Week 2 College Football Off the Radar Best Bets

I think I might have to a little further off the radar with my picks since last week’s selections didn’t work out. I did nail the Coastal Carolina game, though, backing the Chanticleers at +14.5 in their matchup with UCLA. Coastal kept it close eventually falling 27-13 getting the cover win by half a point. And just in case you were wondering if half a point was really that important, well that game was a classic example.

I didn’t expect so much offense in Stanford’s win over Hawai’i and I had the South Alabama Jaguars pegged as a possible upset contender. Those games didn’t work out for me so it’s back to the drawing board with a deeper dive on the college football betting lines ahead of Week 2. It will also help handicapping games now that teams have played at least one contest. We can actually get a better idea of just how good – or bad – they actually are. You can’t always make a fair assessment after one game, but it’s much better than going in blind. It’s time to take at look at Week 2 football odds to see where we can make some money going under the radar.

James Madison Dukes at Virginia Cavaliers ( +7 )

Sometimes emotion alone is enough for a team to overcome whatever obstacles the opponent puts in front of them. And there will be plenty of emotion when the Virginia Cavaliers host JMU on Saturday. The school will pay tribute to the lives lost in a shooting last year and this is the first UVA home game since that day. One survivor of the shooting RB Mike Hollins returned to the field for the Cavs in last week’s 49-13 loss at Tennessee. It wasn’t so much about the outcome as it was getting back on the field for Hollins and the team. And the score was what most expected.

Things are a little different this week. The Cavs have that first game out of the way and they get a home matchup against James Madison as a 7-point dog on the college football betting line. There were some good things that happened in the loss. The Cavs didn’t turn the ball over and committed just two penalties. They showed discipline in the first game and that’s something that typically can carry over. The Dukes transitioned to the FBS just last year and have been successful going 8-3 in 2022 and opening the new season with a 38-3 win over FCS Bucknell.

Texas State Bobcats ( +13 ) at UT San Antonio Roadrunners

Either the Texas State Bobcats are much better than people think or the Baylor Bears are highly overrated. I’m kinda thinking it’s a mixture of both. Catching 27-points in last week’s trip to Waco, the Bobcats stunned Baylor 42-31 for their first win over a Power 5 program. T.J. Finley tossed the first of his three scoring passes midway through the first quarter giving the Bobcats a 7-6 lead and they never trailed after that. Finley was 22 of 30 for 298 yards adding one of the team’s three rushing TDs. The balanced offense produced 441 total yards scoring on six of eight possessions after an initial three-and-0ut.

Texas State has over 70 newcomers on the roster and the team played a near flawless game. UTSA, meanwhile, got off to a bad start losing to Houston 17-14 as a 2-point favorite on the NCAA football betting line. I don’t think we saw the best of Frank Harris, who threw for just 209 yards and was intercepted three times. The Roadrunners did amass over 200 rushing yards and compiled over 400 total yards but the turnovers proved costly. We will see a better version of UTSA this week, but the Bobcats can bring it and their offense will keep the game within the 13-point spread.

Air Force Falcons at Sam Houston State Bearkats ( O 37.5 )

Sam Houston State has yet to score as a member of the FBS, which could be a reason why the total for their matchup with Air Force is so low. In fact, the number seems too low for my liking. The Falcons can run the ball with the best and that style of play can lead to lower scoring games, especially with the new timing rules. That becomes a moot point when you bust big plays. AFA had two scoring runs of more than 25 yards and an 84-yard TD pass in its 42-7 win over Robert Morris. And I expect the Bearkats will dent the scoreboard eventually, maybe as soon as this week, in which case betting the OVER on the NCAAF odds of 37.5 looks like a steal.

Check out the latest college football betting odds at Caesars Sportsbook.