Travis Hunter made sportsbooks pay for foolishly long preseason Heisman odds

Travis Hunter said "I never thought I would be in this position" during his speech after being awarded the 2024 Heisman Trophy. He wasn't alone in that thinking.

Though Hunter was almost certainly speaking about the hardships he had to overcome to be memorialized in college football history -- "I'm thankful for my mother. She took me out of Florida, bad area, I'm always getting in trouble" -- he could have just as easily been talking about outside expectations for his likely final season at Colorado.

Hunter's odds to win the Heisman award opened at +3500, behind 17 other players at BetMGM. They lengthened to as much as +5000 before the season started, which put him behind 21 players. Oddsmakers absolutely did not think Hunter would be on that Heisman stage before the season started. His odds were the third-longest of any eventual winner in the last 11 years, according to SportsOddsHistory data.

Longest preseason odds for Heisman winner (since 2014)

• Lamar Jackson, 2016 (+10000)

• DeVonta Smith, 2020 (+10000)

• Travis Hunter, 2024 (+5000)

• Joe Burrow, 2019 (+4000)

• Kyler Murray, 2018 (+3000)

Of course, that lack of faith likely had little to do with a belief in his abilities, as Hunter showed the world exactly what he was capable of when healthy at Jackson State in 2022 and his debut season at Colorado last year. It probably had more to do with a doubt in his ability to actually stay healthy while playing full time on both offense and defense.

It turned out to be a foolish lack of faith. Not only did Hunter last all 12 games for the Buffaloes, helping lift them to a 9-3 record and their best season in eight years, he won the Fred Biletnikoff award for best receiver in the country and the Chuck Bednarik award as the best defensive player in the country. He was literally the best player at his position on both sides of the ball.

As a result, Hunter edged out the phenomenal Ashton Jeanty -- who didn't even have preseason odds -- to become just the second defensive player ever to win the Heisman and first since Charles Woodson in 1997. He did it with four interceptions on defense and 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns on offense.

While oddsmakers didn't see this for Hunter, bettors absolutely did. Despite his long preseason odds, Hunter was attracting the most money on Heisman bets at BetMGM and remained the book's biggest liability through the entire season until betting closed. It paid a cost for that lack of faith.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Travis Hunter made sportsbooks pay for foolishly long preseason Heisman odds