Welcome to Week 1 of college football, fellow sports investors. There's nothing like a Saturday packed with lots of fun matchups like we have on today's card. I've found some betting value on tonight's Utah at UCLA game, which kicks off at 11:00 PM Eastern Time on FOX.
I've broken down this matchup from every angle and came up with an early best bet for your wagering pleasures. Good luck and enjoy the game! We are so back!
Online sportsbooks opened this line at Utah -3.5 back in the latter part of spring. A fair amount of action has come in on the Utes, so much so that the line is now Utah -5.5 at most shops in the nation.
As for the game total, there has been a lot of back and forth. The line opened at 50, and it moved up to 51.5 before coming back to the original number. It seems like the wise guys aren't sure what to make of these teams offensively in Week 1.
The Utes suffered through a 5-7 campaign a season ago, which was quite shocking to see from a solid coach like Kyle Whittingham. They started the year 4-0, but then the wheels fell off, as they dropped 7 in a row before beating UCF in the season finale.
Utah's defense was still one of the best in the country in 2024, as they only gave up 20.7 points per game. That was good enough for 25th in the nation. The Utes do have to replace a few guys, mainly sack-leader Van Fillinger.
Utah's offense was atrocious last season, but most of that was because Cam Rising only appeared in 3 games. Whittingham landed a new QB and a whole bunch of nice wideouts in the portal, so this unit should only improve in 2025.
The Bruins wound up with the same record as the Utes last season, as they finished up at 5-7. They opened with a win over Hawaii before losing five in a row to really put a bad taste in fans' mouths. However, UCLA closed strong by winning four of its last six.
UCLA's main problem last year was on the offensive end of the ball. The Bruins averaged a putrid 18.4 points per game, which ranked a pitiful 126th in the country. You can see why they ponied up a ton of NIL cash to bring in a new QB during the spring.
One of the Bruins' strong points this year will be their kicking game. They brought in Mateen Bhaghani from Cal a couple of years ago, and this kid has a golden foot. He made 20 of his 24 field goal attempts for UCLA a season ago.
I think this total is a smidge too low, especially since UCLA added former Tennessee stud Nico Iamaleava in the off-season. Nico led the Vols to a playoff berth last year by throwing for 2,616 yards and 19 TDs and just 5 INTs.
He also ran for 358 on the ground with 3 scores. Utah is usually solid defensively, but I think Nico will cause them plenty of problems tonight. I was shocked Tennessee didn't raise more NIL money to keep this kid.
Utah bringing in Devon Dampier from New Mexico really makes me like this game to go Over even more. He will throw some bad balls at times, but my goodness, he can slice through defenses with his legs.
He ran for 1,116 yards and 19 TDs for the Lobos last season. A game total of just 50 doesn't seem high enough for 2 dynamic QBs facing off. Let's play the Over to wrap up our Saturday card. Good luck, folks!
Prediction: Utah 30 - UCLA 24