Best College Football Bets for September 7th: Top Picks for Tonight’s Games

Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava (8) during Tennessee’s game against Chattanooga in Neyland Stadium in Knoxville on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024.

• College football fans will be feasting on action beginning at 7:30 pm ET on Saturday, September 7, 2024
• Two games have caught my eye, and both should feature all the offense we are legally allowed to see
• See the best way to bet on these Saturday college football games below

I’m pretty sure everyone feels this way, but when I bet a college football game, I want to see points. Not just a couple, either. Don’t give me some soft, one touchdown and a field goal per quarter type nonsense. I want the good stuff. I want teams scoring on every play. We can’t help what we want.

Lucky for us, we’ve got two games tonight that I think could turn into track meets. The first one is the Tennessee Volunteers/NC State Wolfpack game and it starts at 7:30 pm ET on ABC. At the same damn time (shoutout Future), we’re getting the Colorado Buffaloes visiting the Nebraska Cornhuskers on NBC. Could this end up being the greatest night of our lives?

But here’s the thing, we’re not betting these on the normal every day, standard lines. Not us. We’re kicking it up a notch and getting loose with the alternative lines. It’s Saturday night, so we need to pump it up a little. We owe it to ourselves. These alternative lines are available at most books but the ones I’ve attacked tonight are hanging at ESPN. For those of you that aren’t ready for those yet, here are the standard lines for both games.

College Football Odds Tonight

All odds taken Sept. 7 from ESPNBet. Claim the ESPN Bet promo code to sign up and tail our picks. 

Tennessee Will Put on a Show Saturday Night

Early in the season, I’m just going to look for good over bets on Saturdays. There really is nothing better than watching a bunch of kids hang points all over another bunch of kids. I don’t know what it is, but it feels pretty American to me. Good offense and bad defense gets the people going. We don’t make the rules.

All we have to do, is find a good quarterback and the rest takes care of itself.

I have seen a lot of hyped QB’s make great debuts.

I haven’t seen one better than Nico Iamaleava for @Vol_Football.

I just finished the tape and goodness gracious was it good!!

I know it’s Chattanooga but the kid is going to be a flat out superstar.pic.twitter.com/HJV4F3Ls6H

— David Pollack (@davidpollack47) September 1, 2024

We’re going to have to learn how to say Nico Iamaleava’s name because this kid is nasty. He lit up Tennessee Chattanooga last week and now he gets a shot at a real school. NC State just had trouble with Western Carolina last week but whatever. They still dropped 38 points and gave up 21. Twenty-one points to Western Carolina is like 77 points to Tennessee when you run it through the conversion chart.

On the flip side, NC State has Grayson McCall running things now, which gives us two quarterbacks that know what they’re doing. I feel like that kid has been in college forever, and that helps our cause. Tennessee didn’t see an offense last week so it feels like McCall and NC State should be able to hang a few points. If I had to guess, I’d say we’re looking at a 45-24 type of game here. Feels right.

• The Pick: Tennessee/NC State Over 62.5 (+102)

Colorado and Nebraska Might Break the Scoreboard

We’ll be able to watch Tennessee and NC State at the same time as Colorado and Nebraska. What’s even better is, both games are nationally televised, so we will be able to actually watch them. When I say we’re “living the dream”, I mean it. It really doesn’t get any better than we have it on Saturday night.

Dylan Raiola was graded a 79.5 PFF in Week 1 which is the highest by a true freshmen since of 2018 pic.twitter.com/0hXOsZSkyE

— Bussin’ With The Boys (@BussinWTB) September 4, 2024

I could go on and about this one, but it boils down to two things. Good offenses and exploitable defenses. It really is that simple. Shedeur Sanders of Colorado has two weapons that Nebraska won’t be able to stop in Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn Jr. If you watched Nebraska’s game last week, UTEP was able to move the ball a bit even though they got rolled. If UTEP could move it, we have to think Colorado can too.

Another thing you must have seen if you watched Nebraska last week was quarterback Dylan Raiola. The true freshman was disgusting. I don’t know what Nebraska fans did to deserve him, but whatever it was, he’s worth it.  He looks like the kind of kid that can just move the ball at will. Especially against a “defense is optional” team like Colorado. I’m thinking we see a 41-34 absolute shootout. Feels right.

• The Pick: Colorado/Nebraska Over 60.5 (+105)

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