Ricky Dimon
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Ladies and gentlemen, football season is here!
The 2023 NFL campaign is still a couple of weeks away, but action on the college gridiron is upon us. It’s Week 0, which is somewhat of an appetizer to the main course that is Labor Day Weekend. Still, we have football! And that means we also have bets to be made.
Below is my mega parlay for Saturday, and also be sure to check out all of our college football picks.
Navy +21 (-110)
Ohio ML (+120)
New Mexico State -9.5 (+118)
NCAAF parlay odds: +816
For this parlay we are going with an underdog on the money line, an underdog plus the points and a favorite against an alternate spread. Let’s break down each of the 3 legs.
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Navy +21 over Notre Dame (-110)
This opening-weekend showdown between Notre Dame and Navy is taking place in Dublin, Ireland. That obviously isn’t a normal location, and when any kind of wrench gets thrown into an equation it’s generally good news for the underdog. Getting 3 touchdowns is also good news for Midshipmen supporters. In fact, with all of the service academies it’s often a solid play to back them whenever they are getting a bunch of points against Power 5 programs. Navy covered in these situations multiple times last year and they can do the same on Saturday.
The Midshipmen are still running a variation of the triple-option offense, but at the same time it’s a new system under first-year offensive coordinator Grant Chesnut (formerly of Kennesaw State). Navy will not only be running the clock but can also be expected to have some success on the ground. On the other side of the ball, Sam Hartman is taking over at quarterback for Notre Dame; that should be a good thing in the long run, but there could be an adjustment period. For the first game of the season, this is too big of a spread.
Ohio ML over San Diego State (+120)
Week 0 includes this fun MAC vs Mountain West battle between Ohio and San Diego State. Ohio enjoyed plenty of success offensively last season behind MAC Offensive Player of the Year Kurtis Rourke. The Maple Missile ended up going down in November with an ACL injury, but he should be 100% at this point and ready to pick up where he left off in 2022. Rourke passed for 2,725 yards and accounted for 25 touchdowns in 11 games last season.
The Bobcats are bringing back pretty much everyone on that side of the ball, too, so optimism abounds with this program. San Diego State has been going in the wrong direction. SDSU went from 12-2 in 2021 to 7-6 last year – after which it lost a lot of talent on both sides of the ball. Gone from the defense are 3-time All-Conference linebacker Caden McDonald and 2022 Mountain West Co-Defensive Player of the Year Patrick McMorris at safety. Ohio has good value on the money line.
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New Mexico State -9.5 over UMass (+118)
New Mexico State head coach Jerry Kill (formerly with Minnesota) is entering his second year and the early returns are encouraging. The Aggies compiled a winning record in 2022, which saw them earn their second bowl bid in 62 years and defeat Bowling Green 24-19 in the Quick Lane Bowl. This is nothing new for Kill, who has become an expert at turning around football programs. His resume includes taking Southern Illinois from 1-10 to 10-2 in 2 years, improving Northern Illinois from 6-7 to 10-3 in 2 years and also taking Minnesota to a bowl game in year 2.
Momentum should continue for New Mexico State – which won 6 of its final 7 games last season – at the beginning of this 2023 campaign. UMass compiled a 1-11 record last year, beating only Stony Brook. The Minutemen are 0-23 in road games over the last 4 years. Expect the Aggies to win by double-digits.
You can also read our NCAAF Week 0 Best Bets and our expert’s best team win total bets
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