CFB Week 0 Picks + Best Bets !!

Lonte Smith and Dave Essler talk betting for College Football Week 0. Best bets as always.
College football is back, and Lonte Smith and Dave Essler open a new weekly preview show built around straightforward, numbers first analysis of the biggest games on the board. With only eight games on the week zero slate, the two focus on three marquee matchups before running through the rest of the card and closing with best bets. The headline game sends North Carolina across the Atlantic to face TCU in Dublin, Ireland, a rematch of last year's opener that TCU won 48 to 14 after North Carolina raced out to an early lead and faded late. Bill Belichick enters year two in Chapel Hill with a defense that quietly outperformed its record a season ago, even though the run defense ranked outside the top 100 nationally in efficiency and success rate. New quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. takes over an offense built around a veteran line, while TCU under Sonny Dykes hands the job to Harvard transfer Jaden Craig, who threw for more than 5,000 yards with a strong touchdown to interception ratio before making the leap in competition. TCU also lost offensive coordinator Kendal Briles to South Carolina, replacing him with Gordon Sammis, a hire expected to lean more on the ground game. With the number climbing from seven and a half to nine and a half in the days before kickoff, both hosts land on the under, floating a first half and full game split, while noting real value on North Carolina if bettors can find a full double digit price. From there, the conversation shifts to an ACC opener between NC State and Virginia, a game originally slated for Brazil before shifting into a true conference matchup in Charlottesville. Virginia enters year five under Tony Elliott off an eleven win season and the program's first ACC Championship Game appearance, but returns just sixteen of its top forty players by snap count. Missouri transfer Beau Pribula steps in at quarterback, and the defense adds East Carolina transfer Zion Wilson. NC State leans on continuity behind quarterback C.J. Bailey entering year fourteen under Dave Doeren, reloading at receiver with Buffalo transfer Victor Snow and Miami transfer Joshisa Trader while adding Penn State safety King Mack and Tulane pass rusher Harvey Dyson on a defense that struggled to generate pressure a year ago. With the line sliding toward NC State, both hosts like the Wolfpack to cover, and lean toward the first half specifically given Virginia's unfamiliarity as a unit. The nightcap sends Memphis to Las Vegas to face UNLV, with new Memphis coach Charles Huff arriving from Southern Miss by way of Marshall alongside fifty three incoming transfers and a still undecided quarterback battle between Air Noland and West Georgia transfer Marcus Stokes. UNLV returns for year two under Dan Mullen off a ten and four season that flirted with the playoff, bringing in Auburn transfer Jackson Arnold and Michigan transfer Alex Orji at quarterback and returning running back Jai'Den Thomas off a season of better than seven yards a carry. One host leans toward Memphis and the points behind Huff's coaching track record, while the other prefers UNLV overall but wants to shop the game live once both new look offenses settle in. Before wrapping, the two touch on Stanford at Hawaii, a heavy USC team total lean against San Jose State behind Lincoln Riley's history of running up the score, and a live dog look at Jacksonville State. The best bets close the show, with LSU's win total drawing attention behind Lane Kiffin's transfer haul, headlined by lineman Jordan Seaton, quarterback Sam Leavitt and safety Ty Benefield, alongside a manageable schedule that only demands a modest run through conference play. NC State plus the points closes out the picks, and the two remind listeners to manage bankroll carefully in a slate loaded with uncertainty before promising to be back with fresh winners for week one next Wednesday.

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