The college football season is fully underway. Following an appetizer in the form of Week 0 action, we see a jam-packed Labor Day weekend full of football. It started last night and continues with a couple of household names in play. It’s still the first time we see these teams — at least the ones we are betting — so there are a couple of constants coming into the season. Luckily, we have a great guide to college football betting strategy to help you get going, plus these college football expert picks for Friday, Aug. 30!
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College Football Expert Picks Today for Week 1: Friday, Aug. 30
Best Game: FAU-Michigan State | College Football Expert Picks Today
Friday’s slate is not the most appealing from a head-to-head matchup standpoint, but that doesn’t equate to lesser value. In fact, there’s a game featuring Florida Atlantic at Michigan State, a couple of programs dealing with turnover and prior head coaches. While that is the No. 1 area we will focus on for this game, let it be said: The FAU defense returns some key players, especially at linebacker, where the Owls have a shot at hanging with Michigan State. The line is best played now at 14 while 13.5 is still on the board. I’m not worried about this line moving anymore past 14, as sharp money won’t move this off the key number.
FAU coach Tom Herman relishes the role of underdog. He’s 7-1 against the spread career as a double-digit underdog and 3-1 outright in opening the season on the road. He’s been in different spots but managed to have his team ready for Week 1, especially with turnover. That’s what they’ve had, mainly on offense, but so has Michigan State. While we have no beef with former Beavers now Spartans coach Jonathan Smith, he lost too much production on offense for us to think it can pull away.
Both teams boast new coaches but it’s Herman with the better track record in this spot. The Spartan offense will look anemic at best as this will be a defensive battle. The key will be limiting big plays from Michigan State’s offense, something the Owls should be able to manage on multiple levels.
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College Football Expert Pick for Week 1: FAU -14 (-110 at Caesars)
Best College Football Expert Pick: Temple-Oklahoma Under 57.5
Let’s not act like tonight’s slate will be mixed up with the first round of the NCAA playoffs. But again, that doesn’t remove value. Sure, nobody is asking you to sit through this entire football game just to see if a total hits, but it’s going to be quite the sweat. Don’t worry — as a local Philadelphian, I will be watching the Temple massacre for material more than anything else. The Owls are screwed, to put it bluntly, but it’s not just because of what the Sooners do.
The biggest issue for Temple coming into this game is how little starting production returns on either side of the ball. This is far from a recruiting powerhouse, so it stands to reason there are fewer chances to replace that talent with anyone as good — or better. This means Temple already starts behind the massive 8 ball as it tries to figure out its own identity, let alone what the Sooners will be.
That’s actually not that difficult for us to figure out since Oklahoma comes in with a solid tune-up game, where covering the spread isn’t as important as making sure the offense clicks and the defense shuts them down. Oklahoma knows what it’s doing with these Week 1 home games, winning 29 of 32 season openers, including 15 straight at Norman.
The Sooners are 5-3 against the spread last eight when laying 33-plus points, so looking at how they get there tonight — it’s through Brent Venables’ defense. Temple is lucky to break midfield and score a field goal, and while this game might be shockingly close for a bit, it’s not going to be due to offense — at least not Temple’s.
I’m not sure what exactly someone would look at from Temple coach Stan Drayton, but it’s not good enough to warrant points in this one. Oklahoma is dealing with multiple injuries in its wide receiver group, and Temple has Navy on deck — a more realistic scenario of winning a game. Expect both teams to look ahead and go through some motions to start the season.
College Football Expert Pick for Week 1: Under 57.5 (-105 at DraftKings)
