We’re less than two weeks away from the first regular-season games of the 2024 college football season, which means it’s time to start looking at your best College Football Betting picks against the spread.
The “Week Zero” slate has three games, including Florida State’s trip to Ireland to open ACC play against Georgia Tech.
Then comes Labor Day weekend, with a full schedule of Week One games. Let’s look at some smart wagers for you to consider.
College Football Betting Odds for Opening Week Picks Against the Spread
Florida State Seminoles (-12) vs Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (O/U 56.5)
Week Zero, Saturday, August 24
The Aer Lingus College Football Classic has included Notre Dame in previous editions, but this time around it marks the opener for ACC football action.
Georgia Tech stopped BC here, 17-13, in 2016, while Florida State makes its first international appearance anywhere.
This is the 27th meeting between the two programs, and the Seminoles have a 15-11-1 record at this point.
Florida State posted a perfect 13-0 regular season that included a win in the ACC Championship despite riding a third-string quarterback, but that weakness caused the CFP selection committee to leave the Seminoles out of the national semifinals.
Then came the humiliation of an absolute undressing at the hands of Georgia on New Year’s Day.
Georgia Tech ranked third in the ACC in total offense last year, as they finally moved on from the triple-option under new head coach Brent Key.
Quarterback Haynes King was 11th in the nation in college football fantasy points, and the Yellow Jackets were the top rushing team in the ACC (203.8 yards per game, 12th in the nation), averaging almost 5.5 yards per attempt.
Tailback Jamaal Haynes ran for 1,059 yards and is back for another season, along with the two top wideouts and starting tight end Brett Seither.
The defense has some problems and has a new coordinator in Tyler Santucci, but a lot of the same players.
The Seminoles have D.J. Uiagalelei out of the transfer portal to replace quarterback Jordan Travis.
Uiagalelei struggled at Clemson but thrived at Oregon State and has a 30-10 record in 40 starts at quarterback, with more than 8,000 passing yards and 57 touchdowns.
Given the weaknesses in the Georgia Tech defense and the frustrations that the Seminoles have to take out in this game.
College Football Betting Pick: I like Florida State to win and cover.
^Clemson Tigers (+14) vs Georgia Bulldogs (in Atlanta) (O/U 48.5)
Week One, Saturday, August 31
When Dabo Swinney took over the Clemson program, the transfer portal wasn’t a thing.
He was able to use traditional recruiting methods to build an ironclad defense and an offense that could do enough to win football games.
When Trevor Lawrence was his quarterback, the offense reached elite levels too, and Swinney got a national championship.
However, the transfer portal has transformed the game – and Swinney isn’t on board. He is on record publicly talking about how the transfer portal will ruin college football, and he isn’t using it to build his program.
Georgia, on the other hand, has no trouble using the transfer portal. So quarterback Carson Beck returns for his junior season to find new skill players who have replaced such key contributors as tight end Brock Bowers, who went 13th overall in the draft.
Wide receivers Ladd McConkey and Marcus Rose my-Jacksaint are gone. So are tailbacks Daijun Edwards and Kendall Milton. However, thanks to the transfer portal, Georgia has ten offensive positions manned by players who notched at least seven starts last year.
Tight end Benjamin Yurosek (Stanford) and tailback Trevor Etienne (Florida) are just two of the stars that have come to Athens.
The O-line has four of its five starters returning. So while Clemson will have a solid team, the refusal to bring in transfer players means a reliance on building experience over time instead of bringing in experience each year.
As long as Clemson stays on the wrong side of that gap, the Tigers won’t beat elite teams.
College Football Betting Pick: Georgia to win and cover.
^NCAA Football Kick Off Schedule
- Week Zero: Saturday, Aug. 24
- Florida State vs. Georgia Tech (in Dublin, Ireland)
- Norfolk State vs. Florida A&M
- SMU at Nevada
- Montana State at New Mexico
- Delaware State at Hawaii
- Week 1: Thursday, Aug. 29 to Sunday, Sept. 1
- North Carolina at Minnesota
- Clemson vs. Georgia
- Miami (FL) at Florida
- Notre Dame at Texas A&M
- Penn State at West Virginia
- Georgia State at Georgia Tech
- North Dakota State at Colorado
- South Dakota State at Oklahoma State
- LSU vs. Southern California
- North Carolina Central vs. Alabama State
Tavon Austin still has one of the greatest college tapes of all time 🔥 pic.twitter.com/WEQ1311Eh1
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 13, 2024
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