6 college football bets to take to the bank in Week 1

PROVO, UT - OCTOBER 05: Utah State Aggies quarterback Jordan Love (10) celebrates his touchdown by telling the fans to be quite during a college football game between the Utah State Aggies and the BYU Cougars on October 5, 2018, at Lavell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Boyd Ivey/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

4 of 7

EUGENE, OR – OCTOBER 07: University of Oregon ILB Troy Dye (35) reacts to a turnover during a college football game between the Washington State Cougars and Oregon Ducks on October 7, 2017, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, OR. (Photo by Brian Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

4. Oregon (+3.5) vs. Auburn

One of the most highly anticipated matchups of Week 1 in the 2019 college football season is the Oregon Ducks and Auburn Tigers heading to a neutral site at AT&T Stadium to play on Saturday night. It’s a showdown between the No. 11 ranked team and the No. 16 ranked team, respectively, in the preseason AP Top 25, which should make for an exciting contest between two quality teams.

While it might look a bit odd for the lower-ranked team, Auburn, to be the favorites in this matchup, it stands to reason why that would be the case. Not only do the Tigers get the SEC-bump when it comes to the oddsmakers but this is a team that has one of the more talented defensive groups in the nation going up against an Oregon team that is predicated on the strength of their offense.

Based on that, having the Tigers as the favorites here — even if it’s just by 3.5 points — might seem like the right decision. However, you should push your chips towards Oregon in this matchup.

Auburn’s defense may be fearsome but the Ducks have one of the best complete offensive line groups in college football to match them, going side-to-side with experience and talent. When you give that type of protection to a player like Justin Herbert, good things are sure to come.

Furthermore, the Tigers are starting wholly unexperienced Bo Nix at quarterback for this game. The talent of Nix as a prospect is evident but the fact that he’s never been in a college environment at all on the gridiron and is now playing against Oregon in Jerry Jones’ backyard doesn’t bode well for him.

Home/College Football