CFB Betting: A daunting challenge of keeping a “Fly in the Ointment” program at that same level in this new era of Power Five Conferences and a wider gap between the haves and the have not’s awaits new Boise State Broncos head coach Bryan Harsin, who replaced legendary Chris Peterson after Petersen took the University of Washington job. The No. 18 Ole Miss Rebels enter the 2014 season with their highest expectations and fan anticipation since the 2003 season when Eli Manning and crew fell just short of a shot at the SEC Championship Game. The Ole Miss Rebels will face the Boise State Broncos on Thursday night at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta with coverage on ESPN starting at 8 PM ET. Ole Miss opened as a 10 point favorite at BetDSI with a total of 54.
Bryan Tryin’ to Maintain Bronco Tradition of Success
Harsin was a backup QB and later assistant coach with Boise State so his return was met by Bronco fans as a favorite son returning home. Petersen set incredibly high standards with regular BCS championship runs and wins over big name teams. Boise State is a member of the Mountain West Conference and with the recent “Power Five” Conferences deciding to offer stipends and other benefits to recruits the jury is out as to whether or not they can maintain their past high level of success. Senior QB Grant Hedrick leads seven returning starters on offense with eight starters back on defense. Boise State has covered just four out of their last 10 games as a dog. Boise State has operated in red ink versus the spread the past three consecutive seasons.
Bo Knows
Senior QB Bo Wallace is a Heisman Trophy candidate and leads a total of six returning starters to the Ole Miss offense that has averaged better than 30 points per game in their first two seasons under head coach Hugh Freeze. The defense returns nine starters and the Rebels have a whopping 60 lettermen returning to a team that went 8-5 last year. Ole Miss has covered their last four neutral site games but is 4-12 against the spread away from home as a favorite. The Rebels have gone 8-2 ATS in nonconference games under Freeze.
Our Pick
While we are not thrilled with having to lay 10 points this looks like the strongest Ole Miss team in years and we’ll go with the Rebels.
