College Football Betting Trends: Underdogs Dominate Against the Spread in Week 0

Reed Wallach | Aug 26, 2024

Aug 24, 2024; Dublin, IRL; Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King passes the ball against Florida State at Aviva Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tom Maher/INPHO via USA TODAY Sports / Tom Maher/INPHO via USA TODAY Sports

With a condensed slate on Saturday’s Week 0, there was plenty of betting action flying around on the four game card. 

Well, with one Saturday in the books, the dogs are surely barking. Each underdog in the four Week 0 games covered the spread in resounding fashion, covering by an average 16.25 points with an outright winner to boot. 

College football underdogs go 4-0 ATS in Week 0:

Georgia Tech +10.5✅
New Mexico +13.5✅
Nevada +28✅
Delaware State +40.5✅

— Ben Fawkes (@BFawkes22) August 25, 2024

A 4-0 start to the season is a big one for underdog bettors, especially at big point spreads, but the big news is Georgia Tech’s upset of Florida State in Dublin, Ireland to kick off the season. 

After an opening drive touchdown for both teams, the Yellow Jackets defense stymied the FSU run game and the Seminoles offense sputtered when forced into a negative game script. After a game winning field goal drive, Georgia Tech announced itself as an upper-tier ACC team while FSU’s first regular season loss in more than a year is a shocking blow to start the season. 

After an undefeated regular season in 2023 and an ACC title, the conference favorites Seminoles showed that in the transfer portal era of college football, quick fixes aren’t so easy to come by. After the loss, Florida State fell to +600 to win the ACC, tied for the third choice and behind both Clemson and Miami. 

Further, SMU struggled out west against Nevada as a near-four touchdown favorite, showing that the ACC futures market may be mispriced after a small sample.

While each game is unique, it was a big start for the underdogs in college football, for odds on every game this coming weekend in Week 1, check out the odds here!

2024 ACC Championship Odds

• Clemson: +290
• Miami (Florida): +350
• Florida State: +600
• NC State: +600
• Louisville: +850
• Virginia Tech: +950
• SMU: +1200
• Georgia Tech: +3000
• North Carolina: +3500
• Syracuse: +4000
• Pittsburgh: +8500
• California: +10000
• Duke: +17000
• Boston College: +20000
• Virginia: +25000
• Wake Forest: +32000
• Stanford: +50000

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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