NCAAF Odds: Boise State and Virginia Tech
An exciting opening week of college football betting concludes Monday evening in Landover, MD, with a dandy top-10 matchup between Boise State and Virginia Tech. The game is being played an a neutral site on the turf at FedEx Field, but it should have the feel of a Hokies home game with their campus less than 300 miles away. ESPN brings all the action to your home with an 8 p.m. Eastern kickoff.
What do Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Miami, USC, Penn State, Florida State, and LSU have in common? Well, they’ve all been among the elite programs in college football for quite some time.
Know what else ties these schools together? Boise State, of the lowly Western Athletic Conference, was ranked ahead of all of them in the preseason AP poll.
No. 3 Boise State begins an improbable quest for a national title when it takes on No. 10 Virginia Tech at FedExField in Landover on Monday night (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Improbable in the sense that the Broncos come from the WAC, play on blue smurf turf, and aren’t one of the big boys from the power conferences. Looking at what it did last season, and considering it brings back 17 starters, Boise State is definitely in the mix for the national championship.
First up is a tough matchup against the Hokies, who also have national title aspirations of their own as the best team in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Virginia Tech has the benefit of playing a virtual home game on Monday night, something that has been lost in the shuffle in the biggest game of the week.
It looks like the betting public is catching on to that fact, though. Oddsmakers opened the Broncos as 2½-point favorites on the college football betting odds board, but they had been bet down to -1½ or -2 heading into the weekend.
The total was released at 53 by the oddsmakers, but college football bettors pounded the ‘under’, forcing sports books to adjust. The number is now at 50 or 50½ depending on the outlet.
Boise State has a lot on the line on Monday night, and you have to think its roster continuity will help it in its opener. If the Broncos get past the Hokies, its only real challenge remaining comes on September 25 when Oregon State comes to Idaho.
I don’t see any reason why Boise State’s offense doesn’t start the season firing on all cylinders. Quarterback Kellen Moore is a Heisman Trophy candidate after putting up the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in NCAA history last season when he tossed 39 TDs to go along with only three picks.
The Broncos put up 42.2 points per game to tie it with Houston for tops in the country last season, and all the big targets are back, including wide receivers Austin Pettis, Titus Young, and Tyler Shoemaker, tight end Tommy Gallarda, and tailback Jeremy Avery.
For Virginia Tech to keep pace on Monday night, it might to have to go blow-for-blow with Boise State, and that’s no easy task.
The Hokies went 10-3 SU and 8-5 ATS last season behind a stellar defense that ranked ninth in scoring defense (15.6 PPG) and 11th against the pass (167.1 YPG), but seven starters are gone from that unit.
If this matchup took place later in the season, especially if it was played in Blacksburg or on a neutral site, I’d side with Virginia Tech as short underdogs. But given the uncertainties surrounding the Hokies’ defense in a showdown with what’s sure to be one of the best offenses in the land, you have to take the Broncos.
If Virginia Tech leaned on its defense last season, it’ll depend on its offense this fall. QB Tyrod Taylor threw for 2,311 yards to go along with 370 yards on the ground last season, as the Hokies finished second in the ACC with 31.8 PPG.
Taylor has all of his best receivers from last season at his disposal. Jarrett Boykin, Danny Coale, and Dyrell Roberts combined for 10 TDs last year.
Virginia Tech’s run offense figures to be one the best in the nation, and if it covers on Monday night, it’s because it took advantage of a Boise State run defense that struggled against elite runners at times last season.
Running back Ryan Williams broke teammate Darren Evans’ ACC rookie record with 1,655 rushing yards last season, and also racked up 21 TDs on the ground. Evans, who posted 1,265 rushing yards in 2008 as a freshman, is back after missing all of last season with an ACL tear in his knee.
An exciting opening week of college football betting concludes Monday evening in Landover, MD, with a dandy top-10 matchup between Boise State and Virginia Tech. The game is being played an a neutral site on the turf at FedEx Field, but it should have the feel of a Hokies home game with their campus less than 300 miles away. ESPN brings all the action to your home with an 8 p.m. Eastern kickoff.
What do Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Miami, USC, Penn State, Florida State, and LSU have in common? Well, they’ve all been among the elite programs in college football for quite some time.
Know what else ties these schools together? Boise State, of the lowly Western Athletic Conference, was ranked ahead of all of them in the preseason AP poll.
No. 3 Boise State begins an improbable quest for a national title when it takes on No. 10 Virginia Tech at FedExField in Landover on Monday night (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Improbable in the sense that the Broncos come from the WAC, play on blue smurf turf, and aren’t one of the big boys from the power conferences. Looking at what it did last season, and considering it brings back 17 starters, Boise State is definitely in the mix for the national championship.
First up is a tough matchup against the Hokies, who also have national title aspirations of their own as the best team in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Virginia Tech has the benefit of playing a virtual home game on Monday night, something that has been lost in the shuffle in the biggest game of the week.
It looks like the betting public is catching on to that fact, though. Oddsmakers opened the Broncos as 2½-point favorites on the college football betting odds board, but they had been bet down to -1½ or -2 heading into the weekend.
The total was released at 53 by the oddsmakers, but college football bettors pounded the ‘under’, forcing sports books to adjust. The number is now at 50 or 50½ depending on the outlet.
Boise State has a lot on the line on Monday night, and you have to think its roster continuity will help it in its opener. If the Broncos get past the Hokies, its only real challenge remaining comes on September 25 when Oregon State comes to Idaho.
I don’t see any reason why Boise State’s offense doesn’t start the season firing on all cylinders. Quarterback Kellen Moore is a Heisman Trophy candidate after putting up the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in NCAA history last season when he tossed 39 TDs to go along with only three picks.
The Broncos put up 42.2 points per game to tie it with Houston for tops in the country last season, and all the big targets are back, including wide receivers Austin Pettis, Titus Young, and Tyler Shoemaker, tight end Tommy Gallarda, and tailback Jeremy Avery.
For Virginia Tech to keep pace on Monday night, it might to have to go blow-for-blow with Boise State, and that’s no easy task.
The Hokies went 10-3 SU and 8-5 ATS last season behind a stellar defense that ranked ninth in scoring defense (15.6 PPG) and 11th against the pass (167.1 YPG), but seven starters are gone from that unit.
If this matchup took place later in the season, especially if it was played in Blacksburg or on a neutral site, I’d side with Virginia Tech as short underdogs. But given the uncertainties surrounding the Hokies’ defense in a showdown with what’s sure to be one of the best offenses in the land, you have to take the Broncos.
If Virginia Tech leaned on its defense last season, it’ll depend on its offense this fall. QB Tyrod Taylor threw for 2,311 yards to go along with 370 yards on the ground last season, as the Hokies finished second in the ACC with 31.8 PPG.
Taylor has all of his best receivers from last season at his disposal. Jarrett Boykin, Danny Coale, and Dyrell Roberts combined for 10 TDs last year.
Virginia Tech’s run offense figures to be one the best in the nation, and if it covers on Monday night, it’s because it took advantage of a Boise State run defense that struggled against elite runners at times last season.
Running back Ryan Williams broke teammate Darren Evans’ ACC rookie record with 1,655 rushing yards last season, and also racked up 21 TDs on the ground. Evans, who posted 1,265 rushing yards in 2008 as a freshman, is back after missing all of last season with an ACL tear in his knee.
