10 Best College Football Predictions Against The Spread: Week 1 Saturday

What games appear to be the best bets and the best picks against the spread going into the Week 1 weekend of the college football season?

3. LSU at UCLA

LINE LSU -3
ATS PICK LSU

We’ve come this far with the thought process, now it’s time to go through with it.

A whole lot of people out there who live and die in the investment world have been pointing to September 4th as Christmas Day – it’s when the LSU-UCLA line pays off.

It started out low at just LSU -4.5, and people pounced. It stayed low, and then it dropped to 3 – 2.5 in some places – after the Bruins were dominant in a 44-10 win over a decent Hawaii team to start the season.

Loved it at 4.5, marrying it at 3.

Of course there’s concern around LSU. It’s the one team couldn’t make Mississippi State look awful last season, it sputtered and struggled offensively until late, and it’s still rebuilding and reloaded after the epic 2019 run.

Meanwhile, UCLA has built itself up under Chip Kelly to have the veterans, the talent, and the attitude to win a game like this. This is it. This is the moment the program has been working towards to announce its emergence on the national scene.

But LSU Is better.

It’s more talented, it’s got the NFL guys, it has the depth rising up, and it has the SEC ability not be fazed by a strange setting and a big stadium. The Rose Bowl might be the greatest setting on the planet for a sporting event, but when it comes to intimidation – to be nice about it – it doesn’t exactly mean more to the UCLA base.

The LSU lines should be able to take over and this isn’t a secondary you want to go against if you’re trying to be better after a rough day like UCLA QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson had against the Rainbow Warriors.

It would be a good thing for college football if the Pac-12 could get this win. It would be so much fun to have a good UCLA team to generate a buzz around LA. It would be …

Nah. Go with the SEC lines. Go with the SEC talent.

NEXT: No. 2 Pick Against The Spread: New Mexico State at San Diego State