College Football Week 0 Betting Picks for Saturday 8/26/23

It has been longer than seven months since we saw the University of Georgia shellack TCU in the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship at Los Angeles' SoFi Stadium. I don't know about you, but I usually get a little woozy this time of year due to chronic football deprivation -- it's real, look it up (it's not).

This season, college football Week 0 will be kicked off overseas. Commencing a seven-game slate, the Navy Midshipmen and No. 13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish will begin the action from Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland -- a venue the rivalry last dawned upon in 2012.

Of the AP Top-25 teams, the only other school playing in Week 0 is No. 6 USC hosting San Jose State. From there, additional intriguing matchups include UTEP at Jacksonville State and Ohio at San Diego State -- both of which currently show single-digit spreads at FanDuel Sportsbook. Also, we'll be treated to an opening week rematch between Hawai'i and Vanderbilt.

No sense wasting any more time; kickoff is just a few days off. Of course, this will be the final season before rampant conference realignment in 2024.

Keep in mind -- with the games looming so closely on the calendar, all odds and spreads are subject to incremental movement.

All college football odds via FanDuel Sportsbook

College Football Week 0 Betting Guide

Navy Midshipmen vs. No. 13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (N)

• Neutral location: Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland
• Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
• TV: NBC
• Spread: ND -20.5
• Moneyline: NAVY +810/ND -1450
• Total: 49.5 (-105/-115)

Naturally, this game is yielding the largest handle of any CFB Week 0 contest. The No. 13 Fighting Irish enter 2023 as massive 20.5-point favorites against Navy. In what will be the two programs' 94th all-time meeting, Notre Dame is looking to extend on their official 79-13-1 record versus the Midshipmen. Last year, in ND's first season under head coach Marcus Freeman, the Irish narrowly defeated Navy 35-32 at M&T Bank Stadium -- home of the Baltimore Ravens.

With Ireland's capital city playing host, Notre Dame will be looking to make a statement in the opener. For 2023, ESPN College Football Power Index has the bunch from South Bend ranked (18.4) eighth-best in the country. For comparison, Navy's score on the index is -9.3, 100 spots lower than the Irish at 108th. With that in mind, I feel much more confident about Notre Dame covering their expansive spread (20.5) this year despite a close head-to-head contest in 2022. Remember: the Irish have ambitious aspirations this season, and FanDuel Sportsbook has them at 30/1 right now in their CFP National Championship odds.

Best Bet: Under 49.5 (-115)

The total sits at 49.5 in this contest, which has gone back and forth between there and 50.5. Still, even with Navy's offensive outpour against Notre Dame last season, it feels unwise to take the over in any service academy game. The Midshipmen are still dedicated to running the rock, doing so behind 58.7 carries per game in 2022. That sort of play will peel time off the clock like a citrus rind against overgrown fingernails. Also, ND has one of the strongest offensive lines in the game (according to Pro Football Focus), so you can bet they will look to utilize the ground game, as well -- I like under 50.5 total points.

UTEP Miners at Jacksonville State Gamecocks

• Time: 5:30 p.m. ET
• TV: CBS Sports Network
• Spread: UTEP -1.5 (-105)
• Moneyline: UTEP -115/JSU -104
• Total: 53.5

The University of Texas at El Paso will get the honor of welcoming Jacksonville State to FBS play this Saturday. As their first Conference USA contest, JSU will at least get the benefit of hosting, so that means the Miners will head to Jacksonville, Alabama for the 2023 opener. UTEP went just 5-7 a season ago under head coach Dana Dimel, highlighted by a 40-6 trouncing of Florida International.

For J'Ville State, their first campaign with head coach Rich Rodriguez (2022) -- who has had notable stints at Michigan, West Virginia, and Arizona -- was also their last season as an FCS school. Rodriguez propelled the program to 9-2 last year, but making the jump to the FBS will be no cakewalk.

Best Bet: UTEP -1.5 (-105)

To me, this seems like a case where the new kid on the block (JSU) needs to prove themselves before warranting any respect at the sportsbooks. With El Paso having been a member of CUSA since 2005, their roster better knows the pace and physicality of play in the grouping.

Mind you, the Miners aren't blowing the doors off anyone; they are ranked 118th (-16.6) in ESPN's SP+ Preseason Rankings. Still, they managed to score 33.25 points per game in CUSA contests on the road last season. I believe they can spoil the evening for the Gamecocks, who come in ranked third-to-last on ESPN's CFPI.

UMass Minutemen at New Mexico State Aggies

• Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
• TV: ESPN
• Spread: NMSU -6.5
• Moneyline: MASS +202/NMSU -250
• Total: 44.5 (-115/-105)

In the heart of the Southwest, we will see a meeting between two of the lowest-ranked schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The UMass Minutemen will make the roughly 2,000-mile trip to Las Cruces, New Mexico to battle the Aggies. New Mexico State is currently favored by 6.5 at home, which is reasonable since Massachusetts is ranked dead-last (133rd) in on the preseason SP+.

To be frank, the Aggies -- who are 126th on the same SP+ scale -- aren't seen as too superior compared to the Minutemen, but New Mexico State gets the benefit of playing at home. More importantly, NMST will not have to endure six-hour travel plans across the better part of three different time zones leading up to game day.

Best Bet: Under 44.5 (-105)

Although I think New Mexico State wins easily, I'm not sure I trust them enough to cover more than a touchdown, especially considering the spread has fallen from 8.5 points at FanDuel Sportsbook a month ago. However, what I do know is that both of these schools are dealing with woes on offense in the modern era. Last year, the Aggies landed 82nd out of 131 eligible programs in scoring, while the Minutemen mustered only 12.5 points per game -- I'll let you guess where that ranked.

