Minnesota (-3) at Middle Tennessee State: The biggest point-spread move comes from the Middle Tennessee State-Minnesota Thursday night game. The Blue Raiders opened a 3.5 point favorite, but have either been taken off the board or now sit as a three-point dog to the Minnesota gophers. The reason is the suspension to Middle Tennessee quarterback Dwight Dasher. The $1,500 load he received has been very costly.
USC (-21) at Hawaii: Southern Cal opened a 18 point favorite Thursday night. The Trojans return quarterback Matt Barkley. He passed for 2,700 yards and 15 touchdowns last season. USC should be able score some points this season. Whether they can stop anybody is the question.
UCLA at Kansas State (-2.5): UCLA opened a one-point favorite, but there is concern that UCLA quarterback Kevin Prince might have to sit out with a strained oblique muscle. “If I can’t make it against Kansas State then I’ll just try to get back by Stanford,” Prince said in a published report. “You can’t rush it and be set back even further than we are right now. It’s frustrating, but that’s the way it goes.” Kansas State looks solid with senior Carson Coffman winning the quarterback.
Washington State at Oklahoma State (-16): Oklahoma State opened a 16.5-point favorite and was bet down to -14 immediatley likely setting up this big move back to -16. There has not been a lot of good news coming out of the Pacific Northwest. Washington State, picked to finish last in the Pac 10, also lost safety LeAndre Daniels when he suffered a broken neck in practice.
Cincinnati (+3) at Fresno State: Despite losing coach Brian Kelly, the Bearcats , which opened as a -1 point favorite against Fresno State, are optimistic that they will be just as successful this season, bettors are not buying it. New coach Butch Jones runs the same spread offense that Kelly was successful with last season. Cincinnati is looking to get off to a fast start in preparation for their Sept. 25 game against Oklahoma but bettors aren’t buying it driving the line up to Cincy +3.
Utah State at Oklahoma (-34): We are just talking two different classes of football teams here. The Sooners, who opened a 28 point favorite, has been bet up all the way to -34. With Heisman hopeful DeMarco Murray, Oklahoma appears to have enough firepower to post plenty of points.
Western Kentucky at Nebraska (-37.5): This appears to be a no-confidence vote for Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers were awful last year and they might not score against a stout Nebraska defense. Nebraska, which opened a 31 point favorite, appears to be solid on both sides of the ball and is a top 10 team in the nation.
With week 1 here, you should get on board for our NCAA football picks package, offering 5-10 college football picks against the point spread on the card each and every week from expert handicappers.
