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The start of the 2019 college football season is still a few weeks away, but it’s never too early to get excited about the matchups that dot the Week 1 schedule. Officially the season starts on August 24 with a pair of games and teams will have 14 weeks to play their usual 12-game slate. That means most teams will enjoy two bye weeks this season. That could have an impact on wagering down the line, but we’re here to talk about the opening games and where those lines sit at this point.... 

Following their first double-digit win season in nearly a decade, things are looking up for Tom Herman and the Texas Longhorns. Beating Oklahoma during the Big 12 regular season and a Sugar Bowl victory over Georgia are signs that the program has returned to elite status. Reaching the College Football Playoff for the first time might be a stretch for this group in a crowded league that includes the Sooners, but a few breaks along the way could make 2019 a magical campaign.... 

For a program that gets as much attention as the LSU Tigers, the results haven’t been there the past several seasons. Working at what he calls his dream job, Ed Orgeron is looking to move the Bayou Bengals back into the upper echelon of college football. There are some stumbling blocks on the Tigers path to the CFP, most notably Alabama and a brutal SEC West schedule. But LSU is trending up after winning 10 games for the first time in five years and ending the 2018 season ranked among the top-10... 

Reaching the College Football Playoff the last two years with a transfer quarterback, the Oklahoma Sooners will look to repeat the process after trading for, I mean winning the transfer rights to former Alabama signal-caller Jalen Hurts. OU has earned three CFP berths and has played some wildly entertaining games once getting there. The only problem is that the Sooners have yet to win a playoff game.... 

Urban Meyer, one of the greatest coaches in the college game, is no longer around. That hasn’t changed the expectations of the Ohio State Buckeyes under his replacement Ryan Day. More than the loss of Meyer, though, is a new season without Dwayne Haskins after OSU put up the most explosive passing season in program history. There is an expected decline for the Buckeyes now that Meyer has passed the headset, but this is hardly a team lacking talent.... 

Are the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on the verge of being a consistent CFP participant? The road to the playoff is more difficult for a team with independent status, but the Irish proved last season that they can overcome that obstacle. Putting together a perfect regular season record, Notre Dame earned its first CFP berth only to get hammered by eventual champion Clemson in the Cotton Bowl semifinal. That loss didn’t look so bad when Clemson claimed the national title with a thumping of Alabama a... 

With the retirement of Urban Meyer at Ohio State, the door is open for the Michigan Wolverines to finally reach a Big Ten title game. But will that be enough to get them into the College Football Playoff for the first time? The maize and blue have been strong under Jim Harbaugh going 10-3 last season for the third time in four years. However, UM has been unable to breakthrough partly due to their failures against their biggest rival.... 

Under Kirby Smart there’s been a culture change around the Georgia Bulldogs. The program is poised to make another run at the College Football Playoff. However, there is one obstacle in their way. And it’s a big one. That team from Tuscaloosa resides in the SEC and there’s a good chance the Dogs will need to get by the Tide in the conference championship. The precedent has been set for a team to reach the playoff without winning its conference championship, but the Dogs can’t afford any missteps... 

If any team can rival Alabama for supremacy it’s Clemson. And the Tigers may have even surpassed the mighty Tide to sit atop the college football world after their dismantling of Bama in last season’s national championship game. Dabo Swinney has built a powerhouse and it doesn’t appear as though the Tigers are going to relinquish their status. Clemson has reached the CFP the last four seasons winning a pair of national championships. The Tigers are easily the best team in the ACC and they will m... 

The 2019 college football season will culminate with the sixth College Football Playoff. And just like death and taxes, one thing is for certain: the Tide will be there. That’s not a guess and it’s not wishful thinking since I’d like to see anyone other than the Tide playing for a National Championship, but they haven’t missed the CFP yet as the only program to make all five appearances. And Bama is once again the class of the SEC.... 

They’ve hooked up in the championship game three times in the five-year history of the College Football Playoff, so it isn’t surprising to see the Alabama Crimson Tide and Clemson Tigers at the top of the early odds board at online sportsbooks for a national championship. The two programs have dominated the college football landscape in the CFP era with Bama reaching every final four while Clemson has gone in each of the last four seasons. The Tigers routed Alabama for the championship last year... 

The College Football Playoff National Championship game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Clemson Tigers is the fourth round of a super power matchup in which these powerhouse programs will again battle for college football supremacy. Alabama has won two of the first three playoff meetings in this series but Clemson did win the national championship game over the Tide two years ago. As the two superpowers of the sport gamblers are quite familiar with each side, the players and coaches. Live b... 

It is already being touted as “Part IV.” The College Football National Championship game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Clemson Tigers is the fourth consecutive post season meeting between what have become the top two dominant programs in the sport. The Crimson Tide are the defending national champions and have won a total of five nattys since Nick Saban took over as coach in 2007. The Tigers have enjoyed a renaissance under head coach Dabo Swinney and are just two years removed from their... 

