College Football Picks Against the Spread: Week 2 Predictions

From Week 1 to Week 2 is always bound to be the most popular time for college football bettors to overreact to what they saw in a team’s opening game, and my college football ATS picks reflect what was meaningful and what can be looked past from last week’s action.

I offer my top seven ATS wagers for Saturday's Week 2 slate, while I provide more in-depth analysis for several of the matchups that have noon ET kickoffs.

🏈 College football picks against the spread: Week 2 ATS predictions

See all of our experts' college football picks for Week 1 based on the latest college football odds.

💰 My best ATS picks for Week 2

Oklahoma State +22.5 (-108 via DraftKings)

This wager is not meant to be disrespectful to Oregon after its close call against Boise State, as I happen to think the Broncos will be a formidable team this year. Backing the home underdog is more about the value we’re getting after they fell flat in a 24-10 road loss to Tulsa.

Oklahoma State was always going to be a difficult team to handicap in its first season under head coach Eric Morris, as he brought in the largest number of transfers among FBS schools, 19 from North Texas. But Cowboys quarterback Drew Mestemaker still led FBS quarterbacks in passing yards and finished tied for second in passing touchdowns last season. A revamped offensive line should also gel better after allowing 10 hurries.

I love the situational spot for Oklahoma State, who should catch Oregon napping in an early noon kickoff. Also, since 2021, top 25 teams that did not cover the spread in Week 1 are 16-29-1 ATS in Week 2, and are 13-25-1 ATS when favored.

Temple +24 (-108 via Caesars)

This is another noon kickoff where the home underdog should be much more fired up to play. Penn State covered the 23.5-point spread easily in Week 1 with a 45-0 shutout win over Marshall, but a look at some underlying metrics suggests the victory wasn’t as dominant.

Without factoring in the late stages when the game was out of hand, the Nittany Lions totaled just a 42.1% rushing success rate in non-garbage time. They had just one explosive run (a carry of 10-plus yards) among their 44 carries, and none in the first three quarters. 

Old Dominion +18.5 (-108 via FanDuel)

After Virginia Tech’s “Enter Sandman” entrance went viral prior to waxing VMI 73-3 to kick off the James Franklin era, it is easy to buy into the new head coach’s ability to immediately turn the school’s fortunes around. But I’ve seen Franklin’s teams fall flat way too often at his previous stops, and Old Dominion would love a solid performance to add its name to the top tier of non-power conference Virginia schools after last week’s Liberty vs. James Madison clash.

Old Dominion brought back 58% of its defensive production from a unit that finished last year in the top 50 in SP+, which helped the Monarchs finish second in the Sun Belt East. That should help neutralize Hokies running back Marcellous Hawkins Jr., who went off for 173 yards and five touchdowns on 21 carries last week.

Florida International -9.5 alternate spread (-128 via DraftKings)

I didn’t grab this number quickly enough at -10 and it since drifted out to -10.5, which is why I’m playing the alternate spread and bringing the line under the key number of -10.

FIU had no business losing by 10 points to South Florida last week after nearly doubling the Bulls’ total yardage output and averaging 1.4 more yards per play. But the Panthers were undone by three turnovers via fumbles and interceptions and four more drives that ended on turnovers on downs. 

Though Buffalo is 1-0, it was an unimpressive four-point victory over an FCS school that committed 10 penalties.