In years past, one of the biggest knocks on college football was that the best two teams in any given season were not always that ones that appeared in the National Championship Game. The playoffs were introduced a few years back to take care of that issue, but there are still some schools who are not pleased with the new set-up. The reality is that if you are not a team that plays in one of the Power 5 Conferences, you are probably not going to be part of the playoff set-up, no matter what you do. The perfect example of that came last season when the UCF Knights delivered a perfect season but did not get anywhere near the playoffs.
This led to the Knights spending much of the offseason declaring themselves as the unofficial National Champions, which really does nothing but put more pressure on this group to deliver the goods again this season. The Knights will kick off their season with a Thursday night game in Connecticut, where they will go in as a 23-point favorite over the Huskies.
Oddly enough, though, they were better against the spread on the road than they were at home last season and only managed to go 1-5 SU in their last 6 games at home. This is perhaps the worst opening game that UConn could have picked, as you can be sure that the Knights are going to come out with all guns blazing.
UCF at UConn Game Preview & NCAAF Week 1 Betting Odds
“Our kids will be ready to play fast, attack and play extremely aggressive.” 😤
More UConn prep talk from @coachjoshheupel & @michael_colub 👇 pic.twitter.com/9MSzpco9rM — UCF Football (@UCF_Football) 22 de agosto de 2018
- When: Thursday, August 30 at 7 PM EST
- Where: Rentschler Field, East Hartford
- TV: ESPNU
- Radio: TuneIn
- Live Stream: WatchESPN
- NCAAF Week 1 Odds: UCF -23 (Total 73)
How to Bet Miami vs LSU College Football Week 1 Lines
Recent Head to Head (Last 5 Games)
- Record: UCF leads 3-2
- Score: UCF 35.40 / UCONN 26.80
- Rush Yards: UCF 127.40 / UCONN 164.60
- Pass Attempts: UCF 42.00 / UCONN 30.00
- Completion Percentage: UCF 61.43 / UCONN 54.67
- Passing Yards: UCF 310.60 / UCONN 199.20
- Total Yards: UCF 438 / UCONN 363.8
- Turnovers: UCF 2.20 / UCONN 1.40
Why bet on the UCF Knights?
Given the strength of schedule that the Knights had last season, there was no way they were ever going to be considered a playoff team. Their win against Auburn in a bowl game was a big one to be sure, but they were facing a Tigers team that quite frankly did not look as though they wanted to be there. All that aside, what UCF delivered in 2017 was still incredibly impressive, especially on the offensive side of the football where they average a staggering 48 PPG, splitting things nicely between the pass and the run game. With all those points being racked up, it was perhaps a little surprising that they were just 7-5 O/U last year, with 5 of their OVER games coming at home 4 of their last 5 games against UConn have gone OVER. On the road, UCF has gone 4-1-1 in their last 6 games.Why bet on the UConn Huskies?
The Huskies had themselves a bit of a miserable season last year, going just 3-9, with one of those losses coming against UCF in a 49-24 blowout. UConn ended the season on a particularly sour note, losing each of their last 5 games. The Huskies have gone just 5-12 ATS in their last 17 games, but when you dig a little deeper, you see that they were 5-2 ATS in their last 7, which is a good deal more respectable.
Oddly enough, though, they were better against the spread on the road than they were at home last season and only managed to go 1-5 SU in their last 6 games at home. This is perhaps the worst opening game that UConn could have picked, as you can be sure that the Knights are going to come out with all guns blazing.
Boise State at Troy 2018 NCAA Football Week 1 Odds
NCAAF Betting Trends for UCF at UCONN
- Central Florida is 4-1-1 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
- Central Florida is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Central Florida’s last 5 games
- Connecticut is 5-12 ATS in its last 17 games
- Connecticut is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Connecticut’s last 7 games
- Connecticut is 1-1 against the spread versus UCF over the last 3 seasons
- UCF is 2-0 straight up against Connecticut over the last 3 seasons
- 1 of 2 games in this series have gone over the total over the last 3 seasons
