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As is tradition around this time of year, the Southpoint hotel sportsbook released its early college football “games of the year” odds today. Five BYU games were on the list, and BYU is underdogs in four of them and a coin flip in another.
Below are the opening lines. Note that “+” means BYU is an underdog.
BYU +7 vs Utah — September 11
BYU +6 vs Arizona State — September 18
BYU +1 at Baylor — October 16
BYU PICK ‘EM vs Virginia — October 30
BYU +13 at USC — November 17
Opening lines can be pretty volatile and and will sway once the games get closer, but it’s an early look at what the sharps in Vegas are thinking of BYU this season. BYU lost some key contributors, most notably QB Zach Wilson, so it makes sense oddsmakers aren’t super bullish on BYU at the moment. If BYU’s next starting QB is capable and the offensive line doesn’t take a big step back then I think the lines in many of these games will be closer.
Utah, Arizona State and USC are likely the top three in teams in the Pac 12 South and potential preseason top 25 teams, so we’ll get to know where BYU stacks up against some of the top teams out west.