Week 0 Against the Spread: College Football is back!

College football makes its triumphant return to campuses, stadiums, and television sets across the country this weekend.

I also try to make my triumphant return to correctly picking 10-or-so games per week against the spread.

With Week 0 finally here, there isn’t a ton of FBS action to choose from, but there are some interesting matchups that’ll make the return of the best sport a welcome sight.

All lines are via Bovada.

Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Northwestern Wildcats (Dublin, Ireland)

August 27 – 11:30 a.m. – FOX
Pick: Nebraska -13.0

Pat Fitzgerald has yet to name a quarterback, and won’t until the team kicks off versus the Cornhuskers in Dublin, Ireland. Meanwhile, Nebraska has Casey Thompson under center in a make-it-or-break-it-year for both he and the rest of Scott Frost’s program.

Frost’s team had atrocious bounce-of-the-ball luck last season. One of the few games the ball bounced their way? A 56-7 win over the ‘Cats. Northwestern hasn’t made many improvements, while Nebraska did all they could by bringing in transfer talent. The game could get a little crazy considering it’s in Ireland, but Big Red will be too much.

Connecticut Huskies at Utah State Aggies

August 27 – 3:00 p.m. – FS1
Pick: Utah State -27.0

I don’t think words can describe how poor a shape UConn football is in, but their hire of Jim Mora is a small attempt to rectify the issue until the university administration pushes all their chips into the Big East basket and lets football go by the wayside. That’s in contrast to an Aggie team that returns 12 starters, including the quarterback. It also returns an experienced offensive line for Blake Anderson’s second year. Meanwhile, UConn doesn’t have a defensive coordinator. Seriously.

A couple of former horns, Dajon Harrison (UConn) and Byron Vaughns (Utah St.) will be on the field for this one.

Wyoming Cowboys at Illinois Illini

August 27 – 3:00 p.m. – Big 10 Network
Pick: Illinois -11.0

Somewhat like Nebraska, Illinois was in seven one-score games last year and went 3-4 in those games, which is good evidence for my “first years are difficult” take. Bret Bielema has a decision to make at quarterback between Syracuse transfer Tommy DeVito and the returning Artur Sitowski but won’t announce until kickoff.

The Illini have good running backs, the Cowboys have questions at quarterback, and Bielema has his sights set on a bowl this year. After losing to a Group of 5 school in UTSA last year, Illinois won’t overlook the Cowboys. They’ll cover the spread, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the two teams don’t hit the 44.0 point total.

Charlotte 49ers at Florida Atlantic Owls

August 27 – 6:00 p.m. – CBS Sports Network
Pick: Charlotte +7.5

I’m interested to see how Miami transfer N’Kosi Perry looks in the Owl offense, but I think this is a matchup between two ‘meh’ teams. They’ll be at full tilt considering this is a Conference USA game, which should make this into a competitive game. This might be a shootout.

Nevada Wolfpack at New Mexico State Aggies

August 27 – 9:00 p.m. – ESPN2
Pick: Nevada -9.0

One-time Oklahoma State Cowboy Shane Illingworth is now the Wolfpack’s quarterback, which should be interesting. On the other side NMSU is in year one under Jerry Kill.

The Aggies return nine defensive starters… from a 2-10 team. New Mexico State is still in poor shape as a program, and I foresee the Wolfpack being able to easily cover the nine in Las Cruces, N.M.

Vanderbilt Commodores at Hawaii Rainbow Warriors

August 27 – 9:30 p.m. – CBS Sports Network
Pick: Hawaii +8.0

You know who the Hawaii head coach is? Timmy Chang! Yes, that Timmy Chang. Vanderbilt is an SEC team returns a few players from last year’s squad, but I wouldn’t discount the travel distance and the Rainbow Warriors’ run-and-shoot offense. Plus, those returning Commodores are 2-10. There’s a joke in there somewhere about crossing the Pacific.

UH is deploying Cammon Cooper at quarterback, who was in the run-and-shoot offense last year at Washington State before Nick Rolovich was forced out.

Vandy is not your typical SEC team. I think Hawaii can cover 8.0.

North Texas Mean Green at UTEP Miners

August 27 – 8:00 p.m. – Stadium
Pick: UTEP 0.0

It says a lot about both UTEP and North Texas that this game is a pick ’em. It says a lot of good about what Dana Dimel has done in West Texas, and a lot about how much the Mean Green have fallen off under Seth Littrell.

This may be the best UTEP team in a long, long time, and excitement is running rampant around the Sun Bowl which is SOLD OUT for this game. Homefield advantage helps the Miners get off to a 1-0 start.