BYU football opens as 1.5 point favorite over Arizona

In case the bevy of Big 12 realignment stories hasn't tipped you off, we're a long way from BYU's season-opening game, a September 3rd showdown with the Arizona Wildcats. We're not 100% sure who BYU's QB is going to be. We don't know exactly what the full depth chart will be like. Arizona will be adjusting to a new defensive coordinator and has talent to replace as well.

But that hasn't stopped the early sharps from putting an early line on the game. Per ESPN's Brett McMurphy, the folks at 5dimes have BYU as the early, but slim, favorite:

More openers via 5Dimes: BYU -1.5 Ariz; Stan -18.5 KSU; SCar -3 Vandy; Cal -22.5 Hawaii; Minn -6 OreSt; Col -5 CSU; GT -2.5 BC; UW -20.5 RU

— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) May 6, 2016

That differs pretty significantly from the early ESPN FPI projection of the game, which gives BYU only a 38.3% chance of winning.

This should be a pretty exciting game, as Arizona looks to retool a defense that got shelled by good teams last season (56 points to UCLA, 55 to Stanford, 49 to Washington, 52 to Arizona State), and BYU looks to start a challenging schedule on the right foot. This is a neutral site showdown in Glendale, and there will probably be plenty of Cougar fans there as well.

I'm not a gambler, but this game being perceived as close to a 50-50 type of affair feels about right to me. What do you think?