The Associated Press recently came out with its preseason rankings for the 2010 NCAA football season. This annual event always spurs betting at Bodog’s online sportsbook, with most of the focus on the college futures board.

The AP’s top team heading into the season is Alabama, which collected 54 of the 60 first-place votes. Next is Ohio State (3 votes), followed by Boise State (1), Florida, Texas (1), TCU, Oklahoma (1), Nebraska, Iowa and Virginia Tech.

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That’s a pretty convincing vote for Alabama and it’s reflected in the Crimson Tide’s odds to win the BCS National Championship, which are receiving strong action at 4/1. Ohio State is also getting strong support at 5/1, no surprise there considering the size of both programs’ loyal fan base.

Boise State is a different story at 8/1 odds to win a national title. Based on the betting so far, people still aren’t convinced that the Broncos can win it all, despite the team having not lost since 2008. Not even a perfect record was good enough last year, and they’ll need exactly that again in 2010 if they have any hope of advancing to the big game. The Broncos will need to be particularly impressive against Virginia Tech and Oregon State in September, plus avoid any slip-ups against lesser competition as their schedule progresses.

One medium shot that’s received a few futures wagers since the preseason rankings were announced is Wisconsin. The Badgers are ranked No. 12 by AP and are receiving fairly tempting 40/1 odds to win the BCS National Championship. Wisconsin will have plenty of opportunity to impress the voters, with Ohio State visiting on Oct. 16, followed by a trip to Iowa the following week. (Wisconsin is currently at 9/2 odds to win the Big Ten, third to Ohio State at 4/9 and Iowa at 4/1.)

So, why Wisconsin? Well, the Badgers have a very capable quarterback in senior Scott Tolzien, who was extremely impressive in the latter half of last season. Not to mention, they’ve got Heisman candidate John Clay at running back. We’ve got Clay’s odds at 15/1 to win the Heisman, so you know he’s a contender. Of course, the big question for Wisconsin will be on defense.

One other medium to long shot that’s been getting some attention at Bodog is Oregon State at 40/1. Now, there are plenty of reasons to dismiss the Beavers, but that’s why they’re at 40/1 and not 4/1. And if there’s one team that could build some confidence early, it’s the Beavers, who get TCU on Sept. 4 at Cowboys Stadium and Boise State three weeks later on the road. If OSU can somehow find a way to win those games, they’ll have some serious momentum going for them in what should be a fairly open Pac-10 conference. 

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