The Mississippi State Bulldogs unfortunately have to play in a stacked SEC, because if they were in a different conference this year they could have really turned some heads. Mississippi State has one of the best defenses in the country but the team only went 8-4 in the regular season because the schedule was so tough.... 

The Texas Longhorns are massive underdogs coming into their game with the Georgia Bulldogs on New Year’s Day. Texas is almost a two-touchdown underdog, and the Longhorns know they will have their work cut out for them if they hope to defeat Georgia. The Bulldogs are seen as the third-best team in the country according to many power ratings, while the Longhorns are viewed as an above average team after going 9-4 in the Big 12. An upset win for Texas here would mean a lot for the Big 12’s reputati... 

We finally get a traditional Rose Bowl matchup this year, as the Washington Huskies take on the Ohio State Buckeyes on New Year’s Day on ESPN. This will be the first matchup between the Pac-12 and Big Ten in the Rose Bowl since the College Football Playoffs started. The Huskies come into this game ranked No. 9 in the country, while the Buckeyes are ranked No. 6. Let’s look at this game that can be seen on ESPN and live betting at BookMaker.eu.... 

Bowl Week includes a basketball school that is going for just its third double digit win season in program history going up against one of the established traditional powers in the sport. The Kentucky Wildcats had a serious look at the Southeastern Conference East Division title but proved to be outclassed by Georgia. The Penn State Nittany Lions were also in the mix for the Big Ten East Division but suffered inexplicable home losses to Ohio State and Michigan State to undermine their efforts. A... 

Among the top offerings of Bowl Week is a matchup of former ancient rivals from the old Big Eight Conference between the Missouri Tigers and Oklahoma State Cowboys. For Mizzou what was looing like a lost season turned out to be one that ended as a rousing success. As a result, head coach Barry Odom was extended with a nice raise. For the Cowboys a season that started with great promise turned out to be a dud. In fact, it can be said that both teams did the opposite of what was expected of them t... 

Bowl Week includes what many fans and gamblers consider to be a mismatch between an Atlantic Coast Conference also-ran versus a Southeastern Conference team that is considered to be a “team of the future.” The North Carolina State Wolfpack have one of the most prolific passing attacks in the land with quarterback Ryan Finley but it was not enough for them to come close to Clemson as the top team in the ACC. The Texas A&M Aggies went through a culture change under first year head coach Jimbo ... 

An important part of the college football playoff debate will be featured this Bowl Week with the Central Florida Knights. For the second year in a row this Group of Five power was on the outside looking in when it came to the playoff. As a consolation prize the Knights will get a New Year’s Day bowl bid as they did last year. One year ago, Central Florida upset Auburn 34-27 in the Peach Bowl to earn a considerable amount of credibility and respect. This year the Knights will get their shot agai... 

Among the higher quality Bowl Week matchups is one between teams that lost their respective conference championship games. The Big Ten Northwestern Wildcats impressed all by winning the West Division for the first time in their history. The Pac 12 Utah Utes took the South Division championship for the first time since joining the league in 2011. Both the Cats and Utes play physical brands of football that old school fans will appreciate. While Northwestern uses guts, brawn and brains for success... 

Bowl Week includes an interesting matchup of a Big Ten team that did not reach expectations and one that could well be in decline against a Pac 12 team that many are now tabbing as the “Team of the Future.” The Michigan State Spartans did not contend for the Big Ten East Division title this year and seem to be falling further behind Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State. The Oregon Ducks had a solid but hardly great year under first year head coach Mario Cristobal. But the big news about Oregon wa... 

Bowl Week includes a matchup of teams that did meet the expectations set out for them at the start of the year. Not much was expected from the Cincinnati Bearcats at the start if the 2018 season and yet from their opening day win at UCLA they continued to surprise both on the field and at the payout window. For the Virginia Tech Hokies, a shot at the Coastal Division title of the Atlantic Coast Conference was the expectation. Instead they had to force schedule an extra last home game to barely m... 

The Stanford Cardinal didn’t live up to expectations during the regular season, as the hope of competing for another Pac-12 title went away quickly. Stanford finally found a groove down the stretch by winning its final three games to earn an invitation to the Sun Bowl. Stanford will face off against the Pittsburgh Panthers as each side is hoping to finish the season on a high note.... 

The South Carolina Gamecocks have followed a pretty simple pattern this season. In games against ranked opponents, they have yet to come away with a victory. However, in contests against unranked opponents, they are undefeated. South Carolina hopes the trend will remain this way the whole year by capping the Belk Bowl with a victory over the Virginia Cavaliers....