College Football Odds Week 2 - Can the SEC Continue Its Out of Conference Dominance?

College Football Odds Week 2 - Recommended Bets

• Alabama @ Texas: Texas +20, -115 at FanDuel
• Tennessee @ Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh, +225 at PointsBet
• Kentucky @ Florida: Florida -4.5, -105 at PointsBet

College Football Week 2 to provide even more excitement than opening weekend

As we enter college football’s Week 2, teams ought to have shaken off some of the offseason rust and started to make improvements. The top teams will all be looking to build off of last week’s performance.

The SEC lost only one game in Week 1, throwing up some intriguing college football odds this week.  Let’s take a closer look at college football odds for Week 2 and the schedule for some of the SEC’s highest-profile teams.

College Football Week 2: Predictions and Best Odds

Alabama vs Texas: Best Odds

Saturday, September 10 at 12 pm (noon) ET on FOX

It doesn’t get much more impressive than what Alabama did last week against Utah State. The Crimson Tide rolled to a 55-0 win, in which they took their foot off the gas and coasted through a scoreless fourth quarter. Bryce Young took another step forward in defending his Heisman Trophy, throwing five touchdown passes while rushing for 100 yards and another touchdown. The Alabama defense was just as impressive, allowing 136 total yards and holding Utah State to seven first downs. It was the dominating performance we’ve grown accustomed to from Nick Saban’s teams. 

Our other article looking at the NCAA College Football Championship odds suggested Saban will be back with a vengeance after losing the national title last season, this is the start they needed to threaten the other teams. 

On the other side, this is a huge test for Texas in Steve Sarkisian’s second season with the Longhorns. The former Alabama offensive coordinator only went 5-7 with Texas last year, meaning the Longhorns’ rebuild still has a ways to go. It was hard to tell how much progress Texas has made in a 52-10 Week 1 win over Louisiana-Monroe. Still, the Longhorns dominated in all three phases of the game, with Ohio State transfer Quinn Ewers settled in nicely at quarterback, with a mistake-free 225 yards/2 TDs through the air, and both the defense and the special teams contributing touchdowns.

Saban has never lost a game to a former assistant besides Kirby Smart. This doesn’t bode well for Sarkisian and the Longhorns this week. However, the Crimson Tide is heading to Austin on Saturday for a rare non-conference road game. Despite how easy Alabama made their job look last week, the Tide still faces lingering questions at wide receiver and along the offensive line. Those units will meet stiffer tests against Texas. This, along with home field advantage and the strengths we saw in the Week 1 win, should allow the ‘Horns to stick around. Even if an upset isn’t in the cards, Texas should be able to stay within three touchdowns in their College Football week 2 game.

College Football Odds Week 2 - Recommended Bet

• Texas, +20.5 at -115 at FanDuel

Tennessee vs Pittsburgh: Best Odds

Saturday, September 10 at 3:30 pm ET on ESPN3

Pat Narduzzi and the Panthers pulled out a 41-34 win in Knoxville last season. However, at home, they head into this season’s rematch as 6.5-point home underdogs. Despite pulling off a 38-31 win over rival West Virginia in their season opener, the Panthers came out with some questions to answer. Defensively, though they held West Virginia quarterback J.T. Daniels to just 5.4 yards per pass and sacked him three times, the Panthers didn’t contain the run as well as they would have liked, allowing CJ Donaldson and Tony Mathis Jr. to rush for 196 yards on 24 carries. On the other side of the ball, Pitt’s rushing attack went nowhere, averaging just 3.0 yards per rush, excluding QB Kedon Slovis’ (thanks to getting sacked five times) -20-yard contribution. The good news is that when he wasn’t getting sacked, Slovis was effective, throwing for 308 yards on just 24 attempts to a largely unproven set of receivers.

