Ricky Dimon
Show Bio
Ladies and gentlemen, college football season is here. It’s officially Week 0, as Week 1 won’t kick off until September when just about every team is in action. There are only 22 teams taking to the field on Saturday, including Nebraska and Northwestern. They are squaring off a Big Ten battle in none other than Dublin, Ireland. Illinois, North Carolina and Vanderbilt are also in action.
Let’s look at the three components of Saturday’s parlay.
Northwestern +13.5 (-110)
UConn +27 (-110)
Wyoming +11 (-110)
Parlay odds: +596
For this play we are going with three underdogs against the spread. Let’s break down each of the three legs one by one.
Northwestern +13.5 over Nebraska
The line has been consistently giving more and more points to Northwestern. It may continue to do, so waiting for the chance to get more than two touchdowns could be a shrewd move. But even at +13.5, this is a strong play on the Wildcats. It is true that they got hammered by Nebraska 56-7 last season, but head coach Pat Fitzgerald is not about to let that happen again. Significant travel across the pond to Dublin and a neutral site should level the playing field. Moreover, Ryan Hilsinki now has a full year with the Northwestern offense under his belt and that is one reason why the Wildcats can expect improvement not only against Nebraska, but also in general. Meanwhile, there doesn’t appear to be anything special about this Cornhuskers squad. I’m anticipating a competitive contest.
Which Group of 5 team can make the College Football Playoff?
UConn +27 (-110) vs Utah State
There aren’t a whole lot of good things to say about the Huskies…except for the fact that they are getting almost four touchdowns. With a few exceptions, I’m not inclined to give 27 points in a season-opening game involving two rusty teams just getting their bearings in 2022. This is not one of those exceptions. Utah State is coming off an impressive 11-3 campaign, but the Mountain West Conference is nothing to write home about. UConn at least gets some competition in the American Conference, even though it is rarely successful against said competition. It should also be noted that the Aggies will face Alabama a week from now, so they will obviously be looking ahead to that test. UConn may not win (they almost certainly won’t!), but this is a good spot for the underdogs to earn a cover.
Wyoming +11 (-110) over Illinois
This is another instance in which the number of points is too many to give in Week 0. Both of these teams are starting new quarterbacks, so growing pains could be involved. Head coach Bret Bielema has the Fighting Illini in rebuilding mode and he also has them focused on running the football. A lot of running plays naturally lead to a lower-scoring affairs since the clock is moving. Illinois scored more than 25 points just three times last season and Wyoming boasted one of the nation’s better scoring defenses. Even though the Cowboys graduated a considerable number of players on that side of the ball, they should remain stout. Eleven points will likely be enough in a physical, low-scoring fight.
At Pickswise we offer free expert College Football Picks and College Football Predictions for all games in the Power Five conferences and the top 25 teams outside of Power five, including our College Football Parlay picks each week.
