Chris Humpherys – a good friend through many years of blogging – likes to talk trash. TONS OF TRASH. So much, the local waste management companies call for backup. Considering he finally won our friendly little NFL and College Football pick ‘em contest for the first time last year, I’ve been hearing it all for the last few days. I think the most recent line was inquiring if my email was “KevinPicksLosers@AllTheTime.com”. Sure, that’s kind of clever, I guess – although, I wouldn’t be accepting any cookies when visiting that site. So, as Chris – or as many of you know him, the SportsChump – continues to bathe in the land of victory, I’m ready to move on to the next season. Yes, that means it’s time for our Week 1 NFL Top Bets and favorite College Football Week 2 picks.

As with last year’s picks, you pick your top five games by confidence (against the spread). This includes NFL games against the spread and the College Football weekly slate.

It’s a season long contest with potential prizes to winners, so if you want to join in on the fun, drop a comment here at The Wife Hates Sports… or over at the land of the SportsChump.

Here are my TOP FIVE Best Bets for the week, including my Week 1 NFL Top Bets and Week 2 College Football Best Bets. I’m going mostly NFL this week, as you will soon see.

The list is ranked in order of confidence, from 50 “points” down to 10.  Please note that all of my lines taken from DraftKings Sportsbook (I use them a ton – maybe some day they’ll notice).

DraftKings Sportsbook: Week 1 NFL Lines | Week 2 College Football Lines

The Wife Hates SportsChump: Week 1 NFL Top Bets and College Picks – Kickoff Edition

KP’s Picks: The Wife Hates Sports

$50: Nebraska Cornhuskers at Colorado Buffaloes (-3)

This isn’t buying into the “Prime Hype”. That was beyond overblown after one week of the season. Still, Deion has a way of motivating players. Nebraska – new coaching staff or not – has a way of being mediocre these days. While the Huskers fill their stadium more during Volleyball matches, the Buffs are now selling high-priced tickets to see what Coach Prime is going to do next. There are some exciting players in Colorado and while I think the hype is overblown, I do think Colorado’s talent is enough to cover at home against Nebraska. So because Prime is every other football article this week, I might as well place them at the top of the list. Buffaloes cover at home.

$40: Tennessee Titans (+3) at New Orleans Saints

The Saints have home field to open the season, but they will be without Alvin Kamara, due to suspension. Derek Carr makes his debut as starting QB and apparently Michael Thomas is healthy for a change. On the other side, we have the Titans – oh, those pesky, yet often inconsistent Titans. Tennessee features two offensive veterans that each have the ability to take over games. Derrick Henry and DeAndre Hopkins should be quite the combination, if each can stay healthy. That’s what I’m banking on, at least to start the 2023-24 season. Titans cover on the road.

$30: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Minnesota Vikings (-5.5)

Who trusts Baker Mayfield? Does the SportsChump? He’s a Bucs guy. I realize Tampa Bay has unproven, yet explosive talent at the RB position. Chris Godwin and Mike Evans are present in the pass game. Defensive weapons are readily available, but Baker Mayfield instead of Tom Brady? Let’s shift to the Vikings, who open the season at home. Dalvin Cook has moved to New York, but Alexander Mattison steps in, widely considered to be one of the best backup RB’s in the game for the last few seasons. Not to be overshadowed by Minnesota’s passing weapons, headlined by Justin Jefferson. Enough defensive firepower and an amped up home crowd, and give me those purple-clad fans, SKOL chant and all. Vikings cover at home.

$20: Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks (-5)

New season means uncertainty and focusing on big-time home crowds. What’s bigger than Seattle’s 12th man? Geno Smith proved himself last season, hovering below the radar in what was a high-quality season. Kenneth Walker III, DK Metcalf, and a slew of others anchor a Seattle offense. On the side of the Rams, while there’s a balance of talent on both sides of the ball, there are some gaping holes – most notably Cooper Kupp, who will miss this game due to injury. I’m sure the drama created by Stafford’s wife (locker room chatter) won’t help. Although, that could be grasping at straws, but that’s also likely to be what the L.A. offense will be doing this weekend, too. Seahawks cover at home.

$10: San Francisco 49ers (-2) at Pittsburgh Steelers

In a fun matchup of NFL franchise powerhouses, the line is likely this close because of Pittsburgh’s home field advantage. Kenny Pickett enters his second season looking to take the next step towards stardom. Pittsburgh had a strong preseason, but Pickett’s 2022 rookie campaign was far from exciting (63% completion percentage, 7 TD, 9 INT). Kick off the new season with one of the more talented defenses and an NFC contender that loves to run the ball and bully in the trenches. If Christian McCaffrey is able to start off strong, this game could get out of hand by the second half. 49ers cover on the road.

