The 2019-2020 College Football Season is just around the corner. What games in Week 1 should college gridiron handicappers keep an eye on? Check out the complete betting guide for College Football Week 1! And be sure to check out the College Football odds for Week 1!
2019 College Football Week 1 Complete Betting Guide
- When: August 24 – September 2
Saturday, August 24
Florida vs Miami FL
- 2019 College Football Week 1 Odds: Florida -7 ½
Former defensive coordinator Manny Diaz takes over the Miami-FL program as head coach. In Week 1, Diaz has his work cut out for him. The Florida Gators are stacked. Expect the odds to rise in this one with the Gators offering -8 ½ if not -9.
Thursday, August 29
UCLA vs Cincinnati
- 2019 College Football Week 1 Odds: Cincinnati -3 ½
How much has Chip Kelly’s UCLA squad improved? Cincinnati beat the Bruins 26-17 last year. UCLA will be looking for revenge. The spread should remain tight with it possibly falling to -2 ½, or even -2.
Georgia Tech vs Clemson
- 2019 College Football Week 1 Odds: Clemson -33 ½
Clemson is the defending National Champions. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence could dominate the Yellow Jackets. The Tigers only beat Georgia Tech 49-21 last year. The spread is fair although G-Tech averaged 325 rushing yards, which means they could hang in this.
Utah vs BYU
- 2019 College Football Week 1 Odds: Utah -6
Utah could make a statemen in this battle. The Utes return players on both offense and defense. In fact, they had only 9 senior starters last season. 2 of the 9 were kickers. The Utes are loaded.
Friday, August 30
Wisconsin vs South Florida
- 2019 College Football Week 1 Odds: Wisconsin -10 ½
Badgers-Bulls might be the most interesting matchup in College Football Week 1. Wisconsin had a down year considering many projected them to go undefeated. The Badgers could continue because coach Paul Chryst must replace the entire offensive line.
Charlie Strong coached South Florida to a fantastic 7-0 start. The Bulls lost their last 6 games. Strong’s team should be better on defense in 2019 than they were in 2018 when they allowed 32 points per game.
Oklahoma State vs Oregon State
- 2019 College Football Week 1 Odds: Oklahoma State -16 ½
Oregon State should be one of the worst teams in the Big 5 Conferences again. The Beavers aren’t very good. Why does this game show up on the list? Oklahoma State has a chance to win the Big 12. Redshirt freshman quarterback Spencer Sanders should light up the conference behind an offensive line that returns 3 starters: Marcus Keyes, Johnny Wilson, and Teven Jenkins.
Saturday, August 31
Florida Atlantic vs Ohio State
- 2019 College Football Week 1 Odds: Ohio State -27 ½
Urban Meyer retired, but he didn’t leave the Ohio State Buckeyes in the lurch. Ohio State has talent everywhere, including at quarterback where Georgia transfer Justin Fields replaces NFL first round pick Dwayne Haskins. But, the talent must come together and we can legitimately question Ohio State’s offensive line.
FAU coach Lane Kiffin landed former Florida State starter Deondre Francois to play quarterback. Kiffin remains a brilliant offensive strategist. It will be interesting to see how well Francois plays against the Buckeyes’ defense.
Duke vs Alabama
- 2019 College Football Week 1 Odds: Alabama -31 ½
Duke will lose this game, especially after quarterback Daniel Jones went to the NFL. The real reason to keep this game on your radar is because of the points, Alabama doesn’t always cover gigantic spreads, and to see how well Bama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa plays.
Tagovailoa is the co-Heisman Trophy favorite with Trevor Lawrence at +250. Tua is also the favorite to be the first player drafted at the 2020 NFL Draft. His odds there are -140. If Tua lights up Duke, Alabama’s +200 odds to win the National Championship could take a major hit.
If you like Bama to win it all, back them as soon as you can.
Boise State vs Florida State
- 2019 College Football Week 1 Odds: Florida State -4
FSU coach Willie Taggert pressed the reset button after a disastrous 5-7 2018. Taggert has a new coaching staff. There will be new players at almost every position on offense. Boise State hasn’t named a starting quarterback. They won’t until mid-August. However, the Broncos return all 5 starters along the offensive line. Right now, they’re an overlay against the Seminoles at +4.
Oregon vs Auburn
- 2019 College Football Week 1 Odds: Auburn -2 ½
This game takes place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. It’s interesting that the oddsmakers have made Auburn a -2 ½ favorite even though on paper the Ducks are a College Football Playoff contender. No doubt, this is the most important game in College Football Week 1.
Oregon has a legit NFL first pick type player in quarterback Justin Herbert while the Auburn Tigers expect to contend for the SEC. Auburn might have the best defensive line in the nation. How Herbert handles it could determine who wins this one straight up.
Sunday, September 1
Houston vs Oklahoma
- 2019 College Football Week 1 Odds: Oklahoma -26
The reason to pay attention to this matchup? Has Oklahoma found a player to replace Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Kyler Murray? Oklahoma should dominate Houston because the Cougars must overhaul what was a bad defense last season. How the Sooners dominate is the real question.
Monday, September 2
Notre Dame vs Louisville
- 2019 College Football Week 1 Odds: Notre Dame -19 ½
Louisville was awful in 2018. Although they should eventually be more competitive under former Appalachian State coach Scott Satterfield, they won’t be competitive in Week 1. Notre Dame, with second-year starter Ian Book under center, should dominate the Cardinals.
Hyped teams will offer underlay odds
Big 5 Conference teams, no matter who they are, are always overvalued in Week 1
Consider backing dogs on the moneyline once odds are set
