Saturday, August 24 will mark the end of misery for action starved college football fans. Camping World Stadium in Orlando will host Florida and Miami in a key prime time ESPN matchup. Also, on the College Football betting odds board for August 31 is South Carolina vs. North Carolina. That game will take place in Charlotte. Jacksonville will host the game between Florida State and Boise State. Likewise, AT&T Stadium in Arlington gets Auburn vs. Oregon. Neutral site games to kick off the season have become more prominent in recent years. Higher risk comes with that increased revenue.
Week One Odds
A total of four week one games were listed on the board for early action. Now Florida is a 7.5-point favorite over Miami. Additionally, North Carolina opened as a 7.5-point underdog with the College Football betting odds against South Carolina. Oregon is a three-point chalk over Auburn. And Florida State is favored by four over Boise State.
Florida vs. Miami
Concurrently the offshore betting matchup between the Gators and Hurricanes marks the official season opener. Of major curiosity will be how the Canes respond to new head coach Manny Diaz. Diaz takes over for retired Mark Richt. Richt departed under fire after a sensational start to his tenure. In 2017 Richt led The U to a 10-0 start with Diaz as defensive coordinator. But Miami lost their final three games and was never the same. By contrast Florida won their final four games of 2018. UF coach Dan Mullen finished 10-3 in his first season.
North Carolina vs. South Carolina
Fashion that this game will be the second coming of Mack Brown as North Carolina head coach. UNC may be a dangerous dog with the College Football betting odds. Brown last coached at Texas in 2013. Carolina posted back to back 10-win seasons in Brown’s final two years there. Of great concern has been the decline of South Carolina. Will Muschamp’s Gamecocks peaked at 9-4 in 2017. Last year they were 7-6 and not looking good in the process. A loss to North Carolina will make Muschamp’s seat among the hottest in the land.
Auburn vs. Oregon
At the beginning of the 2019 season few seats are as hot as Gus Malzahn’s. Malzahn led Auburn to the national championship game in his first season. Since then few teams have been more inconsistent. Consider in 2017 when he beat Alabama and got a raise and extension for doing so. Following that big pay day is a record of 8-7. As a result, there is plenty of tumult and discontent on the Plains. In view of highly ranked recruiting classes is excitement high at Oregon. Further adding to optimism is a weak Pac 12 Conference.
Florida State vs. Boise State
Yet another hot seat can be found at Tallahassee Florida. Willie Taggart inherited quite a mess from Jimbo Fisher at Florida State. But the program’s lack of organization was an alarming eyesore in 2018. FSU finished 5-7 and with tens of thousands of empty seats at Doak Campbell Stadium. Consequently, the pressure is on Taggart full blast. Alternatively, not much is expected of Boise State. The Broncos are a good and solid program. But they are nowhere near the level of their powerhouse teams of 2009 through 2011.