Nebraska 2018 Betting Preview: Fade Scott Frost in Year Zero

Nebraska 2018 Betting Odds

• To win the National Title: +25000
• To win the Big Ten: +4000
• To win the Big Ten West: +1200
• Win Total: 6.5

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Nebraska 2018 Schedule, Betting Odds

The Action Network Projected Wins: 5.1

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Nebraska Win Total Under 6.5

The love for a coach can sometimes drive a betting market in your favor. UCF hired Scott Frost after a winless 2015 and ended with a New Year's Six Peach Bowl victory over Auburn two years later. Now he's at Nebraska, his alma mater.

Turning the Huskers around will not be easy in Year Zero, as they rank 71st in overall returning production. Most noteworthy, a handful of freshmen and walk-on candidates will compete for the starting quarterback position. The player who wins that job will run Frost's up-tempo, new-school-option offense.

Luckily, the defense will stick to a 3-4 scheme under new defensive coordinator Erik Chinander, who served in the same role at Central Florida. For the fast-paced offensive scheme Frost wants to run, it was important to keep continuity with his defensive coordinator.

The schedule is brutal, especially when you factor in the situations. Wisconsin and Ohio State will both be coming off bye weeks before playing Nebraska. Michigan is another cross-division game on the road. Illinois and Purdue do come to Lincoln, but the Huskers may need a season-ending win against Iowa just to make a bowl.

Nebraska is a 6-point dog or more in six games, according to my projections. So the Cornhuskers will need to win every game in which they are listed as a favorite and sneak in a dog victory at some point to cash an over ticket. This may be the last year for some time to have an under on Nebraska's win total, but I am rolling that way, with eyes on 2019 and beyond for the Huskers.

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What else you need to know about Nebraska

The game where Frost can sneak up on a top-tier Big Ten team: Michigan State on Nov. 17. The tough Spartans defense struggled in 2017 with high-tempo teams that tried to dictate pace, suffering losses to Ohio State and Northwestern. Frost will attempt to do the same, as the Spartans will come to Lincoln on hangover alert after playing Ohio State.

Useless Trends

• • Nebraska is 14-5 to the over as an underdog since 2014.
  • Frost went 16-9-1 to the over in his two years as coach at Central Florida.

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