College Football Betting Odds Week 1: Picks Against the Spread for Top 25 Schedule

The first full slate of college football games in 2022 features two blockbuster games on paper.

However, the ranked clashes between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Ohio State Buckeyes and Oregon Ducks and Georgia Bulldogs may not be as close as their rankings suggest.

Ohio State and Georgia are more than two touchdown favorites for Saturday's marquee games and the on-field performances may back up the betting numbers.

There are a few other games on the docket that could present more trouble to ranked teams.

The NC State Wolfpack and Utah Utes come into the season with a ton of preseason hype, but they each have to back it up on the gridiron.

NC State could have an unpleasant start to its season against an in-state foe in the East Carolina Pirates.

Utah makes the always-dangerous trip to The Swamp to take on the new-look Florida Gators in what could be a much tougher game than some people expect and the betting lines back that up.

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Thursday, September 1

Central Michigan at No. 12 Oklahoma State (-21.5) (Over/Under: 58) (7 p.m. ET, FS1)

West Virginia at No. 17 Pittsburgh (-7.5) (O/U: 51.5) (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)

VMI at No. 22 Wake Forest (-32) (O/U: 67.5) (7:30 p.m. ET, ACC Network)

Friday, September 2

Western Michigan at No. 15 Michigan State (-22) (O/U: 54.5) (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Saturday, September 3

Sam Houston at No. 6 Texas A&M (Odds N/A) (Noon ET, SEC Network)

Colorado State at No. 8 Michigan (-30.5) (O/U: 61.5) (Noon ET, ABC)

No. 13 NC State (-11.5) at East Carolina (O/U: 52) (Noon ET, ESPN)

No. 11 Oregon at No. 3 Georgia (-17) (O/U: 52.5) (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)

UTEP at No. 9 Oklahoma (-31) (O/U: 57) (3:30 p.m. ET, Fox)

Bethune-Cookman at No. 16 Miami (Odds N/A) (3:30 p.m. ET, ACC Network)

No. 23 Cincinnati at No. 19 Arkansas (-6.5) (O/U: 52) (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)

No. 24 Houston (-4) at UTSA (O/U: 62) (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network)

Troy at No. 21 Ole Miss (-21.5) (O/U: 57.5) (4 p.m. ET, SEC Network)

No. 25 BYU (-12) at South Florida (O/U: 58.5) (4 p.m. ET, ESPNU)

Rice at No. 12 USC (-32.5) (O/U: 61.5) (6 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network)

No. 7 Utah (-3) at Florida (O/U: 51.5) (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Albany at No. 10 Baylor (Odds N/A) (7 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

Illinois State at No. 18 Wisconsin (Odds N/A) (7 p.m. ET, FS1)

Miami (OH) at No. 20 Kentucky (-16) (O/U: 54) (7 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

Utah State at No. 1 Alabama (-41.5) (O/U: 61.5) (7:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network)

No. 5 Notre Dame at No. 2 Ohio State (-17) (O/U: 59) (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)

Monday, September 5

No. 4 Clemson (-22.5) vs. Georgia Tech (O/U: 51) (8 p.m. ET, ESPN)

NC State's push to become the new power in the ACC begins with a tricky in-state road game against East Carolina.

East Carolina is not talked about in the same vein as the Houston Cougars or Cincinnati Bearcats in the American Athletic Conference, but the Pirates have a sneaky good team.

Quarterback Holton Ahlers and running back Keaton Mitchell make up one of the most underrated pairs of offensive players in the Group of Five. Ahlers had 3,126 passing yards and Mitchell recorded 1,132 rushing yards in 2021.

Ahlers and Mitchell could be difficult for the NC State defense to contain, and they should feed off the energy inside the crowd in Greenville, North Carolina. Power Five foes do not come into Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium often.

NC State has the edge at quarterback in Devin Leary, who could enter the season as a dark horse for the Heisman Trophy. Leary threw for 3,433 yards and 35 touchdowns in 2021.

Leary's return combined with an early-season matchup against the Clemson Tigers brought plenty of hype to Raleigh, but before the Wolfpack can even talk about Clemson, they have to be wary of the threat East Carolina poses.

East Carolina only lost by three against the South Carolina Gamecocks in its only clash with a power-conference team in 2021. The Pirates also pushed Houston to overtime and lost by four points to the UCF Knights.

NC State went 2-3 on the road last season with losses to the Mississippi State Bulldogs, Miami Hurricanes and Wake Forest Demon Deacons. The Wolfpack's two road wins were over struggling teams in the ACC.

Dave Doeren's side can be vulnerable on the road and that may lead to East Carolina sticking within a touchdown and covering the spread.

The Pirates might be considered as an outright money line pick by some, but Ahlers' 18-10 touchdown-to-interception ratio and 36 sacks suffered in 2021 is a bit of a concern when trusting a double-digit underdog.

The Utah Utes come into the regular season as the highest-ranked Pac-12 team in the AP Top 25. They sit seven spots ahead of the USC Trojans.

Utah does not have an easy nonconference schedule to warm it up for the October 15 meeting with the new-look Trojans.

The Utes begin their nonconference jaunt in Gainesville, Florida in a matchup of two of Urban Meyer's former programs.

Florida will have a new look in 2022 under Billy Napier, but it may be an unfinished product with Anthony Richardson leading the offense in Week 1. After all, this is a program that struggled to get to bowl eligibility in 2021.

Richardson is a solid quarterback, but he does not have the positional advantage against Cameron Rising, who emerged as Utah's best option at quarterback a month into last season. Rising went on to have 20 passing scores, five interceptions and an additional six end zone visits on the ground.

Rising can do everything that Richardson is capable of, and maybe even better than the Florida quarterback.

Add in the fact that the Utah team is seasoned to deal with tough road games and you have a perfect combination for the Utes covering the small spread.

Utah proved it could hang with the best teams in college football when it pushed Ohio State in the Rose Bowl and beat the Oregon Ducks twice in three weeks to land that bowl berth.

The Utes are a battle-tested team and will not be intimidated by the environment inside "The Swamp" and that should help them get past the Gators and potentially leave with a double-digit victory.

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