College Football Week 1 Lines & Prediction on Kent State at Clemson

Heading into the college football season as the defending National Champion means playing every game with a massive target on your back. The Clemson Tigers have been to back to back championship games, finally getting one over on the Alabama Crimson Tide last season. Being the champ also usually means starting the next season as the favorite to win it all again, but this team has an awful lot to overcome. While it’s great to be crowned as the best in your sport at the end of the season, in college football it usually also means that your best talent is going to leave school early and head for the NFL. That is what happened to Clemson in the offseason, and while they are a big program filled with 4- and 5-star recruits, there is no guarantee that the new guys are going to come close to being able to replace the players that moved on. Offense is where the biggest struggles may be for Clemson this season, which is why the Week 1 game against the Kent State Golden Flashes might be a good idea. This is a great chance to work out some kinks and get the new guys clicking against a massively inferior team. Clemson come into this one as a 40-point favorite, with the O/U set at 52 points.

A Closer Look at the College Football Week 1 Lines & Prediction on Kent State at Clemson

When: Saturday, September 2 at 12 PM EST Where: Memorial Coliseum, Clemson TV: ESPN Live Stream: Watch ESPN College Football Week 1 Odds: Clemson Tigers -40 (-110) Weather Forecast 

• Clear: 24°C/75°F
• Humidity: 67%
• Precipitation: 1%
• Cloud Cover: 15%
• Wind: 10 mph WSW
• Stadium Type: Open

Why Bet on the Kent State Golden Flashes?

Kent State finished last season with a 3-9 record, losing 5 of their last 6 games to end a miserable 2016. There is no reason to believe that this season is going to be that much different, and they look like a bit of a lamb to the slaughter in this one. After all, this is a team that has only managed to win 3 of its last 17 road games, so what chance do they really have against the defending National Champions? If this team is going to put any points on the board, I would expect that they would come late in the game when Clemson have sat down most of their starters as they try to evaluate their depth in a real game situation. An inability to move the ball early on is going to give Clemson multiple opportunities to trot out their new offensive starters, and if they can get rolling, which I believe they will, this thing might well be over before it even gets started.

College Football Week 1 Betting Trends

• Kent State is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 NCAAF games
• The Golden Flashes are 1-5 SU in its last 6 games
• Kent State is 3-14 SU in its last 17 games on the road
• The total went UNDER in 11 of Kent State’s last 15 games on the road

NCAA Football Week 1: UTEP at Oklahoma Betting Lines & Prediction

Why Bet on the Clemson Tigers?

All eyes are sure to be on new starting QB Kelly Bryant. He has some massive shoes to fill, with DeShaun Watson now plying his trade with the Houston Texans in the NFL, and very much looking the part. I think that Bryant will be just fine, and this is exactly the sort of game that he needs to settle his nerves and get his confidence going. I believe that the Tigers will open up the playbook and have this young man chucking the ball all over the field. There are probably going to be a few mistakes in the early part of the game, but with the defense most likely getting him the ball back on a regular basis, he will soon start to settle into a groove. There are probably a lot of college football bettors shying away from the 40-point spread because they are not sure what to expect, but I am going to be all over it.

College Football Week 1 Betting Trends

• Clemson is 5-0 SU in its last 5 NCAAF games
• The total has gone OVER in 5 of Clemson’s last 6 NCAAF games
• Clemson is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games at home
• The Tigers are 23-2 SU in its last 25 games at home
• The total has gone UNDER in 15 of Clemson’s last 22 games at home

Expert College Football Week 1 Pick and Final Score Prediction

When you have a program as respected as Clemson’s is, you can almost guarantee that the new players being brought in are going to make an immediate impact. I’m not sure the impact will be big enough to get this team back to the National Championship game, but it will certainly be big enough to send a message in Week 1. College Football Week 1 Pick: Kent State Golden Flashes 9 Clemson Tigers 55