The idea of a college football coach hyping up an opponent before the game isn't exactly new. Coaches have been using it as a motivational tactic for years. It's just, it's usually the coach of the favorite doing the hyping.
So I'm not sure what we should make of Portland State coach Bruce Barnum's comments about the Washington Huskies.
Barnum told reporters that he doesn't just think Washington is capable of winning the national title, but he'd even back up his words with cold hard cash.
"I wouldn't be shocked at all," Barnum said. "I don't know what the odds are in Vegas because I can't gamble because I'm a coach in college football, but if I was in front of a tote board right now ... I'd mortgage my house and put it on the Huskies."
Yes, that's right, he'd mortgage his house and put it all on the Huskies to win the College Football Playoff. Now, while Barnum isn't aware of the odds, I'm a quick Google search away from finding out that Bovada currently has Washington at 16-to-1 to win the national title.
So let's say that Barnum was being a bit overzealous in his words, and he's not going to mortgage his house and bet it all on the Huskies. Instead, he's just going to put one mortgage payment on them. Another quick Google search informs me that the median mortgage payment in Portland, Oregon is roughly $1,400 a month. So if he placed that $1,400 on the Huskies right now, and they won it all, Barnum would get $22,400 in return.
Of course, if Barnum is going to bet on Washington, he should probably wait until after Saturday's game. That way trying to beat them wouldn't be a conflict of interest.
