College Football 2022
After seven long months without college football, the sport finally returns on August 27. Week One officially begins on Thursday, September 1 and nothing says football is back like looking at those Week One spreads and point totals for all the games at joker casino.
West Virginia and Pittsburgh kick things off with their rivalry being renewed for the first time since 2011. Pitt had a great 2021 behind Kenny Pickett’s amazing senior season, but his departure is sure to set the Panthers back a bit. Meanwhile, West Virginia brings in QB JT Daniels, a former five-star recruit who had previous stops at USC and Georgia. Pittsburgh is favored by seven at home, but taking West Virginia +7 may be the smart move.
Penn State and Purdue open conference play right out of the gates on Thursday, September 1. The Nittany Lions are three-point favorites on the road, but the Boilermakers have high expectations for 2022. Purdue finished in the top-25 last season and is looking to build off that this year behind their stud quarterback Aidan O’Connell. Meanwhile, Penn State struggled down the stretch with Sean Clifford at QB and are running it back with him at the helm this year. Purdue +3 at home looks like a great line to take.
Cincinnati is fresh off a trip to the College Football Playoff, a first for a non-power five school, and are starting their 2022 with a road trip to an SEC foe in Arkansas. Vegas is clearly still not sold on Cincinnati as a legitimate power because they are seven-point underdogs to the Razorbacks. Arkansas had a solid 2021 as well, finishing in the top-25 after beating Penn State during bowl season. Still, seven points feels like too big of a cushion against a defending playoff team.
The Oregon Ducks lost their coach during the offseason and now begin their 2022 season with a cross-country trip to the defending champion Georgia Bulldogs. Oregon has been a consistently strong football program, but they are 17.5-point dogs to Georgia, which feels more than fair. The Bulldogs took down Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide in the championship game and now begin their repeat effort at home. Expect Georgia to prove last season wasn’t a fluke with a statement blowout win to open the year.
Speaking of cross-country trips, Utah is traveling to Florida in a battle of former Urban Meyer-led schools. The Utes are coming off their first Pac-12 title ever and look to start 2022 with a statement road win against an SEC powerhouse. The Gators struggled in 2021 as they finished below .500 and replaced head coach Dan Mullen with Billy Napier. Utah is a road favorite, but despite the disparity in the schools’ 2021 success, Florida as underdog at home against a traveling west coast school is very tempting to take.
The biggest game of Week One is Notre Dame at Ohio State. The Irish are in a bit of a transition phase as they introduce a new head coach and a new quarterback this season. On the other sideline, Ohio State will send out Heisman contender CJ Stroud at quarterback. Ryan Day is 34-4 as head coach at Ohio State, but his Buckeyes missed out on the playoff last year for the first time since 2018. The Buckeyes are hefty 15-point favorites, but their major head coach/QB advantage makes that a line well worth taking.
Notre Dame’s former coach found a new home in Baton Rouge as the lead man at LSU. The Tigers will welcome Florida State to Death Valley on Sunday September 4. The Seminoles have been in a free fall as a program, failing to finish above .500 in every season since 2017. Florida State should finally see some stability with Mike Norvell entering his third season at the school and QB Jordan Travis entering his fifth collegiate season overall. Still, LSU as just three-point favorites in Death Valley is too good to pass up.
Finally, on Labor Day Clemson will open ACC play with a road trip to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech. The Tigers are coming off a down year for their standards, failing to finish the season in the AP top-four for the first time since 2014. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech is just 9-25 in their last three seasons and expectations aren’t high for this to be the season they turn things around. Welcoming an angry Clemson team looking to prove that last season was a fluke is not an ideal way to open the year. The Tigers are big 21-point favorites, and that may end up looking far too small once this game is over.