Ohio Bobcats at San Diego State Aztecs

• Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
• TV: FS1
• Spread: SDSU -2.5
• Moneyline: OHIO +112/SDSU -134
• Total: 48.5 (-115/-105))

The game I am personally looking forward to most in Week 0, Ohio University will head west to face San Diego State at the Aztecs' nearly-brand new venue: Snapdragon Stadium. Built on the grounds of the old Jack Murphy, SDSU football will look to begin a new era with both the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Chargers having departed from the Interstate-8 corridor.

San Diego State comes into the Week 0 clash as 2.5-point favorites, but they will certainly have their hands full with the visiting Bobcats. Ohio is not coy about leaning on star signal-caller Kurtis Rourke, who is the little brother of Jacksonville Jaguars backup quarterback Nathan Rourke. The younger Rourke passed for 3,257 yards with 25 touchdowns in 2022, so you can bet he will look to test an Aztec defense that surrendered only 20.5 points per game last year.

Best Bet: Under 48.5 (-105)

Rourke is undoubtedly a talented passer, but I'm leaning toward the slower, more physical style of play from head coach Brady Hoke's side. The Bobcats can absolutely defeat the Aztecs in this one (which is why I am staying away from a play ATS), but I think the home team will be able to incorporate their slower pace. Worth mentioning: SDSU is 80th on the preseason SP+, but their defense is at 53rd while their offense is down at 102nd. Also, the Aztecs only scored 21.5 points per game last season.

Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors at Vanderbilt Commodores

• Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
• TV: SEC Network
• Spread: VAN -17.5
• Moneyline: VAN -1200/HAW +720
• Total: 55.5

Almost exactly a calendar year later, the Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors and Vanderbilt Commodores will get together on the gridiron to again kick off the season. In 2022, the two sides met on Oahu for a Week 0 bid that featured a dynamic ground attack from Vanderbilt. The Commodores wound up trouncing Hawai'i 63-10 behind more than 400 rushing yards.

Vanderbilt may be the worst football team in the SEC, but that will still leave you leaps and bounds ahead of some other conferences. Even more in Vandy's favor, is the fact that their contest with the 'Bows this year will be in Nashville rather than Honolulu. Outside of that, the Commodores are ranked much higher on the power index (73rd of 133) compared to Hawai'i (122nd).

Best Bet: Vanderbilt -17.5

For many of the reasons just touched on, I think the Commodores are set to start the 2023 season on the right foot hosting the Rainbow Warriors. They bested Manoa by a staggering 53 points 12 months ago. With fear of the number inflating even further, I like Vandy laying 17 points with a hook in Week 0. numberFire agrees, projecting a Vanderbilt winning score of 41.22-22.97, showing a difference of 18.25 points.

San Jose State Spartans at No. 6 USC Trojans

• Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
• TV: PAC-12 Network
• Spread: USC -30.5
• Moneyline: N/a
• Total: 66.5 (-105/-115)

A true Golden State affair, No. 6 Southern California, and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams, will open 2023 by hosting San Jose State. In five all-time meetings between the Trojans and Spartans, SJSU has never defeated USC, which makes sense when you notice the odds at FanDuel Sportsbook are without moneyline prices in this contest.

San Jose State won the Mountain West Conference as recently as 2020, but their defense has lost some lumber since then. The Trojans, however, are poised to go the distance this year. Under head coach Lincoln Riley, they are in their final year of Pac-12 play, which would have been crazy to imagine once upon a time. Still, USC has drawn the second-largest handle share to win the upcoming national title at FanDuel (a market where they currently show +1600 odds).

Best Bet: Over 66.5 (-105)

We know Riley's MO and we all saw how well Williams orchestrates the Air Raid offense. Southern Cal produced 41.4 points per game in 2022, which was third-best in the nation. I'm not claiming the Spartans to be in the same tier, but they boast a talented quarterback of their own in Chevan Cordeiro. He earned Second-team All-Mountain West honors a season ago, propelling SJSU to 27.4 ppg. When you consider that USC's defense allowed well above that last year (29.2 ppg), I believe these two sides combine to go over 66.5. Keep in mind: since July 21st, this number has climbed three points at FanDuel Sportsbook.

FIU Panthers at Louisiana Tech Bulldogs

• Time: 9:00 p.m. ET
• TV: CBS Sports Network
• Spread: -10.5 LT (-115)
• Moneyline: FIU +340/LT -450
• Total: 58.5

After UTEP at JSU, Florida International and Louisiana Tech will square off in the second Conference USA bid of Week 0. This one will take place in Ruston, Louisiana, as Tech is looking to avenge a 42-34 loss at the Golden Panthers last season. In that game, FIU used a short rushing touchdown in double-overtime to take down the Bulldogs. The two sides combined to produce 76 total points, however, only 54 points were scored in regulation -- that can make a total play on 58.5 rather tricky.

Fast-forward back to this year, and Louisiana Tech enters as a 10.5-point favorite against their conference rival. Considering that LT allowed 37.9 points per game in 2022 (128th out of 131), it's tough to confidently take them ATS on a double-digit number with a hook. Transparently, it does not help that both the Bulldogs and Panthers fall within the bottom 30 FBS schools on Team Rankings.

Best Bet: FIU +10.5 (-105)

Florida International's most spirited effort of the 2022 campaign came in the aforementioned win against Tech. Grayson James -- who threw for 321 yards and 3 touchdowns in that contest -- is back at quarterback for his junior season with the Panthers. Receivers Jalen Bracey and Kris Mitchell are also returning for FIU, both of whom caught scores against Louisiana Tech last year. Simply, I think the Panthers have enough continuity at least keep this game closer than 10 points. numberFire's game projection sees value in FIU's moneyline price of +340 at FanDuel Sportsbook, but I am not that bold. At -105 odds, I am on FIU getting 10.5.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.