College Football Week 2 Betting Preview

The Alabama Crimson Tide began the season with an easy win over the Louisville Cardinals. Things get even easier for the Tide in Week 2, as they’ve been given a cupcake matchup against the Arkansas State Red Wolves as a 36.5-point home favorite at Bovada Sportsbook.

Alabama heads into this matchup on a 19-game winning streak at home but is only 9-10 against the spread. Arkansas State can’t get it done vs the SEC, having lost 20 straight against the conference at 12-8 ATS.

Continuing with a look at big favorites this week, the Ohio State Buckeyes are 35-point home favorites against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

Last season Ohio State destroyed Rutgers 56-0 as a 28-point favorite. At home the Buckeyes have won their last seven games straight up, but they’re only 3-4 ATS. Rutgers is awful on the road lately at 1-9 SU and 5-5 ATS in its last 10.

Also in the Big Ten this week the Wisconsin Badgers are 35-point favorites at home to the New Mexico Lobos. Wisconsin beat up on the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 34-3 last week but failed to cover the 36-point spread. At home the Badgers have won 11 straight while going 5-5-1 ATS. New Mexico snapped a seven-game SU losing streak last week with a 62-30 win over the Incarnate Word Cardinals but didn’t cover the 36-point spread and has lost six in a row ATS.

Bulldogs, Tigers, Nittany Lions are road favorites

If you’re looking for road favorites this week, the Georgia Bulldogs, Clemson Tigers and Penn State Nittany Lions all fit the bill.

The Bulldogs are 9.5-point favorites vs the South Carolina Gamecocks. Georgia blanked the Austin Peay Governors 45-0 as a 46-point favorite. As a road favorite, the Bulldogs are 8-1 SU and 7-2 ATS in their last nine. The Gamecocks are 2-5 SU and 4-3 ATS in their last seven as a home underdog, but they’re 1-3 SU and ATS in their last four at home to the Bulldogs.

The Tigers are 11.5-point road favorites vs the Texas A&M Aggies. Clemson crushed the Furman Paladin 48-7 but was a 49-point favorite. The Tigers are 14-1 SU and 7-8 ATS in their last 15 as a road favorite, while the Aggies have lost eight straight as a home underdog at 2-5-1 ATS.

Penn State survived a scare last week vs the Appalachian State Mountaineers, winning 45-38 in overtime as a 24-point favorite. The Nittany Lions will face the Pittsburgh Panthers as a 7.5-point road favorite on Saturday. The Lions are 4-2 SU in their last six vs Pittsburgh but only 1-4-1 ATS.

The game of the week looks to be the USC Trojans vs the Stanford Cardinal in a Pac-12 battle. The Cardinal are a 3.5-point favorite and have won nine straight at home at 5-4 ATS. USC has lost four straight ATS after failing to cover vs the UNLV Rebels last week, but the Trojans are 5-3 ATS in their last eight on the road.

One last big spread on the Week 2 lines is the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, listed as a 33.5-point home favorite vs the Ball State Cardinals. Notre Dame upset the Michigan Wolverines 24-17 as a 3-point underdog last week, but the Irish are a disappointing 2-9 ATS in their last 11 Week 2 games. Ball State snapped a nine-game losing streak last week with a 42-6 win over Central Connecticut State as an 18.5-point favorite.