Our Favorite College Football Combos for Week 1

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There's no shortage of options for making college football combos with Week 1 getting underway on Thursday night.

Our college football picks are here to help you sort through the contenders and pretenders and present the best value on the board.

See why Utah will wallop Idaho tonight, and much more.

Best college football combos for Week 1

For help understanding probabilities, please see our odds calculator.

Thursday, Sept. 3

Best Akron vs Wake Forest combo

The Zips are just 13-35 straight up in head coach Joe Moorhead's four years in charge and 6-10 against the spread (ATS) in non-conference games. During Moorhead's tenure, the Zips are 0-9 ATS as underdogs of 23 points or more against Power 4 opponents. 

Furthermore, Akron lost 42 "portal starts" this offseason and only added six, per college football analyst Phil Steele. This is a growing trend in the NIL/transfer portal era where the best players from smaller conferences get poached by bigger programs. 

Since 2019, Wake Forest is 14-6 ATS as a double-digit favorite, including 2-1 ATS last year in Jake Dickert's first season. Again, I prefer the Under 48.5, but the Demon Deacons will dominate the trenches Thursday, which is the most predictive aspect of football. 

Check out our full Akron vs. Wake Forest predictions. 

Best Colorado vs Georgia Tech combo

Although Tech is starting a new QB in Mendoza and has a new offensive coordinator in George Godsey, the physical run game that has been Key's calling card in Atlanta should remain.

Haynes is one of the top backs in the country when he's healthy, and the Buffaloes' defense has only two players in its two-deep that aren't new to the program.

The coordinator — Chris Marve — is also new. That could lead to communication problems against an offense likely to be 12-personnel heavy.

But Colorado can score some points of its own with its talent at receiver and Georgia Tech's problems on the back end last season — the Yellow Jackets were 114th in EPA per pass on defense. 

Check out our full Colorado vs. Georgia Tech predictions. 

Best Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs Missouri combo

Mizzou winning by 55+ points and this game staying Under is threading a needle, so to speak.

Meanwhile, the trends support an Over: The Golden Lions are 4-0 to the Over in their last four games as an underdog, and the Over is 6-2 in Mizzou's last eight games as a home favorite. 

Also, even though I expect Missouri's defense to put its best foot forward in Week 1, it will have a bunch of new players on the field. Plus, its backups will be on the field in the second half if there is a 40+ point margin, and maybe Arkansas-Pine Bluff hits on a few trick plays since it has nothing to lose. 

Check out our full Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. Missouri predictions. 

Best Idaho vs Utah combo

Utah has had no shame about destroying smaller programs as of late. Since 2021, the Utes have beaten five non-FBS programs by an average margin of 43 points. In three of those games, they were favored by more than 35 points and covered in all three.

The average final total in those five games was 59.2, and Utah scored at least 49 points in all three contests in which it was favored by more than 35. With Dampier leading the offense, I'm projecting a similar outcome with a 52-10 win for Utah. 

Check out our full Idaho vs. Utah predictions. 

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