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College Football Matchup Betting Odds: Who Wins More Regular Season Games

by Mike Allen - 8/10/2023

College football matchup betting odds Hunter Dekkers Iowa State

The 2023 College Football Regular Season is rapidly approaching! It won't be much longer until Saturday, August 26.

Navy and Notre Dame, a rivalry game seemingly as old as time, will get us started. After that, we won't be able to come up for air until 2024.

Y'all ready?

Football is essentially American, and the college game, even with all the player turnover, continues to produce more passionate fans than the pros can even hope for.

For every member of the Buffalo Bills Mafia, there are at least 10 kids from the University of West Virginia ready and willing to burn down your marching band bus. Ah, the memories…Go Hokies!

Today, I wanted to give you guys some fun betting odds on which teams will win more games in the 2023 College Football Regular Season. Online sportsbooks have several different ways to attack CFB futures betting.

Doc’s Sports offers college football picks for every game on our college football predictions page.

Iowa State Cyclones (-130) vs Cal Bears (-110)

When the sportsbooks give us betting odds like this, you will see people go with the underdog at plus money or, in this case, the slightly more affordable betting odds of (-110).

That has never been my style of betting. I like the small favorites, especially if they have moved from underdog to betting favorite. That said, let's check the regular season schedules for each team.

The Iowa State Cyclones are a Big 12 team that will travel to Norman, Oklahoma, for a matchup opposite the Sooners but will host the Texas Longhorns late in the season. That's it, though, for 2023 opponents in the Preseason Coaches Poll top 25.

As for the California Golden Bears, they will be playing in the harder conference. The Pac-12 has several stud teams ranked inside the top 15, including the Oregon Ducks, Utah Utes, and the USC Trojans.

On top of that, they have to play a nonconference game early in the year opposite the Auburn Tigers. The under 5.5 wins for Cal is juiced up to (-170).

Both schools should miss the Playoff, but I'll take the affordable betting favorite with the significantly softer schedule.

Pick: Iowa State Cyclones

USC Trojans (-135) vs Penn State Nittany Lions (-105)

Hey, these betting odds are very similar to our first play, but the teams couldn't be any more different.

The Trojans of Southern California are projected to win the Pac-12 as well as contend for a National Championship. I like their chances mostly because I love their quarterback.

DC-born Caleb Williams transferred in from Oklahoma for his sophomore year last season. He won the Heisman Trophy in his first season playing for the Trojans. He also set a school record of 52 total touchdowns, 42 of which were through the air.

Not only are those big numbers, of course, but I love the ratio of 4-1 passing to rushing touchdowns.

Southern Cal will have a proportionally pedestrian start to the 2023 College Football Regular Season. They face a furious finish, though, when they will play Utah, Notre Dame, Washington, and Oregon over five weeks.

What about the Penn State Nittany Lions, though? They are currently sitting at 7th in the Preseason Coaches Poll, one spot behind the aforementioned Trojans.

Instead of playing four preseason Top 25 teams like USC, Penn State has just two games scheduled against ranked teams at the moment. They are two absolute titans, though, each with a good chance to win the National Championship.

Michigan and Ohio State will most likely get the W over Penn State. It's a close bet, and the odds reflect that, but I still see value in the Trojans winning more games than Penn State.

There is still the possibility of a push as well, which won't break our hearts. That's a refundable wager that will last us months.

Pick: USC Trojans

In Conclusion

Here are some different betting options if the over/unders aren't your style. A lot of those lines have already been steamed, though. This stinks, but it still points us in the right direction to make money with the matchup odds.

We really like the Trojans and the Cycones, respectively.

Cheers to USC and Iowa State to outplay the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Golden Bears of Cal!

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