 

Week 1 NFL Top Bets: SportsChump

$50 on Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears (-1)

The Green Bay reign of terror in the NFC North is over, or so we’d think.  Aaron Rodgers is now a New York Jet, and the Jordan Love era has officially begun.  Jordan would love (get it?) nothing more than to start his regime with a win but he’s going to have to get it in on the road in Chicago.  Meanwhile, the Bears have already started their new regime with a quarterback they’re certain of, or so they’d think.  Last year, Justin Fields proved he’s a force to be reckoned with, leaving considerably less question marks than the quarterback he’s playing against on Sunday.  I have this sneaky suspicion NFC North teams have been waiting to stake their claim on a division that has been won by Green Bay three of the last four years.  Minnesota won it last year.  Chicago hasn’t won it since 2018, before Justin Fields even put on a Buckeye uniform.  Chicago might not win that division this year, but they’ll get off to a solid start by beginning the season 1-0 against their division rival. Bears minus the lone point.

$40 on James Madison Dukes at Virginia Cavaliers (+7)

The Virginia Cavaliers took a trip to Knoxville last week and were treated rudely by the Tennessee Volunteers, as one would expect.  Tennessee is an SEC team with championship aspirations and Virginia is well, Virginia.  Virginia returns home this week to take on James Madison, who disposed of Bucknell handily last week, 38-3.  But everybody does that to Bucknell.  Last year, the Bison lost games to Central Michigan 41-0, Holy Cross 57-0, and Fordham 59-17.  In other words, if you’re not beating Bucknell badly, you probably want to regroup.  That’s why I think this line is so skewed in favor of James Madison.  I don’t think the Dukes are that good and I don’t think the Cavaliers are this bad.  Besides, once Virginia finds out that they’re playing a team named the Dukes, they’ll be more than fired up to win.  I’ll take Virginia at home plus the seven.

$30 on UCLA Bruins at San Diego Aztecs (+14.5)

I’m not quite sure what’s going on out west, but the once proud Pac-12 appears to be a thing of the past.  It’s too bad they’re disbanding because their teams this year are pretty good.  In a few years, we’ll fondly reminisce about Pac-12 football the way we do Big East basketball.  (Just kidding, Big East basketball was pound-for-pound WAY better.)  I watched a little bit of the UCLA-Coastal Carolina game last weekend, and I wasn’t that impressed.  The Bruins pulled away late with their freshman quarterback Dante Moore throwing two touchdowns but this week, he’ll face his first true collegiate test, a night game against San Diego State who has started the season 2-0.  San Diego State is getting over two touchdowns in this one, a 7:30 kick off where fans should be eager to throw some dirt on a team leaving its conference.  I’m not convinced this UCLA team can go on the road and beat a difficult opponent by two touchdowns, so I’ll take the Aztecs and the points.

$20 on Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-6.5) at North Carolina State Wolfpack

Notre Dame looks frightening, which means Irish pubs everywhere are awash with fans talking about how good they are.  And rightfully so.  In two games, they’ve put up a whopping 98 points, albeit against Navy (in Dublin) and Tennessee State.  Not exactly barnburners, although Navy is not generally a team that gets manhandled like they were against Notre Dame.  NC State’s lone game this year is a win at UConn, a game one would think they should have won by more.  This will be the Pack’s first home game, but they’ll be going against the hottest team in college football not coached by Deion Sanders.  They’re getting a touchdown against the Irish but from what I’ve seen, that’s a swift possession for Notre Dame.  The Irish play Ohio State in three weeks but I don’t think they’ll be caught looking ahead.  There’s too much talent wearing golden helmets.  Give me Notre Dame on the road to cover.

$10 on Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Minnesota Vikings (-6)

I have a bad feeling about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this season.  They appear to be a team in transition and a few missteps away from an entirely new look in 2024.  Best case scenario: this team somehow finds itself in the playoff mix in a relatively weak NFC.  Worst case scenario:  Coach Bowles gets run out of town after waffling between his two quarterbacks.  He loses control of the team and Mike Evans demands to be shipped elsewhere.  This outcome appears much more likely and many Buccaneers fans will tell you they wouldn’t be upset with Bowles’ dismissal.  Oh, how far they’ve fallen in three years.  Meanwhile, the Minnesota Vikings have Super Bowl aspirations.  Yes, I said it.  Keep in mind this is a team that won its division last year (see above) and finished the season 13-4.  They lost Dalvin Cook but they must be pleased with Alexander Mattison if they’ll willing to let Cook go elsewhere.  Minnesota also boasts the best wide receiver in the league and a quarterback who still has something to prove.  Meanwhile, the Bucs have too many question marks.  I’ll take the Vikings at home minus the six.

 

Chime in with your top picks for the week.  Also, if you have interest in being a guest picker, let us know via the comments below.  Thank you for visiting The Wife Hates Sports!

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