College football Week 0 betting picks for North Carolina v. TCU and San Jose State vs USC

Can you believe we are already there? We've reached that point in the year when we have football once again. Looking at the calendar, it is wild to me that we are almost at the end of August. Time really does fly when you're having fun.

It has been a good year for sports betting, and it is now getting even better as we have Week 0 starting today with college football returning. College Football is back, and so is our betting slate. Let's get to it.

Both of these teams started last year against each other, and I have to imagine both are looking for better outcomes than their 2025 campaign. North Carolina was rocked in head coach Bill Belichick's first game at the helm. They looked lost on both offense and defense and fell 48-14.

The rest of the campaign wasn't much better as the team had a 4-8 record overall. Looking at their wins, there really weren't any that were overly impressive, either. The Tar Heels hope to be better this year, but this is a long rebuilding process. You can't expect it to happen overnight.

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After the win to open the season last year, TCU took down Abilene Christian and SMU. From there they lost on the road to Arizona State and Kansas State. After beating Baylor and West Virginia, the team lost to Iowa State and BYU in back-to-back weeks. They did beat Houston, a ranked team, later in the season. They also had one of the better Bowl Games to watch as they won over USC in overtime, 30-27.

The reason for optimism this season is around Jaden Craig taking over under center. He comes over from Harvard, where he was successful, but the team wasn't very good. Jeremy Payne will be the featured back and could make this a dangerous backfield after a strong 2025.

I like the chances of seeing some good offense from TCU. I don't love the total for the game, as I think it probably goes under 46.5, but we've already lost three points from the opening number. I am instead just focused on the TCU team total. I'll back them to go over 27.5 points. I think they should get a touchdown in each quarter as I still think this North Carolina defense will struggle.

There aren't a ton of lopsided games on the slate for today, but this is certainly one of them. San Jose State is expected to be blown out to start the year. USC has manhandled the Spartans in the past, having crushed them in their past three matches. Collectively, USC has won the last three matchups by a score of 146-38. Last year was an ugly season for the Spartans as they finished 3-9, missing out on any Bowl Game. They also went just 2-6 in the Mountain West.

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USC has a chance to march to its first College Football Playoff berth, but it won't be the easiest path.

They enter the season ranked at number 14 in the nation. That puts them right on the borderline of making the postseason tournament. Either way, they should be able to get a great Bowl Game even if they don't get into the playoffs.

They have some important continuity here as Jayden Maiava returns to action. Last season, Maiava had 3,711 yards and 24 touchdowns. King Miller returns to the backfield as well, and should lead the way for the squad. They did lose Makai Lemon to the NFL, so there are some questions about who steps up as a receiver.

The Trojans are listed at 50.5 for their team total, and I just think that's too high. I wouldn't be surprised to see them win by 30 or 40 points, but I don't think they are going to run up the score either. Maiava probably plays about a half in this game. I'm backing the under 50.5 for the USC team total. I like Miller to get 2+ touchdowns at +195 as a prop as well.

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