College Football Best Bets for Week 2: Expert Picks & Predictions

College football betting at this time of year requires deciphering what and what not to overreact to from the season openers, and my college football best bets for Week 2 back several plays where the lines have moved too much over the week based on just one team’s performance.

My college football Week 2 predictions involve an ACC and SEC school’s chances of covering big spreads, while my other two plays back Overs (yes, Overs!) in games involving service academies.

🏈 College football best bets & expert picks: Week 2

See all of our experts' college football picks for Week 2 based on the latest college football odds.

Total wagered: 4 units | Max profit: +3.64 units

💰 Best college football bets this week

Richmond +32.5 (-113 via Caesars)

NC State’s ugly 34-8 loss to Virginia is not something I am turning a blind eye to from Week 1. The Wolfpack dropped 10 spots in the SP+ rankings as a result of the loss.

NC State was outgained by 245 yards, lost the turnover battle by two, and possessed the football for 16 fewer minutes. CJ Bailey was the ACC’s best returning quarterback in terms of Total QBR, but his 84 passing yards on 12 completions suggests he has a long way to go before being in sync with a new receiving corps.

This was always going to be a tough situational spot for the Wolfpack, who travel to SEC country to face Vanderbilt next week. That’s why I expect NC State to overlook this FCS foe who is likely to crack the top 25 at some point, and I’d play this number down to +28.5.

South Florida-Army Over 45.5 (-110 via bet365)

Games involving service academies are often linked to Unders given how much a triple-option attack can bleed a clock. But that is usually more prevalent when those schools play each other, and there’s plenty of reason to believe a shootout is on hand in this early kickoff. 

Army is coming off a win where it rushed for 569 yards, the fourth-most in program history. It’s the opposite on the South Florida side, who logged the fewest total yards (208) in a win by a team from the American since 2014. But while South Florida was one of four American Conference teams that didn’t return a single passing yard from last year’s roster, Bulls quarterback Michael Van Buren was efficient with his limited 18 pass attempts last week.  

Southern Miss +33.5 (-110 via FanDuel)

Auburn stopped Baylor’s game-winning two-point conversion at the one-yard line in a thrilling non-conference win last week, and hosts Florida in its SEC opener next week. To say that this game against Southern Miss has “trap spot” written all over it is an understatement.

Southern Miss head coach Charles Huff has done an outstanding job immediately turning around Southern Miss after leaving Marshall in just two short years. The Golden Eagles went from 1-11 and 133rd in SP+ to 7-6 and 94th in SP+ last year. 

No roster had less returning production and more roster turnover from a year ago than Southern Miss, but that also made the oddsmakers’ jobs that much more difficult to analyze the Golden Eages off just a 49-3 win over Alcorn State.

North Dakota State-Air Force Over 47.5 (-108 via DraftKings)

North Dakota State has burst onto the FBS scene, and now owns the highest probability of making the College Football Playoff from any Group of Six school (12.6%).

These are two defenses that were projected to finish 67th or worse in defensive SP+ prior to the season. Air Force’s defense in particular has been trending the wrong direction for two straight years, finishing 76th and 101st in defensive SP+ following four straight years of being in the top 30.

I also like the Falcons’ scoring chances, as they averaged 31 points per game in the eight games in which Liam Szarka saw at least 40 snaps last season. By comparison, in the other three games against FBS opponents where he did not, that points per game average plummeted to 20.3.