I am against power conference football until Labor Day weekend. Week 0 should be strictly for FCS, Division 2, Division 3, NAIA or maybe even the little guys in FBS. Who wouldn’t love a Sun Belt - MACtion round robin challenge? The two weeknight darlings going head to head for the degenerate gambling man’s pleasure.
Having said that, if you throw big-time programs in my face, of course I’m going to bet ’em. We’ve got two matchups coming up on Saturday and even though it’s too early for games with this magnitude, it’s not too early to get rich.
Let’s go ahead and do that.
Florida/Miami UNDER 47
Yep, game 1 of the college football season is starting with an under. Nobody is happy about it, just like nobody is going to be ready for this game. Miami is coming in with one of the top defenses in the sport, and Florida returns eight defensive players from a team that gave up 20 points per game in 2018.
Florida ranked in the middle of the pack in offense last season, while Miami finished No. 105 in yards per game. Yikes. The Gators will win this game, but the best bet is to go with the under with both teams scoring in the teens.
Hawaii +11 vs. Arizona
After watching a 19-14 slugfest in the opening game of the night, the first to 40 will win the nightcap. I like the over, but I like Hawaii covering even more. One way to get an edge early in the college football season is to look at a team’s history of season openers because programs do things differently to prepare for the year. For example, Nick Saban is crazy and ensures Alabama crushes whoever it plays in the opener (a little teaser for week 1’s gambling picks coming next week).
And this is the case with Hawaii. The last time the Rainbow Warriors did not cover a week 1 spread? 2008 against the national title-winning Florida Gators with Tim Tebow as the quarterback. Hawaii has a good offense, which ranked No. 5 in passing yards in 2018, and Arizona was No. 118 against the pass. Hawaii won’t win, but they’ll keep it within single digits.
College football is back. Get rich with me.
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