Week 0 College Football 2024 Odds and Betting Tips: Upset Alerts and Sleeper picks
For those who are not familiar, college football's "week 0" refers to the games played by a few teams the week before the official start of the college football season. This week, being a week ahead of week 1, is called week 0.
Considering that it's the first college football action in more than seven months, there's plenty of betting going down on week 0. Here are some tips.
Week 0 College Football 2024 Prediction
Florida State (-13) covers over Georgia Tech
Montana State (-9) covers at New Mexico
Nevada (+25) covers hosting SMU
Delaware State (+38) covers at Hawaii
Betting tips for Week 0 College Football
There will be plenty of action in week 0, as it is the first opportunity to bet on gridiron clashes in months. However, none of these games offer particularly engaging gameplay.
There are a few odd scenarios here that have most likely resulted in unusual lines, but none of these would warrant a second look in typical Week 1 situations.
Basically, the wise play is to hold off and watch teams play before falling in love with any of them. In the transfer portal era, the massive transition in players and coaches makes it hard to accurately evaluate any team, particularly teams playing in week 0 outside of the continental United States.
Week 0 college football upset picks
By far the most bizarre line of the week is New Mexico +9 at home against Montana State. What's odd about it is that New Mexico is an FBS team hosting the game, while Montana State is an FCS team.
New Mexico has a new coach and hasn't topped 4-8 since 2016. Meanwhile, Montana State has been 32-9 in the past three years and reached the FCS playoffs in each. So for once, it's not an upset to pick the lower-tier team. In fact, New Mexico might be worth a look as a home underdog.
They are 6-0 all-time against FCS foes and defeated Tennessee Tech 56-10 last year.
Sleeper picks Week 0 college football
Georgia Tech obviously is getting a healthy amount of respect as a +13 underdog to CFP suspect Florida State. But there are some odd factors here, even beyond Week 0.
This game will be played in Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. So both teams will be fighting jetlag and playing a Week 0 game at 11 a.m. Eastern time.
A year ago, Florida State was a 14-point favorite at home against No. 16 Duke and a 14 1/2-point favorite at home against Miami. To have this neutral site game at a lower line suggests healthy respect for Brent Key's team.
In fact, the sleeper pick here is probably for the favorite to cover. FSU won eight games by more than 13 points a year ago. Unless Mike Norvell's team falls off, they're a good guess to do the same in Dublin.
Which teams do you like in Week 0? Share your thoughts and predictions below in our comments section!