College Football Week 1 Odds, Picks & Predictions (Friday)

by BettingPros Staff |
Aug 31, 2023

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 Week1. Weâ€™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 Friday Week 1 games.

Top College Football Week 1 Odds & Picks

Central Michigan vs. Michigan State

Michigan State has to take a step in the right direction this season, donâ€™t they? Last season, six of their seven losses were by double digits, as they picked up just three wins in Big 10 play. They begin with Central Michigan, a team that is a giant question mark after a 4-8 campaign last season. Yet, looking at this spread, it feels like bettors are being baited into taking the Chippewas. The Spartans were a well-documented disaster last season, so to put this right at the key number feels like a way for oddsmakers to trick some bettors into an emotional play. With the game being played in East Lansing, and considering the fact that the Spartans had no trouble with non-Power 5 opponents last season, weâ€™re taking the favorites to cover.

Pick: Michigan State -14 (-110)

-Phil Wood

Louisville vs. Georgia Tech

Louisville has high expectations in Year 1 under Jeff Brohm. Brohm is 66-44 in his career and finally got an opportunity to coach at Louisville once Scott Satterfield dipped from Cincinnati. Brohm brought in Jack Plummer, who played for him at Purdue. Plummer also played at California last year, but his best season was with Brohm in Purdue. Louisville added a lot of interesting transfers that should help on both sides of the ball. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech missed a bowl game last year. They no longer have Jeff Sims at quarterback. He's in Nebraska. Therefore, it'll be Haynes King, the former Texas A&M quarterback, as the starter. He'll be on a tightrope with Zach Pyron behind him. King threw ten touchdowns and ten interceptions for A&M in his career. He's not reliable. Take Louisville in this one.

Pick: Louisville -7.5 (-110)

-Jason Radowitz

Miami (OH) vs. Miami

Brett Gabbert is back in action for the Miami RedHawks. He played just four games last season and sat out the rest of the season with an injury. But he didn't refrain from starting the trash talk earlier this week. Gabbert was asked about which team was the real Miami. Gabbert suggested that Miami (OH) is and that they'll show them on the field. The RedHawks are projected to be one of the best MAC teams this season. They'll face a Miami Hurricanes team that continues embarrassing themselves in bad spots. Last year, it was a 45-31 loss to Middle Tennessee State. The Hurricanes will still rely on Tyler Van Dyke at quarterback. He's been inconsistent for Miami and was the starting quarterback for that ridiculous loss to Middle Tennessee State. I'm sure he's improved a little bit, but how much? He was benched in the third quarter against Middle Tennessee State! The Hurricanes should win. But a cover of 16.5 points is unlikely. Take Miami (OH) +16.5.

Pick: Miami (OH) +16.5

-Jason Radowitz

Stanford vs. Hawaii

The Cardinal opened as touchdown-favorites, but after Hawaiiâ€™s performance in Vanderbilt in Week 0, the line has dropped all the way to 3.5. While many are going to jump on the Rainbow Warriors, and we donâ€™t blame them, thereâ€™s a better play in this game. Hawaiiâ€™s offense looked great in Week 0, and with opening game jitters out of the way, they should feast against a really bad Stanford defense. At the end of last year, the Cardinal gave up 35 or more points in four of their final five games, and they may have gotten worse in the offseason. But the offense should be better, and based on what we saw in Week 0, it seems that Hawaii will have to outscore opponents since they donâ€™t have much to brag about defensively. Expect both teams to get into or close to the 30s in this one.

Pick: Over 57.5 (-110)