Boise State Broncos @ Florida State
Northwestern Wildcats @ #25 Stanford Cardinal
11 Oregon Ducks @ #16 Auburn Tigers
Boise State Broncos at Florida State (-6)
This game was initially supposed to take place in primetime at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, but due to the arrival of Hurricane Dorian, the game was moved up as a precaution. With Boise State altering its plans, will they be able to keep up with a rejuvenated FSU squad?
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Florida State opened as three-point favorites, and it appears the newly-gained home field advantage and early start time will actually have an effect on Boise State coming East for this game.
With a little help from the time and venue change, the Seminoles are now six-point favorites and the total went from 54.0 down to 50.5.
Florida State seems to have a lot in its favor with these outside factors, and last year’s 5-7 record should have everyone in the program on notice. Look for FSU to take the early lead and never look back.
Betting Tip: Florida State -6
Boise State has to deal with a scheduling conflict, on top of making a long trip to get here and their internal clocks get thrown out of whack. Expect the Noles to benefit from staying on track and not having too many disruptions this week. Today’s noon-time start in Tallahassee will seem like a 10 a.m. game for the Broncos.
Northwestern Wildcats at #25 Stanford Cardinal (-6)
Time: 4:00 p.m. EST
Two of the more academic schools in the country do battle out in Palo Alto today. This should be one of the more competitive games on the entire slate, considering we’ve got one team trying to stay in the Top 25, and the other trying to crack into it.
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Stanford opened as a seven-point favorite but dropped down to six, with the total going from 50 to 47.5.
Many people believe that Northwestern can not only cover the spread, but also win this game outright. Clemson transfer Hunter Johnson won the starting job and that’ll give this offense an extra punch. While the Wildcats never really been a high-powered offense, that could certainly change with the new signal-caller under center.
David Shaw and his Stanford team will look to improve their run game, which is the bread-and-butter operation of this team. Last season, they were one of the worst teams in the country in that regard.
It won’t be easy for Stanford’s offense, though, considering Northwestern has one of the better defenses in the country. Look for that unit to make a huge impact on today’s game and keep the Wildcats within striking distance all day.
Betting Tip: Northwestern +6
As we mentioned, that Northwestern defense is a fierce unit that could have a few guys playing on Sundays in the near future. Although it’s tough to win on the road with a new quarterback, Northwestern’s offense should find itself with favorable field position for most of the day, making it easier to capitalize on the scoreboard.
11 Oregon Ducks at #16 Auburn Tigers
This is the only marquee matchup of ranked-teams in Week 1 of the college football season, so there will be plenty of eyes on this one. We’ve seen teams from Pac-12 and SEC face off on a regular basis, with the latter of the two usually getting the upper hand.
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Way back when this line opened, Auburn was actually a 6.5-point favorite before coming all the way down to 3.5, before now settling at 4.0. Get all that?
The key matchup today will be Auburn’s defensive line against Oregon’s offensive line. While it’s true that Oregon has the better quarterback in this matchup, it might not matter if he doesn’t have time to throw. Auburn boasts numerous studs on that D-line, a few of which we’ll definitely see in the NFL someday.
Typically, in these Pac-12 vs. SEC matchups, we’ll see the dominance of the SEC schools. Whether it’s better recruiting, having more NFL-ready talent or whatever, the SEC (and Auburn vs. Oregon particularly) just out-muscles their counterparts.
Oregon should have a good season and many great things are expected from quarterback Justin Hebert, but they’ll likely get off to a tough start in this one.
Betting Tip: Auburn -4
The battle of physicality is just always going to be won by these powerful SEC schools. That Auburn D-line is no joke, and it’ll be on full display for the nation on Saturday night.
