The college football season doesn’t kick off for two months, but point spreads for all Week 1 matchups are up in Las Vegas.
Nevada sports book operator CG Technology posted lines for the Week 1 games this weekend, adding to the 150 Games of the Year lines they posted earlier in June. CG Technology also was the first Nevada book to post college football season win totals.
Some notable lines:
- Texas A&M at South Carolina (-11): A Thursday night opener in the SEC, the Aggies are double-digit underdogs in their first game of the post-Johnny Manziel age. It’s only the second game A&M has been a double-digit dog since joining the SEC in 2012.
- Clemson at Georgia (-8): Both teams are breaking in new quarterbacks, and neither will be at full strength, thanks to multiple suspensions. This game last season was a back-and-forth shootout, with Clemson winning and covering as small favorites, 38-35.
- Penn State (-1.5) vs. Central Florida: James Franklin kicks off his tenure at Penn State in Dublin, Ireland, against a Central Florida team that has been a covering machine under coach George O’Leary. Franklin knows how to cover the spread, as well. He went 25-14 against the spread at Vanderbilt, including a 13-7 ATS mark as a favorite.
- Oklahoma State vs. Florida State (-17): This line opened at FSU -11.5 offshore in the spring, but has grown significantly. The defending champion Seminoles return a ton of top-level talent, while the Cowboys have one of the biggest rebuilding seasons of the Mike Gundy tenure.
- Wisconsin vs. LSU (-6): Another game that saw significant early line movement, LSU opened as around a field-goal favorite offshore. Wisconsin coach Gary Andersen has covered the spread in all five of his season openers, four of them coming at Utah State. LSU is 1-2-1 ATS vs. the Big Ten under coach Les Miles.
Week 1 College Football
(Lines courtesy of CG Technology)
Thursday, Aug. 28
Tulane at Tulsa (-2.5)
Texas A&M at South Carolina (-11)
Wake Forest (-6) at UL-Monroe
Boise State vs. Mississippi (-9.5)*
Temple at Vanderbilt (-17)
Rutgers at Washington State (-10)
*Atlanta
Friday, Aug. 29
BYU (-15.5) vs. UConn
Bowling Green (-7) vs. Western Kentucky
Colorado State vs. Colorado (-2)*
UTSA at Houston (-13)
UNLV vs. Arizona (-21.5)
*Denver
Saturday, Aug. 30
Penn State (-1.5) vs. Central Florida*
California at Northwestern (-14)
Appalachian State at Michigan (-24)
Florida Atlantic at Nebraska (-24)
UTEP at New Mexico (-6.5)
Western Michigan at Purdue (-13)
Troy at UAB (-2.5)
UCLA (-21) at Virginia
Ohio State (-17) at Navy
Georgia Southern at North Carolina State (-21)
Boston College at UMass (-11)
Rice at Notre Dame (-23.5)
Marshall (-20) at Miami (OH)
West Virginia vs. Alabama (-26)**
Arkansas at Auburn (-21)
Clemson at Georgia (-8)
Ohio at Kent State (PK)
Idaho at Florida (-33)
Louisiana Tech at Oklahoma (-35)
Fresno State at USC (-20)
Southern Mississippi at Mississippi State (-24)
Washington (-21) at Hawai’i
Florida State (-17) vs. Oklahoma State***
No. Texas vs. Texas (-27)
Wisconsin vs. LSU (-6)****
*Dublin, Ireland
**Atlanta
***Arlington, Texas
****Houston, Texas
Sunday, Aug. 31
Utah State at Tennessee (-7)
SMU at Baylor (-30)
Monday, Sept. 1
Miami (FL) at Louisville (-3.5)