College Football Picks: The Panel's Best Bets For Week 1 On Friday Night

The Panel's College Football Picks:

• The Panel Pick 1: Lehigh & Army Over 47.5 Points @ -110 With DraftKings
• The Panel Pick 2: Florida Atlantic +14 Points Vs Michigan State @ -110 With Caesars
• The Panel Pick 3: TCU & Stanford Over 60.5 Points @ -105 With BetMGM

Our team of experts dive into another exciting weekend of the college football season, focusing on insights and odds from top NFL betting sites. 

Leveraging our in-depth expertise, we'll cover the key matchups, spotlight players to watch, examine positional battles, and identify potential surprises.

We'll provide a thorough overview of where the smart money is trending, break down each game, and share our own strategies and insights.

Keep reading for The Panel's detailed coverage and expert predictions for tonight's slate of games.

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Lehigh Mountain Hawks vs. Army Black Knights - (O/U 49.5, Black Knights, -31.5) 

The Lehigh Mountain Hawks and Army Black Knights lead off an exciting slate of games this Friday night beginning at 6pm ET. 

Army faces plenty of questions after consecutive 6-6 seasons and some think Jeff Monken could be on the hot seat. That seems unlikely, but you never know. 

Army is moving to the American Athletic Conference after being an Independent for all these years while Lehigh are looking for anything positive after a 2-9 campaign in 2023.    

Army upgraded its offensive line and has added some more rushing talent. Lehigh struggled mightily against the run all last year. 

The last time Lehigh played an Armed Forces school was in 2018 and it lost by 30 to Navy and the Over is down to 47.5 points for this Friday night contest, which should not shock anyone. 

Don't be surprised to see Army hold onto the ball for 40 or more minutes as Lehigh cannot extend offensive drives or get off the field defensively with those struggles expected to continue. 

Should one take the over on Friday night here with betting apps? The answer is a definite yes as that 31.5-point spread could be more risky.

The Panel Pick 1: Lehigh and Army Over 47.5 Points - DraftKings -110

Florida Atlantic Owls vs. Michigan State Spartans - (O/U 45, Spartans, -14) 

Okay, Florida Atlantic has not had much to hoot about other than during the Lane Kiffin era. Now, Michigan State welcomes them into East Lansing for a Friday night contest.  

This contest could be closer than expected and Michigan State has a whole lot of new everything with Jonathan Smith (formerly Oregon State’s head coach) bringing Aidan Chiles and Jack Veiling. 

Chiles will be the starting quarterback and, though the offensive line has not improved much, Michigan State should manage to score a few more points.

So, with Nate Carter and Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams in the backfield, Michigan State should have some balance, but it comes down to time. 

This opener should be an easy win if the offensive and defensive fronts improve slightly. The problem is that nothing came easy for the Spartans in 2023 and 2024 and it could be more of the same early.

Our pick is for these two teams to be slightly off on Friday night. Florida Atlantic should be able to keep this one within two scores for the cover.

The Panel Pick 2: Florida Atlantic +14 Points Vs Michigan State - Caesars -110

TCU Horned Frogs vs. Stanford Cardinal (O/U 60, Horned Frogs -9.5)

The Horned Frogs and Cardinal offer some offensive upside and the expectation is that Josh Hoover and the TCU offense will need to score 30+ points to win. 

The same could be said for the Stanford offense, as the TCU defense goes from a 3-3-5 to a 4-2-5, but the problem is that neither defense will put much fear into the opposing offenses. 

If Hoover keeps the mistakes down, TCU could easily put up 35-40 points. However, the same could be said for Stanford, as Sophomore Elic Ayomanor could put up even more than 1,013 yards and six touchdowns. 

That Over is worth taking late on Friday night as the points pile up and so do the memories of those old Pac-12 after-midnight wild finishes 

The Panel Pick 3: TCU & Stanford Over 60.5 Points - BetMGM -105