College Football Week 1 Betting Picks: Our 3 Favorite ATS Bets for Thursday

College Football Best Bets for August 29

How to Bet North Dakota State at Colorado (8 p.m., ESPN)

Whether Colorado plays like the team that rode a high-powered offense to a 3-0 start a year ago or the one that limped to a 1-8 record in its last nine games of 2023, the Buffaloes will be hard to ignore in 2024.

They open this season with a tough matchup against one of the best FCS teams in the country over the past 15 years, the North Dakota State Bison.

This is a difficult game to predict — and/or bet on — after Deion Sanders overhauled the CU coaching staff and offensive and defensive lines this offseason. While the floor is high for NDSU, the Bison are also adapting to a new coach after Tim Polasek replaced Matt Entz this offseason.

NDSU shouldn’t be underestimated, especially given that Colorado could still be vulnerable at the line of scrimmage despite its efforts in the transfer portal.

So, the safest play here is to take the Bison to cover the first-half spread.

That’s because at some point, even if NDSU controls the line of scrimmage early on, Colorado’s passing game should give Coach Prime’s team some breathing room by the final whistle.

After all, as stout as NDSU is, Buffs QB Shedeur Sanders and returning WRs Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn Jr, plus proven transfers Lajohntay Wester and Will Sheppard, pose a challenge unlike anything North Dakota State is accustomed to seeing in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Best bet: North Dakota State First Half Spread +6.5 (-115 at DraftKings)

How to Bet North Carolina at Minnesota (8 p.m., FOX)

The total in Thursday night’s ACC-Big Ten battle in Minneapolis is set at 50.5 at ESPN BET, DraftKings, and FanDuel.

We like the under given the questions both these offenses have to answer entering the 2024 season. This offseason, UNC went from top-five draft pick Drake Maye at quarterback to (for the first game of the season, at least) a platoon of Max Johnson and Conner Harrell.

The former is on his third school in five years after stops at LSU (2020-21) and Texas A&M (2022-23). While he was a four-star recruit in the class of 2020, the fact that he failed to beat out the inexperienced Harrell, who redshirted in Chapel Hill in 2022 and played sparingly behind Maye last year, doesn’t inspire a ton of faith in his ability to keep this offense rolling.

Minnesota landed one of the best players in FCS a year ago, Max Brosmer from New Hampshire, to take over under center, but it’s unclear how he’ll fare at this level.

QB uncertainty is a great recipe for a low-scoring game, making the Under hard to resist.

Best bet: Under 50.5 (best odds: -105 at FanDuel)

How to Bet Kansas vs. Lindenwood (8 p.m., ESPN+), Murray State vs. Missouri (8 p.m., SEC Network)

The spreads in both Kansas-Lindenwood and Murray State-Missouri are too big for us to form a strong opinion.

Will Mizzou keep its foot on the gas long enough to cover 49.5 points?

Who knows?

Same question, same answer for Kansas (-49) vs. Lindenwood.

What we do like in both games are massive totals for the favorites.

Jalon Daniels is a dynamic veteran QB for the Jayhawks, who return a ton of offensive talent from a year ago, including star RB Devin Neal.

For Missouri, everyone knows star receiver Luther Burden, the consensus pre-season All-American who might be the best skill-position player in the country. The Tigers also boast an underrated QB in Brady Cook, though.

Expect both these teams to light up the scoreboard Thursday night.

Best bets:

• Kansas Alternate Team Total Over 56.5 (+110 at DraftKings)
• Missouri Alternate Team Total Over 56.5 (+105 at DraftKings)

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