College Football Betting: Week 2
Are college football bettors going to trust favored Notre Dame on Saturday night when they play on the road in Michigan in one of the week's marquee gridiron matchups?
The Fighting Irish sat at No. 16 in the AP Top 25 poll last week when they played their opener at home against unranked South Florida – and lost 23-20. That score doesn't even reflect how poorly Notre Dame came out of the gates in that game, as they didn't manage to put their first points on the board until the third quarter of action.
That offensive ineptitude put starting quarterback Dayne Crist on the bench – he completed only seven of 15 pass attempts for 95 yards before taking a seat, getting intercepted once. Replacement Tommy Rees was good on 24 of 34 of his throws for 296 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. That's touched off a QB controversy at the school as the team prepares for its road game against Michigan - Rees gets the start on Saturday.
But despite that Week 1 upset loss the Fighting Irish are still pegged as 3.5-point favorites at the Bodog Sportsbook against the Wolverines for Saturday night. Michigan picked up an easy 34-10 win over Western Michigan over the weekend, and they managed to knock off Notre Dame 28-24 on the road when they met last season.
The Irish were one of four teams ranked in the Top 25 last week that started the season with a loss – Oregon, TCU, and Georgia were the others that tasted defeat.
The Ducks, then at No. 3, fell to then-No. 4 LSU 40-27 at Cowboys Stadium to potentially ruin their title hopes for this season. Oregon played that game without CB Cliff Harris, who has been suspended by the team for traffic violations. Harris' status for this week is up in the air, but the Ducks are 27-point home favorites vs. Nevada.
TCU was upset 50-48 on the road by Baylor in Week 1, while Georgia couldn't hold off higher-ranked Boise State in a 35-21 defeat at the Georgia Dome. The Horned Frogs are 2-point road favorites for this weekend against Air Force, while the Bulldogs have been listed as 3-point home underdogs for their game against South Carolina.
Top-ranked Oklahoma has a bye this week, but third-ranked Alabama will hit the field – and they might get a test on the road at Penn State. The Crimson Tide didn't have to break a sweat in winning 48-7 against Kent State last week, but Penn State is coming off a 41-7 trouncing of Indiana State. The Bodog Sportsbook line has Alabama giving 10 points on the road for this Saturday afternoon matchup, and when those teams met last season the Crimson Tide were able to pick up a 24-3 victory.
And if you want to get in some college football betting action earlier in the week, Oklahoma State hosts Arizona on Thursday night, and Missouri plays on the road at Arizona State on Friday night. The Cowboys trounced Louisiana-Lafayette 61-34 in Week 1 and sit as 14.5-point favorites at the Bodog Sportsbook against Arizona. The Tigers only edged Miami-Ohio 17-6 in their season opener, and they're getting 7.5 points on the road from the oddsmakers in their game against Arizona State this week.