Meanwhile, the Volunteers had an easy time beating Ball State 59-10 in their season opener. While Tennessee dominated on both sides of the ball, it’s too soon to answer that accompanied the Vols into the season. Tennessee’s offense showed impressive balance, racking up 569 total yards, though the offensive line (which allowed 44 sacks last season) wasn’t tested against MAC opposition. The same can be said of the Vols’ defense, which only allowed 10 points but didn’t record a single sack. That is a potential red flag against an SEC schedule.

Even though reigning ACC champs Pitt took a step back this year, they still look to be a step ahead of Tennessee. The Panthers’ pass rush (potentially one of the better ones in the nation) has a chance to get the best of the Tennessee offensive line. In contrast, their offensive line (which, it must be said, looked vulnerable last week) should have a decent shot at holding off the Vols’ underwhelming pass rush and allow Slovis, who looked good leading the offense, to be fairly comfortable. This all makes the Panthers an excellent pick as a home underdog this week with good College Football odds for week 2.

College Football Odds Week 2 - Recommended Bet

• Pittsburgh, +225 at PointsBet

Kentucky vs Florida: Best Odds

Saturday, September 10 at 7 pm ET on ESPN+

A year ago, Florida lost to Kentucky for the second time since 1986. The first of those losses - their first at home to Kentucky since 1979 - came in 2018. In other words, this is a game that Florida expects to win. It won’t be easy in Billy Napier’s first SEC game as head coach.

The good news for Florida is they survived a massive test in Week 1, knocking off #7 Utah at home. That should give the Gators - especially quarterback Anthony Richardson, who ran for 106 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 168 yards while working with a revamped wide receiver corps - all the confidence in the world. Defensively, though they did enough to win the game, the Gators were far from perfect in Week 1, allowing 230 yards on the ground and a pair of long touchdown drives in the second half.

Kentucky also enters this game at 1-0, though the Wildcats weren't really challenged by Miami (Ohio). Nevertheless, Kentucky has become one of the top defensive teams in the SEC in recent years, and this season boasts one of the best linebacker corps in the conference and an experienced secondary. This allowed the Wildcats to limit Miami to just 5.6 yards per pass and 3.5 yards per carry last week. Kentucky is in good hands on offense with quarterback Will Levis, who threw for 303 yards and three touchdowns in Week 1. However, the offensive line must improve after allowing Levis to get sacked four times and only helped to generate about three yards per non-sack carry. It’s worth mentioning that senior running back Chris Rodriguez, who didn’t play in Week 1, will also be out for this game, which is a problem for the Wildcats.

Naturally, there’s some concern about a letdown with the Gators after a huge home win to open the season. However, Kentucky’s issues in protecting Levis and running the ball trump that risk. And Kentucky’s defense, while solid, will have its hands full with a dual-threat quarterback like Richardson. He will be the difference-maker, allowing the Gators to hold serve and cover the spread at home.

College Football Odds Week 2 - Recommended Bet

• Florida, -4.5 at -110 at PointsBet

Conclusion 

Alabama is off cruising after a flawless start. Can they maintain this going into week 2? If you're looking for more football content, be sure to read our guide: How To Bet on College Football, and visit our odds comparison tool to compare the latest odds.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are the odds on who will win the NCAA football Championship? 

Alabama currently has the shortest odds to win the national championship at +180. The following shortest odds come from reigning national champion Georgia and Ohio State, both listed at +300 (all at FanDuel).

Which Week 2 college football games should I watch on TV?

The best game on the Week 2 college football schedule is Alabama at Texas, which starts at noon EST on Fox. In the evening, there are a few marquee games. This includes Kentucky at Florida, which begins at 7 pm EST on ESPN+, and USC at Stanford, which starts at 7:30 pm EST on ABC.

Written by Bryan Zarpentine, 

Bryan has been a sports and sports betting writer for over 12 years. When he's not writing about sports, he's usually watching sports, attending sporting events, or on road trips on his way to sporting events.  

Bryan is an NCAA football and basketball specialist who gives excellent insight into MLB and the NFL worlds.