The college football season has officially begun. Here’s our five Lockness Monsters for the weekend.
BYU at Nebraska (-7)
This number is too high. BYU will be good this year and its best player from last year, Taysom Hill, returns as quarterback after suffering a season-ending injury last season.
As long as there isn’t any residual effects from that injury, he will likely be the best player on the field Saturday. Oddsmakers are giving away a touchdown on two teams that are almost similar in ability levels. Take the underdog. — BYU
Louisville vs. Auburn (-10)
Louisville lost too many pros off of last year’s team that surprised many people. Auburn returns a plethora of playmakers and will be on a different level at this juncture of the season.
The Cardinals will improve throughout the year, but don’t expect much in the opening game. The number is high, especially with Bobby Petrino on the Cardinals sideline, but Auburn should win this one by at least two touchdowns. Take the Tigers. — Auburn
Arizona State vs. Texas A&M (-3)
What kind of respect does this show to the nationally rated Sun Devils? Oddsmakers and the betting public are putting their chips all in on the SEC West, and while we believe the Aggies have plenty of talent, the defense just doesn’t give us much optimism.
Arizona State will have special motivation in this game to prove something to the nation. Never underestimate extra motivation. This will be a good game, but the Aggies defense will have no answer for the Sun Devils late in the game. Go with the Sun Devils. — Arizona State
Georgia Southern at West Virginia (-19.5)
Georgia Southern isn’t bad. Take a look at what it did to other FBS programs last season against power five conferences.
The Mountaineers have a lot of questions on offense and against Georgia Southern isn’t the best game to try out a new crew. West Virginia’s defense actually is better than its offense, so this could be a bit more low-scoring than experts believe (hint, hint at the under of 56).
We’re not calling for a straight up win, but this should be within single digits late in the fourth quarter. — Georgia Southern
Louisiana-Lafayette at Kentucky (-17)
We’ve loved Kentucky since early summer when we broke it down in our over/under guide. We’ve also loved Oklahoma State, too, and look where that got us after week 1.
However, we’ll dismiss that lack of a cover by the Cowboys, and still side with the Wildcats. Louisiana-Lafayette has been good for the last five years. But this year, it will have to replenish its main skill players, and the Kentucky defense will feature far more talent than what many have come accustomed to in Lexington.
This number is high; maybe a little higher than we like. But the Wildcats will be good on offense and should shut down Louisiana-Lafayette in this one. — Kentucky
