Boston College vs. Northern Illinois: College Football Week 1 Odds & Picks (Saturday)
College football is back! The 2023 college football season kicked off with an exciting but small Week 0 slate. Now the rest of the teams get to join in on the fun with the start of Week 1. We’ll have you covered with all of our top picks for the week along with our projected spreads and totals to help guide your college football bets. Below are our top picks and predictions for Saturday’s Week 1 game: Boston College vs. Northern Illinois.
- Thor’s Best College Football Week 1 Bets
- College Football Projected Spreads
- Top College Football Picks & Predictions
Top College Football Week 1 Odds & Picks: Boston College vs. Northern Illinois
Both of these teams are going to be much better this season than they were last year. This is not a bet against NIU, a team I am higher on than the market. This is a bet on BC, a team I'm significantly higher on than the market.
For both of these teams, you totally throw out last year's numbers.
Starting NIU QB Rocky Lombardi only played four games in 2022, while star WR Trayvon Rudolph missed the entire season after putting up 900-plus yards in each of the previous two.
On the other side, Boston College's offensive line was on the wrong end of a hand-of-God injury plague in 2022. That forced the Eagles to get creative to even field five-man lines each week - converting defensive linemen to OL on the fly, starting walk-ons, and switching the positions of the remaining few healthy OLs.
This year, BC's line brings back all five normal starters and returns to full strength - a development that cannot be overstated. BC can field an offense again. And that unit returns nine starters. Despite losing WR Zay Flowers, the Eagles offense is guaranteed to be better in 2023.
NIU returns 15 starters in total. They'll be improved. But it's asking a lot for them to stay within single digits in the opener against a superior team when so many key players need to shake off the rust after missing all or most of last season.
This feels like a game where BC lets off some steam after last year's frustration.
The pick: Boston College -8.5
Best Ways to Bet College Football for Beginners
Game Total
Bettors new to the hobby can be confused by spreads, but game totals are simple. Every football game has a total posted for the combined final score between the two teams. Bettors have the option to choose the OVER or UNDER, generally at -110 odds (risk: $110; win: $100). So if the total is 42 and you take the OVER, you need 43 points to win the bet. If you put a bet down on the over to win $100 and it goes over, you get back the money you initially risked, plus $100. If it stayed under, you would have lost your $110 and that's it. If by chance the game ended with 42 total points, it's called a push; when a game pushes, you get the money you risked back but nothing more.
ie: California vs. Illinois, Over 42 or Under 42
tip: Over bets can be a really fun social event with your buddies. Have everyone throw in a few bucks, then take the over together. Instead of getting pumped when one side scores, everyone is pumped for ANY score, all game.
Moneyline
The moneyline is the easiest way to test your college football knowledge: who will win the game? That's it. The moneyline doesn't use favorites or underdogs, it's totally straight up. That said, the risk-reward can be challenging because they're weighted. Instead of every game being around -110, like game totals and spreads, moneylines vary depending on the matchup.
For our example, California was favored by seven points over Illinois, meaning oddsmakers think the Golden Bears are a touchdown better than the Fighting Illini. If you took Cal on the moneyline, points don't matter, they just need to win the game. But because it's safer to take them straight-up without points, you'll have to risk more when you make the bet - remember, they're seven points better than Illinois in the eyes of the oddsmakers. In this case, Cal is -280 on the moneyline, so if you want to win $100, you have to risk $280. On the flip side, moneyline bets can be valuable when taking the underdog because it's a riskier bet - they're seven points worse than their opponent. In this case, Illinois is the underdog - +220 on the moneyline. You'd win $220 on a $100 bet if you picked Illinois on the moneyline and they pulled off the upset.
ie: California (ML -280) vs. Illinois (ML +220)
tip: Check their history against one another. Keep an eye on the injury report and the weather.
Player Props
Player props are some of the most exhilarating bets you can place during a college football game, but they're also easy to understand. For major conferences, you'll have a wide array of options to choose from. Quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, and sometimes tight ends will have props to choose from. It's simple, fun and easy to follow, and odds on player props don't vary as much as moneylines. Generally, prop bets are in the -110 range like generic spread and total bets.
ie: How many passing yards will Brandon Peters have against California? Over 250 or Under 250
tip: Check how players have performed in the situation they're going to be in. Use split stats on any reliable site to see their numbers at home, on a neutral-site, in December, etc.
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