The college football season has been starting even earlier than usual in recent years, giving us another week to bet on college football. These early games, commonly known as Week 0 games, give smaller schools the chance to shine under a national spotlight, with Mountain West schools leading the way in this regard.
There are four Week 0 games this year, all taking place on Saturday. Two of the tilts will feature Rice and Massachusetts taking on FCS teams, but unfortunately there is no college football betting available on those games yet. The other two games will feature two FBS foes squaring off, and there are NCAAF betting odds available for those games. Let’s take an in-depth look at both of those games.
Opening Lines (Courtesy of BetDSI)
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors +14
Colorado State Rams -14
Total: 58
There has been no movement on this game since the original college football odds were released in late May. That’s a little curious given the status of Colorado State head coach Mike Bobo, who was hospitalized last Saturday night with peripheral neuropathy, and may not be on the sidelines for this game. The last update was that Bobo was still in the hospital, and not much information has come out of Colorado State. We wish Bobo a speedy recovery at Get More Sports, but it seems like this news should have affected the betting odds.
Related: College Football Betting Guide
Both teams have numerous questions heading into the season. Colorado State is undergoing a massive rebuild on offense. Nick Stevens, Michael Gallup, and Dalyn Dawkins are all gone, as well as a good portion of the Rams’ offensive line. Graduate transfer K.J. Carta-Samuels will be the team’s starting quarterback, but he has thrown a total of 47 passes over the course of three seasons. Bobo is a bit of a quarterback whisperer, yet it might take some time for Carta-Samuels to get going.
Hawaii is changing up its offensive scheme this year. The Rainbow Warriors ran the ball a lot more than what we are accustomed to in 2016 and 2017, and head coach Nick Rolovich spent the offseason moving the team back to the run-and-shoot. Hawaii has some good receivers available, led by John Ursua, but there are major questions at quarterback. No one on the roster has thrown more than nine passes in their career, and Rolovich has yet to declare who his starter will be on Saturday.
Given this information, the under looks like a great play. Both teams have serious offensive concerns, so it’s a bit odd to see this number so high. When it comes to a side, I believe Hawaii is a sharp play given Bobo’s status. I expect the CFB betting odds to adjust as the week wears on, so grab the Rainbow Warriors and the two touchdowns while you can.
Related: Week 0 Underdog Picks
Wyoming Cowboys -3.5
New Mexico State Aggies +3.5
Total 46
New Mexico State is riding high coming into the season. Last year the Aggies won their first bowl game since 1960 and Doug Martin was rewarded with an extension for his efforts. However, winning in Las Cruces has always been tough and he will have to do it without the greatest quarterback in program history, Tyler Rogers. Senior Nick Jeanty and JUCO transfer Matt Romero have been duking it out for the starting job, yet Martin had not announced a starter as of Monday morning.
As for Wyoming, the surface question revolves around how the Cowboys will replace first-round draft pick Josh Allen. However, if you spent any time watching Wyoming last year, it was hard to credit Allen for much of the team’s success. Allen was notoriously inaccurate, completing just 56.3 percent of his passes, and he threw for just 6.7 yards per pass. Don’t be surprised if Tyler Vander Waal tops those numbers, yet Wyoming is likely going to regress after an 8-5 finish in 2017.
No team was luckier when it came to turnovers than Wyoming last year. The Cowboys forced an incredible 38 turnovers and finished with a +24 turnover ratio in 2017. They led the nation by an absurd amount in both categories, and that will not happen again. Advanced analytics tell us that turnovers are somewhat random and luck-based, especially on the extremes.
Unsurprisingly, sharps are keen on the Aggies’ chances in this game. The college football opening lines saw Wyoming as a 5.5-point road favorite, but that number has fallen to 3.5. Sharps are well-aware of how fortunate the Cowboys were last season, and that led to an inflated opening line. There is still value in the Aggies until it drops to three, so that’s the play in this one.
