A new season of College Football is almost here. With a new season comes an opportunity to have a little extra change in your pocket.
In the coming weeks leading up to kickoff on August 26, I will go from conference to conference sharing my preseason win total bets that are worth putting some coin on.
For this edition of Brendan’s Best Bets, we are taking a look at AAC preseason win totals. Odds are provided by FanDuel Sportsbook.
North Texas Under 6.5 Wins (-162)
North Texas is one of the more intriguing programs in the AAC. They fired Seth Littrell after making the CUSA Championship Game last season. Former Incarnate Word head coach Eric Morris takes over and it might take some time to get his new system in place. Morris was extremely successful in the pass game while at Incarnate Word. This season, North Texas will be breaking in a new quarterback and lose three of their top four pass catchers.
The schedule features games against Cal, UTSA, Tulane, Memphis and SMU. The Mean Green play arguably the four best teams in the AAC. A fast start is what North Texas needs to hit the over but it will take some time for Morris to get going. I wouldn’t be shocked to see this team make a bowl, but a winning record is unlikely.
Temple Under 5.5 Wins (-115)
Temple returns 16 starters from a team that went 3-9 last season. Those three wins were all against inferior competition in Lafayette, UMass and USF. The Owls doubling their win total in Stan Drayton’s second year seems unlikely.
The schedule only consists of one for sure win (vs Norfolk State). Temple has to play the likes of Rutgers, Miami, UTSA, North Texas, SMU and Memphis. Those are six games in which they will likely be underdogs. Getting to a bowl game this year is a little over ambitious.
Tulane Under 9.5 Wins (-134)
Tulane should have another really good season but they did lose some pieces on offense. The skill positions worry me with the Green Wave as they lost their top two receivers. The line play should be among the best in the AAC but teams like Memphis, SMU and UTSA will have better skill position play and comparable line of scrimmage play.
The Green Wave have tough games against South Alabama, Ole Miss, Southern Miss, Memphis, North Texas, East Carolina, FAU and UTSA. This is one of the more difficult schedules in the conference. I expect Tulane to take a step back this season.
UTSA Over 7.5 Wins (-148)
This is my favorite bet of the four bets we are making. UTSA enters year one in the AAC as one of the top teams in the conference already. The Roadrunners have won back-to-back CUSA titles and return eight starters on offense and eight starters on defense. Head coach Jeff Traylor is one of the top coaches in this conference and will have this veteran team ready to play right away.
UTSA opens the season at Houston who is joining the Big 12. The only game where UTSA will be heavy underdogs is at Tennessee. UTSA should be competitive in every other game on the schedule including games against Houston, FAU, East Carolina, North Texas and Tulane. The Roadrunners have a great shot at winning double digit games. I have a hard time seeing this team not get at least eight wins.
To recap, here are the bets we are making:
North Texas Under 6.5 Wins (-162)
Temple Under 5.5 Wins (-115)
Tulane Under 9.5 Wins (-134)
UTSA Over 7.5 Wins (-148)