Mariota Still Leads Heisman Odds, But Melvin Gordon is Coming Quick

The USC Trojans were summarily dismissed at the Rose Bowl on Saturday and that means so were their ever-so-slim National Championship chances. Though Vegas didn't have USC on the board for a national championship bet any more, the Trojans still had an outside shot at making the College Football Playoff if they somehow ran the table. That obviously proved not to be something in the works.

But who remains viable candidates in the race for the National Championship and the Heisman Trophy?

Instead of USC, it was UCLA that saw its national championship odds increase over the weekend. The Bruins moved up from 50/1 odds to 25/1 and hold their Pac-12 fate in their own hands. Win this Friday against Stanford and the Bruins are in the Pac-12 Championship where a victory could potentially propel them into the College Football Playoff (depending on everything else that happens in the last two weeks). Aqib Talib's Kansas squad and West Virginia led by Steve Slaton were both in the top three at this point not too long ago and neither saw a national championship game after both squads suffered upsets.

The Pac-12 North has long been locked up by Oregon, who has been awaiting their competitor for a while. The Ducks saw their national championship odds decrease in Vegas, but they still remain with the second-best odds behind Alabama. Oregon's odds dipped from to 15/4 to 9/2. Alabama's odds moved up from 5/2 to 2/1. Florida State remained at 6/1 behind them.

Arizona State is no longer on the board.

Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota is still the favorite in the Heisman Trophy odds, but for the second week in a row his once dominate advantage slimmed down thanks to Melvin Gordon. Mariota's odds stayed at 1/3 while Gordon improved from 5/2 to 2/1.

USC running back Buck Allen had another 100+ yards from the scrimmage, but he hasn't been on the Bovada (www.Bovada.lv, Twitter: @BovadaLV) board in weeks. Surprisingly, Bovada (where these odds are from) has decided no one else is worthy of being on the board, taking off J.T. Barrett, Trevone Boykin, Dak Prescott, Jameis Winston and Bryce Petty.

Here are the latest odds courtesy of Bovada (second number is current line, first number is last week's line):

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