South Carolina Gamecocks vs. North Carolina State Wolfpack; Betting Line, USC by -14   (total 44); television ESPN; kickoff 8:05 PM ET.

It will be an SEC vs. ACC showdown when the University of South Carolina Gamecocks host the North Carolina State Wolfpack in an ESPN televised football game Thursday night at 8:05 PM ET. This game is vitally important to both teams as neither USC nor NCSU made it to the post-season in 2007. Oddsmakers at online sportsbook SBGglobal.com have installed South Carolina as home favorite by two touchdowns (-14 ATS) with a 44 total.

Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, known as an offensive guru in most circles, will probably have to depend on his defense to be the dominant side of the ball in the early going of 2008. The Gamecocks return 10 starters from a defense that was one of the tops in the nation last year.

Redshirt junior quarterback Tommy Beecher will make his first collegiate start against the Wolfpack. The 6-2, 220-pound Concord, N.C. native was named the starting quarterback following spring drills. He has completed 16-of-25 passes (64.0 percent) for 194 yards and two touchdowns in his career. His best performance was an 11-for-15 effort for 137 yards against Louisiana-Lafayette in the 2007 season opener. His longest pass completion went for 20 yards in that contest.

The Wolfpack will be very thin on offense for this game severely hampering its chances for a big win. Coach Tom O’Brien announced earlier today that junior tailback Jamelle Eugene, last year’s team most valuable player, will miss the game because of an ankle injury. He will be replaced in the starting lineup by senior Andre Brown, with sophomore Curtis Underwood as the top reserve.

Eugene was the Pack’s leading rusher last year, gaining 667 yards on 172 carries and scoring five touchdowns. Brown led the team in rushing in 2005 as a freshman, gaining 721 yards and scoring six touchdowns. The team’s top rusher in 2006, junior Toney Baker, is still recovering from preseason knee surgery and will not play against the Gamecocks.

Prediction: (USC wins by 17) South Carolina is catching NCSU at a good time. The Wolfpack is not healthy coming out of August camp and is thin on both sides of the ball. While the -14 point line might seem a little steep, the Gamecocks will probably get by ATS.

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Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Baylor Bears ; Betting Line, Wake Forest by -12 (total 50.5); television FSN; kickoff 8 PM ET.

One of the better Thursday night match-ups and few between BCS schools, Baylor University and Wake Forest, two of America’s prominent ‘Southern Baptist’ affiliated universities, will do battle down in Waco, Texas on Baylor’s home field at Floyd Casey Stadium.

Traditionally Baylor has had the most gridiron success of the two schools but in recent years, Wake Forest has emerged as a force in the ACC while Baylor has become the doormat of the BIG 12 South.

Wake Forest is projected to field perhaps its best football team in the schools history, and to prove it the Demon Deacons will no doubt be looking to make a statement on a national stage in this nationally televised (FSN) contest.

Baylor will seek to make a different kind of statement. That is to show doubters, and there are many, that first year coach Art Briles has Baylor on its way back to respectability. Briles has brought his high-octane offensive approach to Waco from Houston where he experienced success in a similar situation. A win over the Demon Deacons would bring the Bears instant credibility.

Online oddsmakers at Sportsbook.com opened betting with Wake Forest favored by a 12 ½ point chalk, but the line has recently shrunk to -12 with a money line price of -550.  Baylor backers are getting a healthy +425 money line odds as a home underdog. The total is posted at 50 ½.

Prediction: Wake Forest is better than Baylor making the -550 money line attractive but lots of Baptist pride is at stake here. Baylor covers ATS +12.

Checkout our live College Football Point Spreads showcasing real time odds of the world's top online sportsbooks all in one easy to use location. Get line movements in real time and find out who has the best college football betting odds. 

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Vanderbilt Commodores at Miami University Red Hawks; Betting Line, Miami by -4 (total 41); television ESPNU; kickoff 7:30 PM ET.

Coach Shane Montgomery's Miami University football team is being picked as one of the favorites to win the Mid-American Conference East Division in 2008. Its opponent in Thursday’s (Aug. 28) season opener is Vanderbilt, picked to finish last in the powerful SEC Eastern Division as it is almost every year.

The Red Hawks will be excited to play an SEC opponent on their home field at Yager Stadium in Oxford, Ohio. This is the first time a SEC member school has traveled to Oxford to play Miami. However, fans should not expect Vanderbilt to resemble your run of the mill SEC team. The Commodores football team in most years would not compete for a MAC championship.

Miami and Vanderbilt played in Nashville last year with the Commodores getting the best of the Red Hawks 24-13. Half of Vanderbilt’s team of 2007 has moved on leaving only 11 returning starters in 2008. Meanwhile, Miami returns 18 starters from last year including 9 on defense.

The strength of the 2008 Red Hawks will be the linebacking corps which returns intact to an already solid defensive line and secondary. This could be trouble to a young Vandy team that has not even settled on a quarterback.

Online oddsmakers at sportsbook Bodog (Bodoglife.com) currently have the Red Hawks installed the favorite ATS by a -4 point chalk and -165 on the money line with a 41 total. Vanderbilt is getting +145 money line odds as a road underdog.

Prediction: Look for Miami to win this game SU and cover the -4 points ATS.

Checkout our live College Football Point Spreads showcasing real time odds of the world's top online sportsbooks all in one easy to use location. Get line movements in real time and find out who has the best college football betting odds. 

Some of the best online handicappers in college football are standing by to help you get started with a successful online sports wagering experience. This link will put you in touch with all our picks-experts who we guarantee will increase your bank roll and allow you to bet with confidence.

It is finally here, the 2008 NCAA college football season rolls out the red carpet today with a fourteen game line up of big and small timers. The fun continues all the way into Monday where Tennessee and UCLA close out the opening weekend in Los Angeles. College football betting at Bodoglife.com features odds on David and Goliath alike; get your week 1 college football predictions in before the action starts.

There are always trap games for the big boys, but they usually occur a little later in the season. This weekend, however, sports a couple of games that are worth noting from the trap perspective. The first is a Saturday afternoon tilt between the seventeenth ranked Virginia Tech Hokies and the East Carolina Pirates (televised on ESPN at 12:00ET). Everyone knows what Frank Beamer's Hokies can do, but most people are not as familiar with Skip Holtz' Pirates. Last season East Carolina went 8-5 and scored a 41-38 Hawaii Bowl victory over Boise State. Virginia Tech is a week 1 college football predictions -9.5 home favorite, but they should get a game from a Pirates team that returns nine starters on defense and seven on offense.

Another week one college football potential trap is the Western Michigan Broncos versus the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Nebraska is one of the biggest names in college football, despite recent hard times, and they play in one of the best conferences in the country (Big XII). The Bronocs hail from the mid-major MAC conference and they come without a lot of hype. Nebraska's new Head Coach Bo Pelini would love to get the positive vibes going right from the get-go, but the Broncos return 10 defensive starters and seven offensive starters from a team that underachieved a year ago. The Cornhuskers are a -14.5 home favorite at Bodoglife.com, but they better take Western Michigan seriously.

Visit Bodoglife.com to get down on all your week 1 college football predictions.