Although the end of August marks the end of summer, it also means it’s the beginning of football season. We’ll get a tiny sampler of action this Saturday as the season kicks off but the main course comes next Thursday through Monday. At any rate, let’s focus on the two lined games on the board (there are four games in total) and highlight the five most important college football betting trends from these contests.
Hawaii is 3-12 ATS in its last 15 conference games
Gone are the days of quality in Hawaii football. Since June Jones left, this team has been nothing short of unreliable. We see that even more so in conference play where the Rainbow Warriors have turned those smiles upside down, failing to cover in 12 of their last 15 Mountain West games. The concern is that they weren’t even close in many of those games. Of their nine losses last year, seven were by 10 or more and the two misses were by seven points. That’s a concern if you’re betting them on the spread.
Hawaii is trending in the wrong direction
One of the biggest storylines entering this contest is the status of head coach Nick Rolovich. Of course, nobody is going to fire him after this game but his Rainbow Warriors are trending in the wrong direction. Hawaii was 7-7 in his first season and won a bowl game. They regressed to just 3-9 last year while going 1-7 in conference play. They started the year 2-0 and then lost nine of their last 10. Another three- or four-win season is likely to do him in. The challenge is that not much is expected of him in this spot as the Warriors are a two-touchdown underdog. However, pulling a surprise here would give his job security an incredible boost.
Related: How to bet on college football
Colorado State has owned Hawaii
Being a conference game, we have some series history that we can rely upon for evidence. Colorado State has been the better of the two teams lately and it shows. They’ve won and covered four straight meetings between the teams at home. Looking at the series in all venues, they have won seven of the last eight meetings between the teams and covered six of those contests. Given the two-touchdown spread, the oddsmakers are at least expecting that straight up trend to continue.
Wyoming is not a good road favorite
The Wyoming Cowboys are laying 3.5 to 4 points on the road in New Mexico State but it’s worth noting that they aren’t a good road favorite. They are just 2-9 ATS in their last 11 as a road favorite of 3.5 to 7 points. In general, they have covered just 10 of their last 32 times as a road favorite.
New Mexico State has surprised in non-conference games
Although the general perception is that New Mexico State should get shredded in non-conference games, they’ve done a decent job of covering. They have covered eight of their last nine non-conference contests.
