ES 
NFL Previews 
MLB Previews 
NBA Previews 
NHL Previews 
Soccer Previews 
Are you excited for college football this season? We had a few games last Saturday, but the full schedule begins this week.
These are the top five games to parlay together (What Is a Parlay Bet?) for Thursday’s college football schedule.
Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers Preview
Buckeyes vs. Golden Gophers Picks
Time: Thursday, September 2nd at 8 PM ET
ATS Odds: Ohio State Buckeyes -14 vs.Minnesota Golden Gophers +14
The Play: OHIO STATE -14
This one I wonder about. Ohio State is starting a redshirt freshman quarterback in CJ Stroud to replace Justin Fields. He was a highly-touted recruit, as are most of the players on the Ohio State roster, but we have a situation where a team is laying two touchdowns on the road with a first-time starter against an opponent with ten starters coming back on both sides of the ball, including a running back (Mohamed Ibrahim) who led the Big Ten in rushing.
Trends don’t necessarily favor the Minnesota side; after all, the Buckeyes have won eleven straight meetings in the series. And the flipside of the coin is that even though the Gophers bring back ten defenders, that unit also gave up 6.3 yards a carry.
That’s what is tough to get around. Stroud is inexperienced, sure, but he ran for a 48-yard TD before being redshirted and is described as having a “PhD-level football IQ.”
Boise State Broncos vs. UCF Knights Preview
Time: Thursday, September 2nd at 7 PM ET
ATS Odds: UCF Knights -5.5 vs. Boise State Broncos 5.5
The Play: UCF -5.5
Do you think Scott Frost wishes he was back at Central Florida? Maybe it’s too early to answer that. But to show you the way the coaching carousel works, Boise State had to say goodbye this off-season to Bryan Harsin, who went to Auburn. He replaced Gus Malzahn, who he had also replaced at Arkansas State, and now Marzhan is at UCF. Andy Avalos is the new man in Boise; he had been an assistant for years there before bolting for Oregon.
We’re going to give UCF quarterback Dillon Gabriel (32 TD’s, 4 INT’s in 2020) an edge over Boise’s Hank Bachmeier in terms of pure explosiveness, although the Broncos bring back all of the skill position guys. Malzahn was an early proponent of speeding things up on offense, so there’s no reason the Knights shouldn’t operate at a high tempo.
Yes, Boise has covered its last five road openers. But Malzahn went out and got a host of SEC transfers to bolster the defense. They’re worth a shot here.
Temple Owls vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights Preview
Owls vs. Scarlet Knights Picks
Time: Thursday, September 2nd at 6:30 PM ET
ATS Odds: Rutgers Scarlet Knights -14.5 vs. Temple Owls +14.5
The Play: TEMPLE +14.5
We’re not sure how rapidly Greg Schiano is going to get things going for Rutgers, But the Scarlet Knights made some progress in 2020, with wins over Michigan State, Purdue and Maryland, and a near-miss (3-OT defeat) against Michigan. Rutgers may have the best defender on the field (LB Olakunle Fatukasi) and his teams always seem to extract an advantage on special teams. With 21 starters back, they should be in a position to move up.
But they are being asked to lay a lot of points here. Surely they’re not used to that. But more importantly, the jury is still out on QB Noah Vedral, while Temple may have a dynamic new field leader in D’Wan Mathis, who is good enough to have been the starter at Georgia at the beginning of last season.
Things were upside down in 2020, and Temple got hit harder than most. But don’t sell coach Rod Carey (former Northern Illinois boss)short, and he’s brought in a number of transfers who could shore things up on the defensive line. We’re on the take.
South Florida Bulls vs. North Carolina State Wolfpack Preview
Time: Thursday, September 2nd at 7:30 PM ET
ATS Odds: N.C. State Wolfpack -18.5 vs. USF Bulls +18.5
The Play: SOUTH FLORIDA +18.5
Right away what kind of pops out at you is the fact that South Florida has a big game next week against Florida, which could be termed an in-state rivalry, except that they haven’t played the Gators since 2014. Would there be a danger of looking ahead against a team that will most likely be challenging for a national ranking?
North Carolina State brings back almost everyone from a team that finished 8-4 and lost the Gator Bowl to Kentucky. Devin Leary missed much of the 2020 season with a broken leg but is back at quarterback for the Wolfpack. It is the opinion of many that if any team is going to challenge Clemson in the ACC Atlantic, it is NCSU.
But we have to admit that USF intrigues. They bring back 18 starters (nine on each side of the ball) and second-year coach Jeff Scott has at least had the benefit of a spring practice schedule.
Scott certainly comes from a winning program, as he was a Clemson assistant for twelve years, three of which were spent as the offensive coordinator. Aside from the returnees, the stop unit has new blood from a number of Power 5 transfers. USF quarterback Cade Fortin is a good one, but had his 2020 season short-circuited by COVID and injuries. Fortin has actually faced the Wolfpack before, as he had a 276-yard passing day when he was playing for North Carolina in 2018.
We’re going to trust Scott can take some steps in turning the Bulls around. So we’ll take the points.
Bowling Green Falcons vs.Tennessee Volunteers Preview
Time: Thursday, September 2nd at 8 PM ET
ATS Odds: Tennessee Volunteers -35 vs. Bowling Green Falcons +35
The Play: TENNESSEE -35
These programs have both, in their own way, become disaster areas, although admittedly to much different degrees, due to much different standards.
Tennessee has gone 20-27 the last four seasons, and the Vols have been used to much better than that. Now they turn to Josh Heupel to see if he can sort things out. And if he gets to follow through, this will be a formidable group, operating at a fast tempo with either of two transfers – Joe Milton or Hendon Hooker. It’s going to require some transition, but this Bowling Green team will be accommodating.
The Falcons don’t stop people much; last year they surrendered 45 points a game and 6.3 yards a carry. They had just one touchdown pass all season long, so it’s likely their stop unit is going to spend a lot of time on the field. Meanwhile, the Vols are actually pretty good on the defensive side, bringing back seven starters for a unit that yielded just 3.7 yards per rush over the last two years.
Bowling Green has dropped nine straight ATS on the road, and they’ve covered just four of 17 in the Scott Loeffler “era.” Lay it.
