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It’s late August which means the 2021 college football season is upon us with five games featuring FBS teams on tap this Saturday. Dubbed “Week 0”, the opening slate is highlighted by a Big Ten battle as Illinois hosts Nebraska at 1 p.m. ET. Neither team won more than three games last year but the Cornhuskers are seven-point favorites in the latest college football odds per Caesars Sportsbook. The only other game featuring a Power 5 team is UCLA hosting Hawaii at 3:30 p.m. ET, while Southern Utah visits San Jose State at 10 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network to conclude the day.
You definitely want to get your college football picks off on a winning note before the rest of the teams take the field next week. Can Nebraska block out the ongoing NCAA investigation surrounding its program and easily dispose of the Fighting Illini? Or should you back Illinois at home to pull off the shocking upset? Before making any college football picks for Week 0 of the 2021 season, be sure to see the latest college football predictions from SportsLine’s proven model.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every FBS college football game 10,000 times. Over the past five years, the proprietary computer model has generated a stunning profit of over $3,500 for $100 players on its top-rated college football picks against the spread. For the 2020 season, it went 56-37 on all top-rated picks and returned over $1,200 on its top-rated spread and over-under picks. Anyone who has followed it has seen huge returns.
Now, it has turned its attention to the latest college football odds for Saturday from Caesars and locked in picks for every FBS matchup. Head here to see every pick.
Top college football predictions for Aug. 28, 2021
One of the top college football picks the model is recommending for Saturday: Hawaii (+18) keeps it within the spread as it takes on UCLA at 3:30 p.m. ET in Pasadena, Calif.
Hawaii has fared rather well in recent contests versus Pac-12 schools as the Rainbow Warriors have won two of their last three versus the conference. That includes another Week 0 game in 2019 when Hawaii upset the Arizona Wildcats. Hawaii coach Todd Graham is also very familiar with the Bruins as he coached in the Pac-12 for six years. The former Arizona State coach went 3-3 against UCLA with only one of those losses coming by more than seven points.
In his first year at Hawaii last season, Graham emphasized defense which has been missing from Hawaii for much of its program history. The Rainbow Warriors finished 54th in points allowed at 27.6 points per game. That’s a big jump from the 98th ranking the year prior and it marked Hawaii’s best points allowed ranking since 2007.
Meanwhile, last season’s UCLA looked like many of the teams that Chip Kelly has coached with lots of points scored and lots of points allowed. Things don’t figure to improve this year as the team lost its best defensive lineman in Osa Odighizuwa, who was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. The SportsLine model sees Hawaii QB Chevan Cordeiro being a threat with both his arm and legs as he’s projected to gain over 300 yards from scrimmage, helping the Rainbow Warriors stay within the spread in over 60 percent of simulations.
How to make college football picks for Saturday, Aug. 28
The model has also made the call on who wins and covers in every other FBS matchup on Saturday, and it’s calling for a big favorite to get a huge scare. You can only get every pick for every game at SportsLine.
So what college football picks can you make with confidence? And which heavy favorite gets a big scare? Check out the latest college football odds below, then visit SportsLine to see which teams win and cover the spread, all from a proven computer model that has returned $3,500 in profit over the past five seasons, and find out.
College football odds for Saturday, Aug. 28 (via Caesars)
Saturday, Aug. 28
Nebraska at Illinois (+7, 55)
Featured Game | Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers
UConn at Fresno State (-27.5, 62.5)
Featured Game | Fresno State Bulldogs vs. Connecticut Huskies
Hawaii at UCLA (-18, 68.5)
Featured Game | UCLA Bruins vs. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
UTEP at New Mexico State (+9, 54.5)
Featured Game | New Mexico State Aggies vs. UTEP Miners
Southern Utah (FCS) at San Diego State (no line)
