The college football landscape changed again with another round of realignment moving the big boys of the Pac-12 into other conferences and putting an end to, what the late Bill Walton so eloquently called, the conference of champions. Does that affect the betting landscape and college football parlays at Crypto sportsbooks? It’s hard to say so early in the season but it does create some mind-blowing matchups later. The Week 1 college football betting calendar starts on Thursday with at least one game every day through Monday. While a number of teams ease their way into the season, there are some matchups that could have implications later in the year. On Saturday, No. 1 Georgia takes on No. 14 Clemson in Atlanta and Texas AM hosts Notre Dame in a matchup of ranked squads.
College Football Betting Lines
Week 1 College Football Parlay Card Wagers
Clemson +13
Penn State -8.5
USC / LSU UNDER 64.5
$100 bet to win $617.57
Using the odds at the time of this writing a $100 bet on my three-team college football parlay would win more than $617. And I’m running the gamut with my picks taking a favorite, underdog and betting the total. It’s a bold strategy for Week 1 and we’ll see how it plays out.
Last season was disappointing for the Clemson Tigers yet they still finished with nine wins rattling off five straight to close the campaign. That run has folks excited about the prospects heading into 2024 and the Tigers are among the favorites to win the ACC. They are a double-digit dog to the No. 1 team in the country, though. Paying close attention to injury news leads me to back Clemson and the points and the spread has already dropped slightly.
UGA will be without Roderick Robinson, who was expected to pick up a bulk of the carries with the top two rushers from a season ago gone. And they could also be without Florida transfer Trevor Etienne, impacting the production from the backfield. When the teams last met in 2021 Georgia prevailed 10-3 and we’re likely to see another low-scoring affair. And if that’s the case 13 points will feel like 100 points.
One team sure to benefit from the expanded college football is Penn State, which had the unfortunate circumstance of competing in the same Big Ten division as Ohio State and Michigan. And what’s scary is that the Nittany Lions could be better than the team that lost just two regular season games last year, by eight points to OSU and nine points to UM. They also throttled West Virginia, 38-15, in last year’s opener covering the 21-point spread.
The Lions do have to go on the road against the Mountaineers this year but they’ve covered the spread in each of their last six games against Big 12 foes. WVU averaged 31.5 points last season but had a tougher time against stronger opponents. PSU is certainly a strong opponent with a number of starters returning to a defense that finished second nationally in fewest yards allowed and third in scoring.
The USC Trojans play their first game as a member of the Big Ten against one of the top SEC clubs. There is no Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels so the offensive firepower could be lacking. And while both teams were among the best in scoring last year we should expect some regression making UNDER 64.5 a smart wager.
The offensive side of the ball was the least of the teams worries, though. They both sucked at playing defense and special attention was given to that side of the football by both teams during the offseason, addressing the issues through the transfer portal. LSU was 81st nationally in points allowed while USC ranked 121st in 2023.
Both expected starting quarterbacks had big bowl games last season but otherwise lack experience. USC’s Miller Moss has thrown just 92 passes in 12 career games and LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier has just a few more. What could flip this game is the explosiveness of USC kick returner Zachariah Branch. He had a kickoff and punt return TD last season and could change things in a hurry. Still, offenses need time and with so many changes on both sides, the total is too high.
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