It’s a Trap: Which College Football Week 2 Odds are Most Deceiving?
By Peter Dewey
Each week in the college football season, there will be a few lines where oddsmakers give a larger than expected spread in anticipation that they’ll take more action on one team than another, and in turn, incentivize bettors to consider the other side.
Some are more obvious than others, and BetSided’s Ben Heisler broke down a pair of trap lines from the Week 1 slate last week.
Here are two games that I am taking a close look at that heading into Week 2, with all odds via WynnBET:
Georgia State at North Carolina (-26.0) | Total 66.5
Honestly, both the spread and the total feel like a trap in this one.
Georgia State was annihilated in Week by Army 43-10, and it’s going to have an even tougher matchup against the No. 24 Tar Heels. North Carolina struggled mightily in Week 1 against Virginia Tech in a 17-10 loss, but it still is the play in this matchup.
Georgia State posted just 177 yards against Army and UNC’s defense was solid in Week 1. While Sam Howell looked like a Heisman candidate coming into this season, asking him to put up almost 50 points in Week 2 may be too much.
If the Panthers only were able to keep it within 33 points against Army, UNC is due for a bounce-back and should take care of business even at 26.0 points. Still, I wouldn’t be eager to bet the over, cause you probably won’t get much help from Georgia State on that huge 66.5 number.
Toledo at Notre Dame (-17.0) | Total 55.5
Toledo is a veteran team with a strong offense, and our Ben Heisler actually thinks the play here is for them to cover.
I agree, and while bettors may think that getting the No. 8 Fighting Irish are a lock to blow out the Rockets, let’s look at Week 1 where Notre Dame allowed Florida State to hang around.
Usually a MAC team would have no chance against the Irish, but it feels like oddsmakers are enticing you to take Notre Dame, especially since the line has moved from 16.5 to 17.0 with the action coming in.
Toledo isn’t going to pull off an upset, but it might be able to keep this a two possession game and cover the spread.
Interested in making these bets? What about fading them? Download the WynnBET app to make your picks.