A pair of college football spread plays during Week 1 action: Best Bets for Sept. 2
Each day, one of our experts will offer up a best bet (or two or three) that mobile sportsbooks are offering. It might be a traditional spread bet, a player prop or one of the various odds boosts that books offer.
Here are our best bets for September, Sept. 2:
TOP PLAY
The play: NCAAF, Tennessee -27.5 vs. Virginia
The odds/bet: -110 ($33 to win $30)
The book: Caesars Sportsbook
Time/TV: Noon (ESPN)
Our take: We saw in both Tennessee and Virginia's final games in 2022 what these teams are capable of this season. For the Volunteers, it was a 31-14 win over the Clemson Tigers in the Orange Bowl without starting quarterback Hendon Hooker. For the Cavaliers, it was an embarrassing 37-7 defeat to Pittsburgh to end a forgettable season — to put it nicely.
These teams are trending in different directions this year, so many are expecting this to be an ugly contest in Week 1 of the 2023 campaign.
Josh Heupel ran the second-fastest offense in the country based on tempo last season. Now, he's had an offseason to build a gameplan around Joe Milton, who takes over for Hooker this season. The Volunteers lost a few weapons but don't expect this team to take its foot off the gas at all.
Virginia, on the other hand, struggles defensively against up-tempo offenses. This is virtually a home game for Tennessee as it's being played in Nashville. We like the Volunteers to cover the near-four-touchdown spread in this one given Heupel's tendency to run up scores on opponents last season.
TEXAS TECH TOPS WYOMING ON THE ROAD
The play: NCAAF, Texas Tech -14 at Wyoming
The odds/bet: -105 ($10.50 to win $10)
The book: Caesars Sportsbook
Time/TV: 7:30 p.m. (CBS)
Our take: Gabe, are you feeling OK, did you seriously take two relatively big spreads and make them best bets? Yep. I like Texas Tech a lot coming into the season — and I'm not alone there either. The Red Raiders have an insanely talented bunch with an exciting second-year head coach in Joey McGuire.
Texas Tech plays an up-tempo style on offense that's exciting to watch. It's almost a complete juxtaposition to how the Cowboys like to play with their shaky offensive unit. Wyoming lost a lot of its production on that side of the ball too. The Cowboys' leading rusher and top two receivers departed along with three of the big men in the trenches.
In the end, I believe the Red Raiders will light up the scoreboard in Wyoming en route to a comfortable win. This is especially true if Tyler Shough is slinging it like he did at the back end of last season.
HOW WE’VE FARED
- NCAAF: Hawaii +3 vs. Stanford (LOST $33)
EPL: West Ham money line at Luton Town (WON $10)
Friday's profit/loss: -$23 (1-1)
Total for the week: +$28 (6-4)
Total for September: -$23 (1-1)
Total for 2023: -$615.70 (202-232)
If a line or odds are minus, it considers the juice one must lay to place the bet. Ex: Team A is -160 on the money line, one would have to bet $160 to win $100 (or $16 to win $10). OR Team B is a 5-point favorite at -110, one would have to bet $110 to win $100 (or $11 to win $10.)
Conversely, on positive lines, if Team C is +140 on the money line, $100 would bring in $140 (or $10 to win $14).
