Week 2 of the 2018 college football season is upon us. As bettors size up this week’s action, consider five interesting trends that might help you in your thought process. Let’s take a look at five college football betting trends for Week 2.
Fresno State has the nation’s longest cover streak, at six games.
Coach Jeff Tedford has a history as a quarterback guru, having mentored Joey Harrington at Oregon in 2001 and then Aaron Rodgers at California when he was the head coach in Berkeley. Yet, Tedford’s biggest change since he took over Fresno State last year was to improve the Bulldogs’ defense. That is how they became a covering machine. The Bulldogs might have lost a few times, but they did not let games completely unravel. They always seem to play tough football, which is the key to covering.
As Fresno State prepares to play Minnesota – a team which has a freshman quarterback under center – the Bulldogs should feel good about their chances. Minnesota did not look so hot in their opening – especially passing the ball. Even though they’ve won 11 of their last 13 as a favorite, they have only covered five of those games.
Colorado State has the nation’s longest ATS losing streak at nine straight games.
This team looks like a disaster and one you want to keep betting against until the oddsmakers adjust. They were a 17-point favorite against Hawaii and lost outright (by nine points). Hawaii appears to be better than anyone expected, so let’s give them a freebie. But then Colorado State was smoked 45-13 against rival Colorado – another game where the spread (+7) proved to be way off. The Rams showed zero improvements against a Colorado team which is supposed to finish close to the bottom of the Pac-12 South Division. Colorado State’s defense has not shown up in either of its two games, so against an Arkansas passing attack coached by Chad Morris – one of the better passing game coaches in the country – Colorado State appears to be in for a rough ride. Bettors are adjusting as we’ve already seen this line climb. It opened at -11.5 and is now at -14.
Wisconsin is 0-5 ATS in its last five games in which it has been favored by at least 28 points.
This is a streak waiting to be broken. The Badgers are going up against New Mexico, a team whose coach, Bob Davie, got into trouble for his conduct with players and how he handled the program over the past offseason. New Mexico is not particularly strong on defense and is exactly the kind of team Wisconsin should be able to push around with its powerful offensive linemen. New Mexico might quit on Davie later in the season, and in this game, as soon as things go bad for the Lobos.
Related: College Football Betting Guide
The Badgers were close last week, winning 34-3 in a game where they were favored by 35.5. This could be the week they snap this trend.
UNLV has opened up as a 23-point favorite over UTEP. UNLV hadn’t been favored by at least 21 points since October 21, 2000, when it was favored by 22 points over Wyoming.
This line might seem crazy given how little success UNLV has had on the field in recent years but UTEP is atrocious. The Miners didn’t just lose to FCS member Northern Arizona at home in Week 1. They got blown out and were barely able to generate any offense. UNLV, on the other hand, pushed USC hard for two and a half quarters until losing ground in the final 20-to-25 minutes of this past Saturday’s game. This definitely does line up as a game UNLV should be able to win by a very big margin.
Ohio State has opened up as a 33.5-point favorite over Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights have played Ohio State four times in the Big Ten and have been outscored 219-24 in those games, losing by at least 39 in each.
The stats don’t lie with Ohio State and Rutgers. What is more relevant to this game is that Ohio State’s offense looked very, very fluid and efficient in Week 1 in a runaway over Oregon State. The Ohio State defense showed signs of weakness, but the offense is very likely to score in the high 50s at the very least. If the Buckeyes do that, Rutgers will have to score in the high 20s to cover the spread. Ohio State has better athletes at every position and will be hard to bet against in this contest.
