College Football Week 0 Odds, Picks & Predictions (2023)

by BettingPros Staff |
Aug 25, 2023

College football is back! The 2023 college football season kicks off Saturday with Week 0 action. While the rest of the teams will begin next weekend, there is plenty of action in what will be the first real football in quite some time. Weâ€™ll have you covered with all of our top picks for Week 0 along with our projected spreads to help guide your college football bets. Below are our top picks and predicitons for each Week 0 game.

Top College Football Week 0 Odds & Picks

Navy vs. Notre Dame

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish struggled to begin their season last year. But I don't think they'll have that issue this year. Notre Dame added former Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman as its QB this season. Hartman threw for over 3,700 yards and 38 touchdowns last season with the Demon Deacons. He's entering his sixth season in college football and has had nearly four seasons with 2,000 yards passing. He's tallied 77 touchdowns in his last two seasons and has thrown for almost 8,000 yards in those two seasons. The Notre Dame offense might look as good as when Brady Quinn was there. On the other hand, Navy will play under first-year head coach Brian Newberry. They'll stay with their triple-option, but it's unclear how healthy QB Tai Lavatai is after his knee injury last year. He's already missed spring ball. That probably won't help. Take Notre Dame.

Pick: Notre Dame -20.5 (-115)

-Jason Radowitz

UTEP vs. Jacksonville State

Jacksonville State will kick off its first season in FBS by hosting the Miners of UTEP. Transitioning to FBS from FCS has been a mixed bag for recent programs. JMU went an impressive 8-3 in their first season after dominating the FCS ranks for years. Jacksonville State has had a successful run, but I donâ€™t know if theyâ€™re quite ready for the big leagues. Against their lone FBS opponent last year, they gave a 5-7 Tulsa team their easiest win. Although they return a decent amount of offensive production, their defense will be amongst the worst in the nation, 132nd in SP+. This UTEP team returns the 22nd most offensive production in the country and should have no issue scoring on this putrid defense. If they get just a few stops, the Miners should win this one easily.

Pick: UTEP -1 (-110)

-Ryan Rodeman

UMass vs. New Mexico State

New Mexico State got off to an awful 0-4 record last year and it looked bleak to start the Jerry Kill era. They made a huge turnaround, winning six of their last seven, including all three when they were posted as underdogs. Diego Pavia is a strong dual-threat quarterback as he threw for 1,450 yards and 13 touchdowns and ran for 508 in a spread-style offense. He continually got better. For UMass, the second stint for Danny Brown did not go well, as they had the second-worst scoring difference in the country last year and haven't won more than one game in a season since 2018. In the matchup last year, the Minutemen built a 10-0 lead, but the Aggies were able to mount a comeback, including 13 points in the second half to get the win. This helped propel them to that end-of-the-year run. They'll be better prepared for their home opener and grab the convincing win.

Pick: New Mexico State -7 (-110)

-John Supowitz

Ohio vs. San Diego State

After a tough start to 2022, Kurtis Rourke and Ohio went on a huge run to the MAC title game where, with Rourke sidelined, they lost a close one to Toledo. Rourke is back under center in 2023 and is expected to start Saturday in San Diego. The Aztecs will counter with a 53rd-ranked defense per SP+. I have some concerns about the Aztecsâ€™ ability to stop talented quarterbacks. Last season, quarterbacks like Cam Rising at Utah and Jake Haener at Fresno State had field days against this defense. Rourke should have similar success. Concurrently, the shortcomings of the SDSU offense could be negated by the 119th-ranked SP+ defense from Ohio. This game may surprise many by going back and forth, but it is one where Iâ€™m targeting the over.

Pick: Over 48.5 (-110)

-Ryan Rodeman

Hawaii vs. Vanderbilt

These two teams met last year in Week 0, with Vanderbilt giving new Hawaii coach Timothy Lea a rough welcome with a 63-10 blowout on the island. The Rainbow Warriors are expected to have another rough season with a team that finished near the bottom of the country on both sides of the ball, but coach Lea hopefully can improve the offense by implementing a run-and-shoot style with veteran Brayden Schrager. Things are turning up for Vanderbilt as they ended their SEC winless drought last year and signed one of their best recruiting classes. AJ Swaynn looks to be the definitive starting QB with Mike Wright transferring to Mississippi State, and with the offense bringing back six other starters, the chemistry can help them a lot this season. The Commodores defense also has eight returning starters who were part of that 53-point blowout. Vandy should have no problem repeating the type of performance.

Pick: Vanderbilt -17 (-114)

-John Supowitz

San Jose State vs. USC

This game features an enormous difference in returning production, with USC bringing back 70% of their offensive production, while San Jose State returns just 35% of their defensive production. The Spartans have some massive holes to fill on that side of the ball but do return quarterback Chevan Cordeiro, who threw for 3,250 yards and 23 touchdowns a season ago. The Trojans should have no issues moving the ball against the decimated SJST defense, but Cordeiro could find some success against a USC defense that struggled last year aside from having great takeaway luck. Motivation will likely decide who covers, and Iâ€™m guessing USC wonâ€™t keep its foot on the gas if it builds an early cushion. But my favorite play in this game is the over.

Pick: Over 66.5 (-105)

-Matt Barbato

Florida International vs. Louisiana Tech

The transfer portal hit these FIU Panthers pretty hard over the offseason, as they saw their top receiving target, starting tight end, and three offensive linemen depart to other programs on top of losing their best RB, Lexington Joseph, to injury during the spring. On defense, they lost their leading tackler and several members of their secondary. Meanwhile, LA Tech retained more returning production on both sides of the ball while also landing former Boise State QB Hank Bachmeier during the offseason. FIU did get the better of LA Tech last year in a 2OT battle, but the Bulldogs were without their top two QBs on the depth chart for that affair. LA Tech has a clear advantage in personnel after the offseason, and they will have home-field advantage with revenge on their minds. Lay the points with the Bulldogs.

Pick: Louisiana Tech -11 (-112)

-Austin MacMillan

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