By @Vegas_Matty
Penn State might be the best team in the Big Ten again this season, but they will get their biggest test of the young season Saturday when they visit the Iowa Hawkeyes. Penn State and Michigan are both trying to take advantage of an early season loss by the Ohio State Buckeyes, and each of them is listed as a double-digit road favorite at BetOnline.AG this week. The Nittany Lions have allowed just two touchdowns through three games, and they opened as 14-point road favorites against the Hawkeyes before dipping down to the current number of -13. Penn State is coming off a 52-0 rout of the Akron Zips, the school’s second shutout of the season.
Meanwhile, Michigan opened eight-point chalk at Purdue, but that’s ticked up to -9½. Whether or not Michigan stays there remains to be seen, especially since Purdue has looked impressive winning two in a row after falling to the Louisville Cardinals in their season opener. The Wolverines are 1-2 against the spread this season.
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Speaking of Louisville, Lamar Jackson’s bid for a Heisman Trophy repeat took a serious hit Saturday in his team’s 47-21 home loss to the defending national champion Clemson Tigers. Jackson’s final stat line didn’t look bad, but most of his numbers came once the game had already been determined. This week, Louisville opened -35 at home against Kent, and the number has skyrocketed to -39 with many expecting a rebound performance.
Clemson moved up to No. 2 in the polls with that big win, and it is looking more and more like this team could win a third consecutive ACC title and make it back to the College Football Playoff to defend its national title. Like the Cardinals, the Tigers are huge home favorites this week, with the public backing them in early action. Clemson opened as 31.5-point chalk against the Boston College Eagles at BetOnline.AG, and that number has already climbed to -34.
Two more high-profile schools that have seen minimal line movement on their games so far are the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans. The former suffered a 48-45 loss to the Memphis Tigers (Bet The Board gave out Memphis plus the points on their College Football podcast), while the latter nearly lost at home to the Texans Longhorns but held on for a 27-24 overtime victory.
The Bruins now visit a Stanford Cardinal team coming off a 20-17 road loss to the San Diego State Aztecs as touchdown plus road dogs. The Trojans also head to the northern part of the state to take on the California Golden Bears as 16-point favorites after opening -17½.
In Week 3 of the NFL, it didn’t take the New England Patriots long to bounce back from a disappointing season opener and regain the respect of oddsmakers. BetOnline.AG opened the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots 11-point home favorites hosting the Houston Texans – and that’s now out to -13½. Each team is coming off-road wins following home losses, with New England muscling its way to a 36-20 rout of the New Orleans Saints. Houston will have some extra rest heading into this one after edging the Cincinnati Bengals, 13-9 on Thursday Night football.
The Bengals look like they will be starting the season 0-3 as they visit the Green Bay next. The Packers opened as 7½-point home chalk (now -8½), the second-biggest favorite on the board so far along with the unbeaten Pittsburgh Steelers, who also opened -7½ visiting the winless Chicago Bears. Two more notable road favorites in Week 3 include the Oakland Raiders who opened -2½ (now -3) and Seattle Seahawks (opened -3); the latter has seen a drastic movement for their trip to Tennessee as we’ve seen a 5.5-point adjustment with the Titans now favored by 2.5-points.
Week 3 NFL Lines – Monday’s Bet the Board Podcast will discuss NFL opening NFL odds!
Rams -3 @ 49ers
Ravens -4 vs. Jaguars – (London)
Browns -1½ @ Colts
Steelers -7½ @ Bears
Dolphins -6 @ Jets
Broncos -2 @ Bills
Patriots -13½ vs. Texans
Panthers -6 vs. Saints
Buccanneers @ Vikings – N/A (Sam Bradford Status TBD)
Falcons -3½ @ Lions
Eagles -3½ vs. Giants
Titans -2½ vs. Seahawks
Chiefs -2.5 @ Chargers
Packers -8½ vs. Bengals
Raiders -3½ @ Redskins
Cowboys -3½ @ Cardinals
Week 4 College Football Lines
South Florida -20 vs. Temple
Boise State -13½ vs. Virginia
Utah -4½ @ Arizona
Wake Forest -4 @ Appalachian State
Duke -3 @ North Carolina
Michigan -9½ @ Purdue
Georgia Tech -7 vs. Pittsburgh
Penn State -13 @ Iowa
Clemson -34 vs. Boston College
Florida State -12 vs. N.C. State
Georgia -6 vs. Mississippi State
South Carolina -11 vs. Louisiana Tech
Tennessee -26½ vs. Massachusetts
West Virginia -21½ @ Kansas
Florida -2½ @ Kentucky
Maryland -4 vs. Central Florida
Louisville -39 vs. Kent State
Eastern Michigan -2 vs. Ohio
Central Michigan -2 vs. Miami Ohio
Virginia Tech -26½ vs. Old Dominion
Georgia State -3½ @ Charlotte
Indiana -23 vs. Georgia Southern
Buffalo -3½ vs. Florida Atlantic
Nebraska -14 vs. Rutgers
Miami Florida -13½ vs. Toledo
Washington -10 @ Colorado
New Mexico State -18 vs. UTEP
Navy -11½ vs. Cincinnati
Ohio State -39 vs. UNLV
Notre Dame -3½ @ Michigan State
Wyoming -7 vs. Hawaii
Tulsa -13 vs. New Mexico
LSU -23 vs. Syracuse
Troy -15½ vs. Akron
Bowling Green @ Middle Tennessee State – N/A
Auburn -18 @ Missouri
Houston -6 vs. Texas Tech
SMU -4½ vs. Arkansas State
Alabama -18.5 @ Vanderbilt
Tulane -4 vs. Army
Oklahoma State -12 vs. TCU
Western Kentucky -9½ vs. Ball State
North Texas -10 vs. UAB
Texas San Antonio -14 @ Texas State
San Diego State -4½ @ Air Force
Texas A&M -3 vs. Arkansas
Rice -3 vs. Florida International
South Alabama -4 vs. Idaho
UL Monroe @ UL Lafayette – N/A
Oklahoma -26 @ Baylor
USC -16 @ California
Washington State -28 vs. Nevada
Oregon -16½ @ Arizona State
Stanford -7 vs. UCLA
Utah State -3 @ San Jose State
Western Illinois @ Coastal Carolina – N/A
Wagner @ Western Michigan – N/A
Southern Illinois @ Memphis – N/A
Eastern Carolina @ Connecticut – N/A
