Below is a sampling of some important week 1 matchups. To see all of the week 1 lines, navigate to the college football lines page.
TCU (-4) at Baylor – A solid, in-state battle that kicks off Friday night. The line opened at 6 ½ but most books have scaled that back to 4 points. The big question mark for TCU has to be the quarterback situation. Andy Dalton and all of his experience are in Cincinnati now. But the defense has some quality personnel back from last year, which alone is enough to keep the Horned Frogs in nearly every game. On the other side of the field, Robert Griffin III is a darkhorse candidate for the Heisman Trophy, but the Baylor defense needs to take a big step forward from last year if the Bears hope to compete with TCU.
Boston College (-3) vs. Northwestern – The line opened at 2 ½ but has been pushed up to 3 at most sites. Which is hard to believe considering BC’s productive ground game has been ravaged by injuries to their top backs, including preseason ACC player of the year, Montel Harris. But the defense is always stingy and they’re playing at home against a team that tends to finish a season better than it starts. Dan Persa is as good as advertised, but the Wildcats need to find a serviceable running game.
Houston (-3 ½) vs. UCLA – UCLA travels to Houston for the back end of a home-home series with the Cougars. The line opened at 3 but has been nudged up to 3 ½ at some sites. Last year, Houston got spanked in LA and lost Case Keenum in the process. Keenum is back (and possibly tenured), but the Bruins have better athletes. Rick Neuheisel needs to win games like this if he wants to keep coaching at his alma mater.
Notre Dame (-10) vs. South Florida – The Fighting Irish opened as 10 ½ point favorites against South Florida, though books are currently posting the game at 10. Notre Dame is getting its fair share of press, but Skip Holtz and the Bulls should compete for the Big East title. This will be a good measuring stick game for two pretty good teams.
Oklahoma (-24) vs. Tulsa – The top team in the land gets an in-state battle when Tulsa comes calling. Oklahoma opened at 20 but the line has been moved to 24 or 24 ½ depending upon the book. Although the Sooners have a load of talent on both sides of the ball, the Golden Hurricanes won’t be a pushover. I can’t help but remember last year when Oklahoma opened with Utah State and a 28 point line got moved to 35 … the Aggies almost pulled off the upset.
Boise State (-3) at Georgia – After LSU/Oregon, this is the best game on tap for the opening weekend. The Broncos opened at 3 ½ but that’s come down to 3 points. The game is on a ‘neutral’ field in Georgia; expect a partisan Bulldog crowd. Georgia is supposed to compete for the SEC East title, but Boise brings back another experienced squad. Two great quarterbacks will be on the field in this one.
Oregon (-3½) vs. LSU – The game of the week takes place in Texas, a pseudo-home game for LSU. Like with Georgia, expect Tigers fans to dominate the stands at this ‘neutral’ field. The Ducks opened as 2 ½ point favorites, but some books are shying away from posting a number, presumably until LSU figures out the details to Thursday night’s fight, and whether there’ll be anymore suspensions. Stay tuned.
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