Sweatin’ through Saturday: All-day college football parlay for Week 2

Our college football parlays where we're trying to have action throughout Saturdays are meant to be fun. However, as we're 0-2-0 after Weeks 0 and 1, we're looking forward to Week 2. But let's be honest, part of the fun is that we legitimately only need one (or maybe two) of these to hit for the 2024 season to be in profit for the rest of the regular season. That's a thrill in itself.

Last week, the read on Wyoming at Arizona State was a killer that would've ended the parlay in gut-punching fashion. But UMass was the actual killer, a team that outplayed Eastern Michigan in terms of EPA per play and Success Rate but still lost by multiple scores after some back-breaking mistakes in positive field position. But alas, we move forward.

It's a juicy Week 2 college football slate with some potential upsets and several big games on the docket. So let's Sweat Through Saturday together again and try to cash our +1153 parlay for the week as we walk through all five legs that go from the noon slate into the evening.

Sweatin' through Saturday record for the 2024 season: 0-2-0 (-2.0 Units)

All odds are courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook. Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. All bets are 1 unit unless otherwise noted. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

First Leg: Texas -5.5 at Michigan (-150)

I understand fully that this is one of the marquee games of the week. Michigan's defense is also something that does give me at least an ounce of trepidation. But the simple truth of the matter is that you have to score to win football games and Texas has the distinct advantage over the Wolverines in this game to do that, even with Mason Graham and Will Johnson trying to stop them.

To make myself feel a little better, we're going to take an alt line of under six points as opposed to the full -7 line that we see for the game. That's good enough for me but I just simply don't see a Longhorns defense that looks rebuilt quickly conceding to Davis Warren, Alex Orji and an offensive line for UofM that simply appeared lesser-than as opposed to a year ago.

Second Leg: South Carolina vs. Kentucky Under 43.5 (-140)

Pretty simple logic here. Despite fans in Lexington telling us all offseason that Kentucky was going to play with pace, they did the exact opposite of that in Week 1. Maybe we get burned by Mark Stoops not wanting to show anything, but I think Stoops' DNA is to be methodical and that's what the Wildcats do, especially with a solid defense. On the flip side, I just don't know if South Carolina can score at the SEC level after what we saw in their opener. So give me the under 43.5 alt line here because six scores might be asking a lot for this game.

Third Leg: Ole Miss 1H -27.5 vs. MTSU (-125)

If you were wondering why Lane Kiffin left Ole Miss starting quarterback Jaxson Dart in for as long as he did last week, it's because he's trying to get him to New York and in the Heisman Trophy race. And this will be another game for him to be able to do that. On Stacking the Box: College Football Edition, I took the full game for Ole Miss. But taking a first-half alt line of -27.5 is even sweeter. MTSU is not a good football team and the Rebels should run amok against them from start to finish with another big outing from Dart.

Fourth Leg: Illinois +7.5 vs. Kansas (-174)

Kansas molly-whopped Illinois in Lawrence last season. This one's in Champaign, though, and it also looks like two quite different versions of these teams. The Jayhawks offense did appear a bit more lackluster against Lindenwood than you'd like with a new offensive coordinator while Illinois' offense continued building off of their sneaky good finish to last season. With Bret Bielema's defense also seemingly benefitting from experience after a down 2023, I like Illinois to potentially win this game outright, but most definitely to keep it within a touchdown.

Fifth Leg: Colorado vs. Nebraska Over 51 (-190)

Nebraska has a strong defense that I do believe can compete with most teams in the country but I also think Colorado's offense looks even better this season. Even if it's a low bar, the Buffaloes offensive line is better and Shedeur Sanders appears to have leveled up as well. The Huskers also leveled up at quarterback, though, with Dylan Raiola in the fold. Ultimately, especially in the second half, I can see the lid getting taken off of this one, so we'll take an alt line over as this game could easily reach the 60s -- but we only need mid-50s to cash!