College Football Week 1 Roundtable: 3 Teams on Upset Alert
College football is back and fans will be treated to several great matchups in the opening week of this season.
The Clemson Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs will face off in a marquee matchup that could have major College Football Playoff implications later in the season. The ACC-SEC clashes don’t stop there, as the defending champion Alabama Crimson Tide take on the Miami Hurricanes on Saturday afternoon.
Those may be some of the week’s best matchups, but there are also a few teams that should be on upset alert in Week 1.
Here’s who our editors are taking to pull off an early-season upset and make a statement in Week 1 with all odds via WynnBET.
Charlotte Upsets Duke (+185)
The fact that the Duke Blue Devils are road favorites in Week 1 of the season comes as a surprise, even though it is against a Charlotte 49ers team that went 2-4 in Conference USA last season.
Duke was just 2-9 during the 2020 campaign, and 4-7 against the spread, while the 49ers were 3-3 against the spread in a shortened 2020 season.
Charlotte returns last year’s starting quarterback Chris Reynolds, who threw eight touchdowns to just two interceptions last season. Duke just simply isn’t that good, as WynnBET projects the Blue Devils to win just 3.5 games this season, and I don’t see them going on the road in Week 1 and pulling out the win.
You can take Charlotte to cover the six-point spread at -110 odds, but I’ll take them to get the win at the +185 value. - Peter Dewey
UCLA upsets No. 16 LSU at the Rose Bowl (+130)
The Bruins' 44-10 Week 0 victory over Hawaii may not have impressed many people considering the Bruins were 17.5-point favorites at WynnBET at kickoff, but Hawaii's no slouch.
They had been very good in season openers in years' past, and there were still notable question marks surrounding Chip Kelly entering Year 4 at UCLA.
The Bruins are fast and physical, a trademark of Kelly-coached teams during his time in Oregon. The Bruins were dominant on the ground as Zach Charbonnet scored three touchdowns and ran for 106 yards on only six touches. On defense, Hawaii's known for their air-it-out offense and were held to just 10 total points. LSU is a different animal, but the Bruins' defense was a strength heading into the season and that shouldn't change.
LSU has a great quarterback in Max Johnson, and their defense will be improved after a down 2020 season, but UCLA having a week to work out a few offensive kinks, especially a slow start for senior quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson will be the difference. -- Ben Heisler
Georgia Takes Down Clemson (+130)
For my upset pick, I’m not going to some small school that only plays on national television once a year. I’m going straight to the biggest matchup of the week in Georgia vs. Clemson, and I’m taking Georgia. The Bulldogs are +130 underdogs on the moneyline and a 3.0-point underdog on the spread. I’ll take both of those lines and put my trust into Georgia.
J.T. Daniels has shown that he can play in big moments and won’t get rattled by the pressure. Although D.J. Uiagalelei showed promise in a couple of games last season, he hasn’t been a starter like Daniels. Both Daniels and Uiagalelei are in the top five of WynnBET’s odds to win the Heisman, and I believe Daniels will take Saturday to make a statement.
Georgia’s defense was top 20 in the country last year in points per game allowed, and it will need it to step up against a Clemson team that averaged over 40 points per game.
Georgia has some key injuries on both sides of the ball, but I think the strength of both of its lines will be enough to overcome them. -- Donnavan Smoot
Interested in making these bets? Maybe even fading them? Download the WynnBET app.