If you miss watching and betting on football, then you should be excited for this upcoming weekend. Saturday, the USFL returns for the first time in almost 40 years. The new eight-team league begins their season this weekend, with the Birmingham Stallions hosting the New Jersey Generals Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET. The six other teams will play on Sunday.
Week 1 odds are expected to be released soon, but you can place a futures bet right now. As far as the playoff structure for the USFL goes, the top two teams from the North and South divisions will play in the semifinals on the weekend of June 25, and the USFL Championship Game will take place on July 3.
Below, we will list the odds for each USFL team to win the 2022 championship. These odds come courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook.
| TEAM | CHAMPIONSHIP ODDS | HEAD COACH |
|---|---|---|
| Michigan Panthers | +450 | Jeff Fisher |
| Tampa Bay Bandits | +450 | Todd Haley |
| New Orleans Breakers | +450 | Larry Fedora |
| Philadelphia Stars | +550 | Bart Andrus |
| Pittsburgh Maulers | +550 | Kirby Wilson |
| Birmingham Stallions | +700 | Skip Holtz |
| Houston Gamblers | +700 | Kevin Sumlin |
| New Jersey Generals | +900 | Mike Riley |
The first thing to note here is that much like us, Vegas has zero idea who is going to be the best team in the USFL this year. They couldn’t even decide on a favorite, giving three teams the shortest championship odds at +450. The Generals are predicted to be the worst team in the league, but +900 isn’t even much of a long shot. The Kansas City Chiefs are +900 to win the Super Bowl right now, and they have the third-shortest odds!
While we haven’t played a game yet, you can understand why the Panthers are one of three teams with the shortest championship odds. Apart from their notable head coach, Michigan took former Ole Miss and Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson with the top pick in the draft and landed Paxton Lynch as well. The Panthers also have a name some may know in wide receiver Jeff Badet.
The Bandits on the other hand may have the best quarterback in the league in Jordan Ta’amu. He replaced Patterson at Ole Miss and threw for 3,918 yards, 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 2018. As a member of the XFL’s St. Louis BattleHawks, Ta’amu threw for 1,050 yards, five touchdowns and just two interceptions in five games played. The Bandits also have a couple of intriguing wideouts in John Franklin III, formerly of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Eli Rogers, formerly of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Breakers are an interesting team, as they took quarterback Kyle Sloter with their top pick. Sloter hasn’t played in an NFL game, but he garnered a bit of a reputation as a preseason legend during his time with a couple clubs such as the Denver Broncos in 2017. Like the NFL, the USFL could be a quarterback-driven league, and Sloter is someone who could surprise people this spring.