Caleb Wilfinger
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Week 1 of the college football season is nearly in the books. After an exciting weekday portion of the slate, Saturday delivered a ton of excitement. We had some wild overtime finishes, unlikely upsets and dominant showings from national title contenders. In all, it was a weekend that delivered on the promise of this college football season.
With only a handful of games remaining in Week 1, it’s time to turn our attention to Week 2. This slate has a couple of massive headliners, along with intriguing matchups down the board. The opening lines were released at most sportsbooks on Sunday, so let’s take a look at these openers and give our first impressions.
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NCAAF Week 2 opening lines and odds
Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing.
- Illinois +2.5 (-110) vs Kansas – Friday, September 8
- Vanderbilt +10.5 (-110) vs Wake Forest – Saturday, September 9
- Purdue -3.5 (-110) vs Virginia Tech – Saturday, September 9
- Ball State +45.5 (-110) vs Georgia – Saturday, September 9
- Notre Dame -7.5 (-110) vs NC State – Saturday, September 9
- Nebraska +1.5 (-110) vs Colorado -1.5 – Saturday, September 9
- Troy +15.5 (-110) vs Kansas State – Saturday, September 9
- Utah -6.5 (-110) vs Baylor – Saturday, September 9
- UNLV +38.5 (-110) vs Michigan – Saturday, September 9
- Iowa -3.5 (-110) vs Iowa State – Saturday, September 9
- Ole Miss -4.5 (-105) vs Tulane – Saturday, September 9
- Texas A&M -4.5 (-110) vs Miami – Saturday, September 9
- Tulsa +35.5 (-110) vs Washington – Saturday, September 9
- SMU +16 (-110) vs Oklahoma – Saturday, September 9
- Cincinnati +4.5 (-110) vs Pittsburgh – Saturday, September 9
- UCF -2.5 (-105) vs Boise State – Saturday, September 9
- Oregon -7.5 (-110) vs Texas Tech – Saturday, September 9
- Texas +8 (-110) vs Alabama – Saturday, September 9
- Wisconsin -4.5 (-102) vs Washington State – Saturday, September 9
- Oklahoma State -4.5 (-110) vs Arizona State – Saturday, September 9
- Stanford +30.5 (-110) vs USC – Saturday, September 9
- Auburn -5.5 (-110) vs Cal – Saturday, September 9
We’ll have college football picks and NCAAF predictions for all the big games this season!
Best early bets for NCAAF Week 1
Kansas Jayhawks -2.5 (-110) over Illinois Fighting Illini
What Lance Leipold has done at Kansas over the course of the last 2+ seasons has been nothing short of remarkable. The long suffering Jayhawk fans have something to be proud of now, as this Kansas team should make a bowl game for the second consecutive season. The Jayhawks are an elite offense with tons of different motion concepts and misdirection to confuse opposing defenses. They also have the added benefit of 2 excellent quarterbacks on their roster, with both Jalon Daniels and Jason Bean seeing great success in their appearances as a starter, or in relief. Daniels’ dual-threat abilities make him a nightmare for opposing defenses, and he’ll be back under center for the Jayhawks on Friday.
Illinois was a stout defensive team a season ago, but that success didn’t translate in the season opener against a Toledo offense that doesn’t pack nearly the same punch as this Kansas unit. Furthermore, the Illini can’t afford to get in a shootout, as their offense is the worst unit on the field in this game. Don’t expect the Jayhawks to get a ton of stops, but they shouldn’t need many to maintain a consistent lead in this contest. I projected this line at over a field goal, so I’ll scoop up the 2.5 while it’s still there.
Texas Longhorns +8 (-110) vs Alabama Crimson Tide
This is a game that I’ve had circled all summer as one that could be one of the most important of the season, and it should be an excellent contest. Alabama has had to hear about Georgia’s reign of dominance all summer while dealing with questions at the quarterback position. On the other side, the vibes are pretty upbeat in Austin, as Texas is the odds-on favorite to win the Big 12 and has one of the deepest rosters in the nation on both sides of the ball. Both teams pretty much held serve in their Week 1 matchups, but now we’ll get to see what each side really has in their bag of tricks.
I get a similar feel to last season’s Alabama vs Tennessee meeting when looking at this game. Both games involved a team on the rise who still hadn’t yet earned national respect going up against an Alabama side that is noticeably weaker across the roster than previous teams in Nick Saban’s prolonged run of greatness. The talent gap between these teams is thin and last year’s meeting really proved it. Now, with Quinn Ewers in his second season going up against Jalen Milroe, I certainly think Texas has the edge at quarterback. If the Longhorns can hold their own in the trenches, there’s little reason to suggest that they can’t pull off the outright upset. Expect a writeup on this game later in the week, but I’ll gladly take the 8 points for now and would play this down to 7.
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