A measly half-point kept me from a winning start to the season. Wake Forest was a 3.5-point favorite at home against Utah State on Friday night, but the Demon Deacons could only beat the Aggies by a field goal. It was a thrilling back-and-forth game where the teams traded scores from the start to the finish, and either team could have emerged victorious. As such, I can’t be too bummed about losing that game since it was a virtual coin flip throughout, but half-point losses aren’t fun.
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My other three bets were much more decisive. The Utah Utes had no issues with the BYU Cougars in the Holy War, easily covering the college football betting odds in a 30-12 victory where the Cougars couldn’t do anything on offense. Louisiana stayed within the number almost the entire way against Mississippi State, covering the 20-point NCAAF betting line with room to square to give me my second one.
However, my last bet was never close. I thought that Georgia Southern would put up a fight and keep it respectable against LSU on Saturday night, but the Eagles were boat raced. LSU hammered Georgia Southern 55-3 and covered the CFB betting line by multiple touchdowns.
YTD Record 2-2 ATS
?Week 2 College Football Odds?#LSU -4.5#Texas +4.5 #Clemson -18.5
Texas A&M +18.5#Alabama -54
New Mexico State +54#Cincinnati #Ohio State#Syracuse -2.5#Maryland -2.5#BYU +3#Tennessee -3#Oregon State +5#Hawaii -5Join Here➡️ https://t.co/O8c0YRiQ4H pic.twitter.com/iSscmFtPiH
— Official Bookmaker (@bookmaker_eu) September 2, 2019
College Football Best Bets (Saturday, September 7)
The pick: Cincinnati Bearcats +17 at Ohio State Buckeyes
This game means the world to Luke Fickell. The Cincinnati Bearcats’ head coach spent 15 years as a coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes, even becoming the interim head coach of the program in 2011 after Jim Tressel was forced out prior to the start of the season. He has made no secret of the fact that he eventually wants to be the main man in Columbus, and this will be his chance after the Buckeyes looked over Fickell to hire Ryan Day.
Cincinnati has an excellent defense that completely shut down UCLA last week. The Bearcats allowed the Bruins to complete less than a third of their passes, and UCLA could only muster 1.7 yards per carry.
Ohio State will certainly fare better, but new QB Justin Fields is still unproven. Fields had a dream start against Florida Atlantic on Saturday, yet this Cincinnati defense is tiers better than FAU. The Bearcats have had an extra two days of rest and preparation, and I think they will keep this game within two scores.
The pick: South Florida Bulls +6 at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Everyone is down on USF after the school suffered its worst loss in school history on Friday. The Bulls couldn’t do anything right in a 49-0 shutout loss to Wisconsin, even missing a late field goal that would have kept the program from being held scoreless at home.
Charlie Strong has now lost seven straight games, and some fans are calling for his head. USF is certainly in an extended decline, but this is a great spot to bet the Bulls.
Georgia Tech is in a complete rebuild, and the school is trying to figure things out on both sides of the ball. The Yellow Jackets did look somewhat respectable in their loss to Clemson, but this is still a work in progress. USF has far more experience and knows what it wants to do, and the Bulls will stop the bleeding with an upset win in Atlanta on Saturday.
The pick: Over 70 in North Texas at SMU
These are two of the most fun offenses to watch among the Group of Five schools, and both quarterbacks are going to put up serious numbers through the air.
Sonny Dykes has a talented quarterback in Texas transfer Shane Buechele, and the Air Raid coach has entrusted his new starter to throw it often. SMU plays at a breakneck pace and ran 94 plays against Arkansas State last week, and they will be looking to light up a subpar North Texas defense after an embarrassing 46-23 loss to the Mean Green last year.
When North Texas has the ball, the Mean Green will put their trust in the capable hands of Mason Fine. Fine is the best quarterback you’ve never heard of, and he has put up big numbers during his time in Denton. He should surpass 10,000 career passing yards in this game, and he’ll make sure North Texas lights up SMU’s defense once more.
Check out my college football week 1 best bets picks here.
Check out the latest college football week 2 betting odds.
