College Football Week 1 Odds & Picks: Public Hammering These Spreads and Totals (September 4)
(Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
It's the first real Saturday of the college football season and the betting odds are flying.
Here are the biggest moves leading up to game time.
Rice at Arkansas, 2 p.m. ET
Move: Arkansas -19.5 to -20.5
Money finally came rolling in on Arkansas Saturday morning, pushing Woo Pig from -19.5 to -20.5 at DraftKings.
The Razorbacks warranted a solid grade in Collin Wilson's 2021 Power Ratings, slotted in at No. 32 in the country.
Rice, meanwhile, went 2-3 a season ago with two single-digit losses. The Owls sit just outside the top-100 in Power Ratings at No. 98.
The total for Saturday's tilt is 50.
West Virginia at Maryland, 3:30 p.m. ET
Move: 54 to 57
The Mountaineers vs. Terps total's been steadily rising, crossing 56 and hitting 57.
West Virginia finished with a top-25 scoring defense last season, but a regression is seemingly imminent. No other team in the country has a worse defensive TARP rating — which factors in transfer assets and returning production — than the Mountaineers.
Maryland's offense was top-15 in the country in returning production entering the year, headlined by quarterback Tulia Tagovailoa. His top two receivers are back for an offense that will rip off plenty of big plays this fall.
Louisiana Tech at Mississippi State, 4 p.m. ET
Move: -23 to -21.5
Sharp money came flooding in on Louisiana Tech earlier this month. The public re-upped Saturday morning.
Skip Holtz's club moved off +23 to +21.5 at DraftKings, but the only question is if whether this spread will hit +21.
It's a mismatch on paper between an SEC club and a Conference USA 'tweener. But Mississippi State went just 4-7 last season – and advanced metrics thought they were worse than they performed, projecting the Bulldogs for just a 33.3% winning percentage.
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