Oregon State vs TCU: College Football Odds - Week 1 Picks

Cowboys Stadium in Dallas is the site for one of the most intriguing match-ups of college football’s opening weekend as the TCU Horned Frogs and Oregon State Beavers meet on ESPN with a 7:45pm EST kick-off. Online sportsbooks have opened with TCU as a -13.5-point favorite in week 1 college football odds with a total of 50. Both teams have been perennial bowl programs and are favored to contend for their respective conference titles. TCU begins the season in the top 5 and with a shot at the BCS title. Oregon State has been the Pac-10 runner up the past 2 seasons and has 15 starters returning to a team that went 8-5 in college football betting last year.

The Beavers are notoriously slow starters in college football odds but usually tend to rally late in the season. Sophomore Ryan Katz is the new quarterback but he is supported by all top rushers and receivers from 2009 that scored 32 points per game. Junior Jacquizz Rodgers rushed for 1,502 yards in 2009 while senior James Rodgers caught for 1,034 yards. The defense must cut down on the 25 PPG of last year. OSU has covered 6 out of their last 7 games away from home.

Expectations are through the roof for the TCU Horned Frogs after they went 12-1 last year with a Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State. The Frogs have had double digit wins in 6 out of the last 8 seasons as 10-year coach Gary Patterson has built a powerhouse favored to win the Mountain West Conference. TCU has 9 starters back on an offense that averaged 38 PPG last year and 7 starters back on a defense that allowed 13 PPG in 2009. Senior QB Andy Dalton was the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year in 2009 as he passed for 2,756 yards with 23 TD’s and ran for 610 more. TCU has gone 15-5 against the spread as a favorite in college football betting odds since 2008.