College Football is officially back, ladies and gentlemen, and I am here to give you the best bets for every single week of college football games. This week is week zero, which isn’t the first big week of games. However, we have games being played to start us off here. We got a Big Ten matchup in Dublin and many other games to kick off the College Football season. With that being said, here are my three best bets for week zero.

Nebraska (-11) vs Northwestern (12:30 PM EST) O/U 51.5

This Big Ten clash will take place in Dublin, Ireland, to start the campaign for both teams. Last year Nebraska wiped the floor with Northwestern with a 56-7 victory last year. Right now, where the handle of the money is, I am seeing a lot of people taking Northwestern with the points here. 55 percent of the bets are on Northwestern with the points here, as they are getting +11 for a spread right now. The Wildcats’ offense hasn’t improved, and if you’re betting Northwestern, you are hoping that the defense will take that step forward in 2022. Offensively, Northwestern is going to have to try and move the ball quickly and often.

They got a new QB in Texas for Nebraska in transfer Casey Thompson. In 12 starts last year for Texas, he had 2,113 passing yards to go along with 28 total touchdowns. Nebraska had nine losses last year, all of them by nine points or fewer. This team was in every game last season. They just couldn’t get over that hump to win a big game. Now, if your Scott Frost this year, you need to get this team to take that step forward. I like Nebraska in this week zero spot.

Three Betting Trends: 

The road team is 6-2-1 against the spread in the last nine meetings between these two teams.

The favorite is 4-1-1 against the spread in the last six meetings between these two teams.

Nebraska is 14-5-2 against the spread in their last 21 games on grass.

Best Bet: Nebraska -11 -113

North Texas (-1.5) vs UTEP (9 PM EST) O/U 54.5 

This C-USA showdown to kick off the season will be interesting. North Texas scored a late touchdown last year to steal a win against UTEP. UTEP looks for revenge in this matchup this season. 45% of the handle is on North Texas in this one. Let’s talk about what the right play is here. First, let’s go over how both teams look heading into 2022.

North Texas loses a huge part of their running game in DeAndre Torrey. However, they have a good two-headed monster in Ayo Adeyi and Ikaika Ragsdale. Last year, the inconsistency at QB hurt the Mean Green. If they figure out their QB issue, then this offense could be a real threat in 2022 in the C-USA. Also, on the defensive side of the ball, North Texas will miss Gabriel and Grayson Murphy, who left in the transfer portal. The Mean Green has too many question marks going into this one.

For UTEP, they lost their number one receiver from a season ago to the transfer portal. That is a lot of receiving yards to replace from a season ago (1,354). However, they have a solid duo in the backfield that can also catch the ball out of the backfield. Reynaldo Flores and Ronald Awatt are the two running backs to keep an eye on. Awatt is an every-down back, but he is such a receiving threat out of the backfield that the defense needs to stay on their toes. With both teams losing key pieces to the transfer window, this should be a great start to the C-USA campaign for both sides.

Three Betting Trends:

The home team is 6-0 against the spread in the last six meetings.

Mean Green is 5-0 against the spread in their last five conference games.

UTEP is 4-1 against the spread in their last five home games. 

Best Bet: UTEP +100

Vanderbilt (-9) vs Hawaii (10:30 PM EST) O/U 54.5 

The Vanderbilt Commodores are heading to the Island to take on the Hawaii Warriors. Both teams had a rough 2021 as Vanderbilt went 2-10, and Hawaii had a really bad split with their head coach. Now both teams are looking to take a step forward in 2022. The Commodores are looking to finalize their starting quarterback for the entire year. While Hawaii is giving Timmy Chang a chance at being a head coach. We are currently looking at 57% of the money going on Hawaii with the points right now. A lot of question marks with these two teams, so let’s dive into these two teams a little bit more.

For Vanderbilt, realizing that Mike Wright is going to give their team the best chance to win. Don’t get me wrong, Ken Seals is the more accurate passer out of the two quarterbacks, but Wright has a skill set that could help this offense tremendously from last season. Vanderbilt will also get back Ray Davis, who had a season-ending injury in week number three last season. The Commodores offense looks to take a step forward with guys being healthy, and Hawaii had trouble stopping teams last year, so I think Vanderbilt’s offense has a chance to explode in the opening week.

Hawaii has a lot of big question marks going into this season. A lot of their guys went through the transfer portal, including Dae Dae Hunter, Calvin Turner Jr., Nick Mardner, and Jared Smart. However, Chang brought in two Power Five transfers at quarterback in Joey Yellen (Pittsburgh) and Cammon Cooper (Washington State). There is no clear-cut favorite right now, and we don’t know who the starter is going to be. I am curious to see how this offense looks, especially in Timmy Chang’s first home game on the island.

Three Betting Trends:

The over is 19-9 in Hawaii’s last 28 non-conference games.

Vanderbilt is 4-0 against the spread in their last four games.

Hawaii is 6-1 against the spread in their last seven games played in August. 

Best Bet: Over 54.5 

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