A quick look at Week 1 College Football betting lines

Earlier this week, we talked about the Pac-12 revealing start times for five of WSU’s 2018 games. In another sign that college football is fast approaching, the odds-makers in Vegas have begun placing lines on the opening week slate. Since it’s June, and there isn’t anything else to talk about, let’s take a look at the matchups and initial leans.

Caveat: The Gamble-Tron is still sitting in the shed on the back 40, and has not yet begun to start spitting out losers predictions. These will simply serve as early projections.

Colorado State (+6.5/-110) vs. Colorado (-6.5/-110): I’ve thought CSU would win this the last two years. They didn’t. I won’t get fooled again, unless I do.

Early lean: Colorado

San Diego State (+15/-110) at Stanford (-15/-110): San Diego State is always pretty good. Stanford still doesn’t have a quarterback.

Early Lean: Aztecs

Oregon State (+37.5/-110) at Ohio State (-37.5/-110): Not sure if I’ll be able to swallow this many points come late August, but Ohio State should win this by 45.

Early Lean: Buckeyes

BYU (+15/-110) at Arizona (-15/-110): Seems like a ton of points at first glance. Then you remember how epically awful BYU was last season, and how awesome Khalil Tate is.

Early Lean: Arizona

UTSA (+17/-110) at ASU (-17/-110): Not sure if I’ll pick any Herm Edwards team for the rest of my life.

Early Lean: Roadrunners

UNLV (+27.5/-110) at USC (-27.5/-110): A glance at UNLV’s 2017 season reveals that they may have been one of the worst 5-7 teams in history.

Early Lean: USC

Cincinnati (+16.5/-110) at UCLA (-16.5/-110): UCLA won’t be very good this year, but they’ll be waaaaaay better than the Bearcats.

Early Lean: UCLA

Washington (+3/-105) vs. Auburn (-3/-105): Auburn is even money in some places. That means Vegas really likes the underdog. I do too, mostly because Auburn keeps losing receivers. I also anticipate liking the Under when it’s published.

Early Lean: Washington

North Carolina (+5.5/-110) at Cal (-5.5/-110): Can Cal improve as much this year as they did in 2017? Is UNC really that bad? No and maybe.

Early Lean: Cal

WSU (-3.5/-110) at Wyoming (+3.5/-110): The first line I saw was WSU -8.5. As much as I love the Cougs, I’d have considered betting my children’s 529s on Wyoming. Now, not so much, but I still wouldn’t touch WSU until it got under 3.

Early Lean: Wyoming

Bowling Green (+27.5/-110) at Oregon (-27.5/-110): The Falcons were positively putrid in 2017. The Ducks were decent when Justin Herbert was playing. He’ll be playing in this one, but probably not for long.

Early Lean: Oregon

Football

2018 Pac-12 Early Win Totals Released: Where’s The Value? | College Football News
The Cougars have to go to USC and Stanford – that’s a problem.

Pac-12 strength of schedule rankings 2018: New coaches have it tough, USC gets a break - CBSSports.com
The Cougars will play at Wyoming and home against San Jose State and Eastern Washington.

Basketball

College basketball coaching moves: Grading 2014's biggest hires four years into the job - CBSSports.com
Kent is still in Pullman, Washington but things aren't looking up.

Beer

Best beer I had this week: Found that a friend of mine, with whom I was stationed in Kansas over a decade ago, is now living in the local area. He recently returned from a couple assignments in Europe, and brought over a couple bottles of a beer that apparently stakes a claim as “best beer in the world.” I don’t know whether that’s true, but Trappist Westvleteren XII is probably in the discussion.

Beer Battle Brews Between Craft-Beer Makers and Distributors - WSJ
Small brewers are making a push to sell directly to customers as craft beer’s growth cools, squaring off against distributors and bar owners.

Non-Sports

This one is somewhat dated, but I recently stumbled across it and thought I’d share it with you. Worth your time.

Heroin in Cincinnati: This is what an epidemic looks like - Cincinnati.com
The Enquirer sent 60 journalists to cover an ordinary week in this extraordinary time. This is what an epidemic looks like.