting Ward as the second QB taken in the 2025 NFL Draft. Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders is projected to be the first QB taken off the board.

2024 Heisman Trophy Winner Prediction

Let’s sum up the Hunter vs. Jeanty accolades:

Hunter: best two-way player possibly ever, Big 12 defensive player of the year, and one of the top receivers in the country. Will probably be the first player taken in the 2025 NFL Draft depending on which team gets the pick.

Jeanty: best running back in the country, will be MWC player of the year, could potentially break the all-time rushing record in a season. Might possibly lead the Broncos to a National Title game appearance.

Before I go any further, I will admit that I’m a Boise State fan and jumped on their bandwagon in the early 2000s. A few years after I became a Gonzaga fan. There’s something about the little guy that I always end up rooting for.

With that said, the safe play here is Hunter. However, the more deserving winner is Jeanty. If you put Hunter on Boise State, they would be lucky to get to 8-4 and would definitely not be in the College Football Playoffs.

If you put Jeanty on Colorado, the Buffaloes would be a Top 10 team, in the College Football Playoffs and a real contender for the National Title.

Colorado had two Heisman hopefuls all season long in Sanders and Hunter. Sanders ended up as the Big 12 offensive player of the year and could also contend for the top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

How can a team have two Heisman contenders and one of them be such a large favorite?

Jeanty was the entire offense for Boise State. Every opponent knew he was going to get the ball and yet, the nation’s best running back still dominated the conference. And, let’s not forget, they were a last second field goal away from beating the #1 seed Oregon Ducks in Oregon.

In case you are wondering what Jeanty did against Oregon, he finished with 192 rushing yards and three touchdowns. In fact, he never finished below 100 rushing yards in a game this season, had five 200-yard+ rushing games, and scored in 12 of 13 games as of this writing.

Hunter is one of the most dynamic players I’ve ever seen. Yet, Jeanty is clearly the best player on his team. I’m not 100% certain that Hunter is the best player on Colorado. Sanders is an incredible talent as well. And, if you aren’t the best player on your own team, then how can you be the best player in College Football?

Jeanty is my pick as the Heisman winner. If I had a Heisman vote, it would be Jeanty. I will be taking a small flier on Jeanty to win the Heisman Award. However, for those of you that are risk adverse then stick with Hunter.

Bet: Ashton Jeanty (+750)

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