Hawaii vs. Vanderbilt: Top College Football Week 0 Bets (2023)

College Football is back! Well, kind of. Week 0 still counts, especially for fans who have been deprived of football for months! Saturday resumes the football action that many have missed. Thor Nystrom will have you covered through the entire college football campaign. He provides all of his best bets for the week here. And below you can find his top pick for Hawaii vs. Vanderbilt.

Best College Football Week 0 Bets: Hawaii vs. Vanderbilt

• 2022: 109-84-4 ATS (56.5%)

Hawaii (+17.5) at Vanderbilt

Sneaky revenge spot here for the Rainbow Warriors. Last season, Hawaii opened the HC Timmy Chang era by getting annihilated 63-10 on their homefield against Vandy.

This time around, Hawaii travels to Nashville - but with a roster far more equipped to give the Commodores a fight.

Chang's first Hawaii team had issues getting the run-and-shoot offense off the ground due to shoddy QB play. But Hawaii kept fighting, and QB Brayden Schager started improving as the season went along.

After posting an 0/4 TD/INT rate in the first three games, Schager recorded a 13/6 TD/INT rate over the final 10. And following Hawaii's 0-2 SU and ATS start, the Rainbow Warriors went 9-2 ATS down the stretch - keeping games closer than expected even as they played out the string on a lost 3-10 campaign.

Chang's offense has a potential star in the versatile RB Tylan Hines, who averaged 7.6 YPC last year. Over the offseason, Hawaii experimented with Hines in the slot - expect them to get creative with finding ways to get the ball in his hands this fall.

Creating holes for him will be an offensive line that finished No. 19 in Offensive Line Yards last year and returns over 100 career starts this fall.

And Hawaii not only returns nine starters on defense, but they added former Wyoming CB Cam Stone, a Preseason Jim Thorpe Watch Lister. The Rainbow Warriors' secondary is one of the best in the MWC. The front seven is the weakness of the defense.

What's important about that is Vanderbilt's offense is decidedly more strong on the passing side than when running. That's because RB Ray Davis left for Kentucky over the offseason, leaving the RB room to youngsters and unknowns.

And while Vandy's offense has big-armed QB AJ Swann and a solid WR corps, Swann's propensity to put the ball in harm's way could come back to bite the 'Dores in a matchup against this feisty Hawaii secondary. Last year, among FBS QBs with more than 200 dropbacks, Swann had the seventh-highest turnover-worthy play percentage, per PFF.

Vandy's defense was awful last year, finishing No. 124 in scoring (36.0 PPG allowed). The pass defense (No. 126) was worse than the run defense. But that run defense lost standout LB Anfernee Orji. And the secondary isn't likely to be much better this fall.

I believe the Rainbow Warriors will carry over momentum from the end of last season and give Vanderbilt a scare in the Week 0 opener.

The pick: Hawaii +17.5

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