Ohio vs. San Diego State odds, spread, lines: Week 0 college football picks, predictions

Game picks and predictions for Ohio vs. San Diego State as we look ahead to the Week 0 college football opener on Saturday

James Parks | Aug 23, 2023

Ohio vs. San Diego State odds, spread, lines: Week 0 college football picks, predictions /

The traditional Week 0 college football schedule kicks things off in the 2023 season on Saturday with a matchup between Ohio and San Diego State, a pair of teams that finished strong a year ago, each on three-game win streaks.

Ohio returns the bulk of a group of skill players that together combined to rank 41st nationally by scoring 31.8 points per game, including especially quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who will return to the field after tearing his ACL late last season. Defensively, the Bobcats are expected to improve from ranking 81st a year ago, allowing 28.3 points per game to opponents and was sixth-worst against the pass.

San Diego State isn't expected to light up the stat sheet throwing the ball, instead leaning on an expert and physical pursuit group near the line defensively to limit opponents from making too many big gains, and looking to run the ball and move chains on a consistent basis.

What do the experts think of the matchup? Let's see how the College Football Power Index computer prediction model projects the game.

Ohio vs. San Diego State picks, predictions

San Diego State's chance of victory: The computers are siding with the home team in the opener, as the Aztecs have the 65.5 percent chance to win the game, according to the index and its 20,000 simulations of the matchup.

Ohio's chance of victory: That leaves the visiting Bobcats with the 34.5 percent shot at the upset, according to the computer simulations.

Point spread: San Diego State comes into the game as close 2.5 point favorites over Ohio, according to the lines at SI Sportsbook.

Total: 49 points

Moneyline: Ohio +115 | SDSU -130

Aztecs predictions: San Diego State appears at No. 89 on the FPI 133 college football rankings, is projected to be 5.4 points worse than an average opponent, and expected to win 6.3 games on the season.

Bobcats predictions: Ohio places No. 94 on the index rankings heading into Week 0, projected to be 6.7 points worse than opponents, and win 7.0 games this year.

How to watch, stream: The game is set for Sat., Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. Eastern and 4 p.m. Pacific on the FS1 network and streams live on fuboTV (Try for free).

College Football Power Index

Football Power Index (FPI) college football rankings and computer prediction model are a measure of team strength that predicts a team’s future performance.

Rankings and scores predictions are based on 20,000 simulations of a team’s season, using a combination of analytics, including scores to date, quality of opponents, and a team’s schedule.

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