Week One College Football Point Spreads: Betting Opportunities Abound

Aug 28, 2013

Week One College Football point spreads season offer sports bettors with excellent opportunities to exploit soft lines caused, in part, by public [mis]perception. While well-known programs like Oklahoma, Nebraska and Texas A&M generate the majority of the betting action from the general public, astute handicappers understand the fact that real value rests with under-the-radar teams like Louisiana-Monroe, Rice and Wyoming.

Soft Point Spread Alert #1:

Wyoming (+29) (-110) over Nebraska

  • Wyoming head coach Dave Christensen is 15-4 ATS as a road underdog, including 9-1 ATS when his team is playing with revenge.
  • Nebraska allowed 27.6 points per game last season and only return four players on defense in 2013.
  • Wyoming quarterback Brett Smith leads all Mountain West Conference signal-callers in passing efficiency (157.7) and was ranked fifth in college football in points responsible for (20.2) last year.

Soft Point Spread Alert #2:

Louisiana Tech (+14) (-110) over North Carolina State

  • Louisiana Tech head coach Skip Holtz is 31-13-1 ATS as an underdog in his career, including 8-2 ATS versus ACC opposition.
  • In the past two years, the Bulldogs have garnered road wins over Illinois, Virginia and Mississippi, while losing to Mississippi State in overtime  and suffering a 2-point loss at Texas A&M.
  • North Carolina State has an extremely inexperienced offense (only three players who have started 3 or more games in each of the last three years) and will be breaking in a new quarterback.

Soft Point Spread Alert #3:

Louisiana-Monroe (+22) (-110) over Oklahoma

  • The Warhawks return seventeen starters, which is relevant in that 17 or more returning starter teams are 22-7-1 ATS as underdogs in Game One when matched up against an opponent who won ten or more games the previous season.
  • ULM also takes the field with quarterback Kolton Browning, who was last year’s Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year.
  • Oklahoma is 10-19-1 ATS before conference openers (West Virginia on deck) and the Sooners will be starting an inexperienced quarterback in freshman Trevor Knight.

Our sources have confirmed sharp money on all three of the underdogs listed above, with Louisiana-Monroe and Wyoming getting the best of the action.