College football Week 0 has nearly arrived and here are three bets that you need to hammer this Saturday.
We are now just days away from College Football Week 0. The slate of games isn’t great — there isn’t even a ranked matchup, but does anyone care?
College football is back…At least it will be Saturday. Even though there aren’t the marquee matchups that we’ll see during Week 1, there are some big names playing — namely USC and Notre Dame.
That doesn’t make College Football Week 0 any less exciting. In fact, from a betting perspective, it might be even more exciting just from the perspective of the unknown.
That being said, here are three picks to hammer in College Football Week 0.
(Odds via FanDuel)
Notre Dame (-20.5) vs Navy (Dublin) 2:30 PM EST (NBC)
Notre Dame and Navy play on a yearly basis but this matchup has a little sizzle to it since it’s happening in Dublin. That last time Notre Dame played Navy in Dublin, it was also a 20.5-point favorite and won the game by 40.
Fan Duel has Notre listed as a 20.5-point favorite this time too. Sam Hartman is starting his first game at quarterback. The offensive line is experienced and talented and so is the running back room led by Audric Estime.
The Midshipmen have a new head coach in Brian Newberry. He was the defensive coordinator previously, so Navy isn’t undergoing a massive change. There is a big talent gap to overcome and with Hartman throwing the football, the Irish should cover the spread.
I just don’t see the Midshipmen having much success on defense and Hartman will have a stellar showing in his first career start for Notre Dame. The over/under is 49.5 and I’d feel pretty good betting that too.
Pick: Irish
Hawaii at Vanderbilt (-17.5) 7:30 PM EST (SEC Network)
Vandy played at Hawaii last season in College Football Week 0 and the two teams will meet against in Nashville on Saturday night.
The Rainbow Warriors really struggled last season and Vandy blew their doors off in the first game under head coach Timmy Chang. Hawaii got better as the season went on. On paper, it sounds like a game that should be somewhat competitive.
AJ Swann is a really talented quarterback and took over as a freshman last season for Vandy, which also returns lots of starting experience up front and at wide receiver. As a whole, Clark Lea has recruited at an extremely high level, at least for the Commodores and the talent level has really been upgraded — that will be as clear on Saturday as it was in the 2022 Week 0 matchup.
Chang’s team will play hard but Vanderbilt is just too good and this spread is underestimating the Commodores who have a good shot to go bowling in 2023.
Pick: Vandy
63.5 over/under San Jose State at USC 8 PM EST (Pac-12 Network)
The Trojans are a 30.5-point favorite but I’m not super confident in that number for a couple of reasons. San Jose State did lose some key pieces on defense including some pass rushers which isn’t a good thing heading into a matchup against Caleb Wiliams.
Brent Brennan led San Jose State to a conference title not that long ago and the Spartans were 7-5 a year ago. They also have their veteran quarterback returning in Chevan Cordeiro. He threw for 3,251 yards last season and accounted for 32 total touchdowns.
USC can score — no question about it. Caleb Williams feels like he’s got a great chance to repeat as the Heisman Trophy winner, but San Jose State isn’t the usual Mountain West pushover.
This is also a San Jose State team that is good enough offensively to take advantage of USC if the defense hasn’t really improved. Adding guys like Bear Alexander will help. Domani Jackson should be elite at cornerback in his second season.
Cordeiro is a dual-threat option though and that’s why I’d bet the over in this matchup. USC is going to have an elite offense once again and 40-some points in this game seems reasonable.
Even a 42-21 win would have the two teams nearly hitting the over. 30.5 seems a little too big but if the Trojans do get close to that number, I’d expect this game to hit the over, which could easily be hit even if the Trojans don’t end up covering, that’s why it’s my pick for this matchup.
Pick: Over