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Fox Sports Bruce Feldman offered his Top 10 CFB schools after Week 1. Each of these teams won, but did they cover the spread. And what was the impact on regional bookies?
At number 10, Louisville, which covered the spread against Charlotte - 70-14.
Number 9, Georgia enjoyed a late minute surge and ultimately covered the 5.5 spread after trailing by 10 points against underdog North Carolina entering the 4th quarter.
Number 8 had a Wisconsin team that stunned LSU. The Tigers were still coming in with 15-1 odds to win the College Championship title. The Badgers beat LSU on the road. They had 75-1 odds of winning a championship this year.
Number 7 belonged to Stanford, which enjoyed a Straight Up victory and cover Saturday.
At number 6, Ohio State, demonstrating why it is likely to be another brutal season for the Ohio bookies:
The Buckeyes belted Urban Meyer’s old school Bowling Green, who is not a bad MAC team, 77-10, displaying all kinds of weapons for J.T. Barrett to utilize and posted a school-record 776 yards of total offense. Maybe the most impressive part of all was the fact that a largely rebuilt O-line didn’t allow a single TFL the entire game.
Number 5, Michigan destroyed Hawaii.
Number 4 – FSU, which was yet to play Monday night against Ole Miss as this was going to press. A cover here should be a sign of a prosperous season ahead.
Number 3 – Houston, which managed a cover against a decent team:
Tom Herman’s a whiz. His QB Greg Ward’s a stud and the D-line is ferocious, starting with Ed Oliver who mauled an explosive Oklahoma team Saturday.
Houston had short 20-1 odds of winning the National Championship game.
Number 2 – Clemson failed to cover against Auburn but Feldman still ranked them especially high.
Deshaun Watson didn’t carve up the Auburn D on the road, but that’s a very stout group. WR Mike Williams, though, had a big game and proved he’s back after missing most of 2015 with a neck injury. A big plus: the rebuilt Clemson defense looked very tough especially the young D-linemen. Beware of 340-pound true freshman Dexter Lawrence. He’s fantastic
Number 1 should be no surprise with Alabama the favorite to win the Championship outright, now at +450 odds, a little shorter than where they opened.
- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com
