Are you ready for some real football games on Saturday? College football gets underway this weekend.
Here are the best against the spread predictions for the slate of games on Saturday.
Best Against the Spread CFB Picks (August 28)
Best Bet: Illinois +7
This game was supposed to kick off the college football season from across the pond in Ireland. Due to ongoing concerns regarding COVID-19 the game was moved back to the US and will be played in Champaign. Bret Bielema comes back to the Big Ten after a failed stint at Arkansas and some time in the NFL. Illinois went into Nebraska a season ago and beat the Huskers by three scores and still fired head coach Lovie Smith.
The Illini finished 13th out of 14 teams in both scoring offense and scoring defense. The point? Things couldn’t have been much worse for Illinois in 2020 and they still found a way to win big on the road against Scott Frost’s team. Fast forward to 2021 and the Illini are a touchdown underdog at home to kick off the season for all of college football.
Scott Frost and his staff at Nebraska have come under fire recently for their use of analysts, and rumblings are that this could be Nebraska’s brass attempt at avoiding a large pay out if Frost were to be let go. Plenty of outside factors at play here, but kicking off the season with a home underdog is the way to go.
Connecticut vs. Fresno State Picks
Best Bet: Fresno State -27.5
The Huskies have had a rough go about things in college football for the past three seasons. Their 2020 season was called off due to COVID-19 concerns and their 2018 and 2019 seasons may have been better served being canceled as well.
UConn has just one win over an FBS school in the previous three years and that win came against UMass who finished 1-11 in 2019. Fresno State didn’t exactly set the world on fire in 2020, but the Bulldogs averaged 32 points per game and finished .500 against a conference-only schedule in the Mountain West.
UConn hasn’t lined up in a competitive game in over 650 days, gets to start the season earlier than other schools, and gets to fly 3,000 miles from their home campus before September even gets here. Four touchdowns is a heavy spread, but UConn’s average margin of defeat in 2018 and 2019 was four and three touchdowns respectively.
San Jose State vs. Southern Utah Picks
Best Bet: San Jose State -21.5
Another west coast, multi-touchdown home favorite. San Jose State comes into the season as the reigning Mountain West Conference champions, while Southern Utah comes in following a 1-5 showing in the FCS spring season. Southern Utah, like the rest of the FCS members, played their shortened season this spring meaning their offseason and time to heal from injuries sustained has been significantly shortened.
This creates a significant competitive disadvantage for the Eagles to go along with having to play on the road against an FBS opponent in a week zero matchup. On top of all of that San Jose State returns a vicious defense led by 2020 Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year, Cade Hall. The Aztecs held opponents under 20 points per game a season ago, good enough for 15th in the nation.
