The Stanford Cardinals were a big story on the sports betting page this past year largely because of Heisman runner-up Andrew Luck.
It was thought that the quarterback would be going in the NFL Draft in April but he has decided to come back for another year at Stanford. His return instantly makes the Cardinal a national championship contender in Internet sports betting at the Sbg sportsbook for next season.
Stanford 12-1 with Luck
It was a great year for Stanford this past season with Luck at the helm. The Cardinal finished 12-1 and routed Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. Stanford will finish the season ranked in the top five and they should start next season highly ranked as well. Luck threw for 3,338 yards and 32 touchdowns this season. He completed 71 percent of his passes and threw just eight interceptions. He also rushed for 513 yards. Stanford is 20-5 in Luck’s 25 career starts. The only game he missed was last year’s Sun Bowl when Stanford lost to Oklahoma. Luck was second this past season in Heisman voting behind Auburn’s Cam Newton.
Panthers Miss Out
The decision by Luck to stay in school is crushing blow to the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers had already said they would have selected Luck with the first pick in the draft. Now Carolina will have to settle for a defensive lineman or some other position. It means that the Panthers will likely wallow in mediocrity or worse for many years to come. Carolina made a bad decision last season to take Jimmy Clausen in the draft and now they are stuck with him at quarterback. If Luck had come out they could have rectified that mistake but not now.
NFL Draft Shakeup
The decision by Luck to stay in school is going to shakeup the NFL Draft and it will make things interesting on the sports betting page. The Panthers have the number one pick but now they may be open to trading the pick. With Luck out of the draft it is also weaker as the best player is now gone. The top quarterback in the draft is now expected to be Missouri’s Blaine Gabbert who is coming out early. He was considered a possible top five pick but is not considered a franchise quarterback like Luck is.