Welcome Back to Bolly’s Bets. Last week we got our College Football teaser with a few week 0 games, but now, the wait is finally over. Let’s get into week 1.

West Virginia vs Pittsburgh 

The Backyard Brawl returns after 11 years in a Thursday night matchup between WVU and Pitt. The line for the game currently sits at Pitt -7.5. Both teams will enter this game in a similar position- a new quarterback coming from a big school looking to show their worth. Pitt is coming off an ACC championship from a year ago and has their sights set on a repeat. West Virginia is hoping to rebound from a year without bowl eligibility and will need to hope its defense can pick up where it did last year, despite losing top tacklers from last year. I think this game is going to be close to the spread- decided by 7-10 points, but in this one, I’m going to lean towards the defending ACC champs covering at home. Sorry, WVU diehards, I’m taking Pitt -7.5.

Cincinnati vs Arkansas 

I am not going to sit here and stand on my soap box about how there is a wide gap between Cincinnati and SEC opponents because last year I think Cincinnati beats this Arkansas team… however, we’re playing this year. Cincinnati is playing this game without Desmond Ridder, Sauce Gardner, Coby Bryant, and Alec Pierce. It’s extremely hard to replace three players that went in the first 2 rounds as it is, but being a smaller school makes this an even tougher task. Arkansas is coming in without Treylon Burks, the 18th pick a year ago, but they still have a dominant running game that ranked 7th in the nation last year and only looks to get better. I don’t think Arkansas blows Cincinnati out of the water but I think they cover. Cincinnati simply lost too many players, and with this game happening week 1 I like Arkansas -6… Maybe I love it.

Ohio State vs Notre Dame

I hate everything about this spread. Ohio State is favored by 17.5 half points in a matchup between the number two and five teams in the nation respectively. That’s a lot of points. Ohio State’s offense has the potential to drop 50 points on you in the blink of an eye. CJ Stroud looks to start his Heisman campaign on the right foot while Jaxon Smith-Njigba will look to show he’s the best receiver in the nation. I’m taking Ohio State  -17.5. the potential is just too much not to.

Marshall vs Norfolk State

There are no current lines available for Marshall vs Norfolk State.

Zach Bollinger is a co-host of the Fratletes Podcast.

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