Early Odds for Week 1 of NCAA Football, More College Hoops Players Leaving for NBA

With four-plus months to go until NCAA football kicks off, it’s not too early for fans to get a fix and look ahead to Week 1 for the matchups. On Thursday, the oddsmakers got into the fun, specifically 5Dimes, and set odds for the long-awaited week.

Wake Forest (-7.5) at UL Monroe

Mississippi (-8.5) vs Boise State (Atlanta)

Texas A&M vs South Carolina (-9)

Temple at Vanderbilt (-21)

BYU (-14) at Connecticut

UTSA at Houston (-9.5)

UNLV at Arizona (-25.5)

Colorado State (pick ‘em) at Colorado (Denver)

Bowling Green (-6.5) vs. Western Kentucky

Penn State (-1) vs. Central Florida (Dublin)

Ohio State (-15.5) at Navy

Rice at Notre Dame (-21)

West Virginia at Alabama (-23.5)

Washington (-21.5) at Hawaii

Oklahoma State at Florida State (-13.5)

LSU (-3) vs. Wisconsin (Houston)

Utah State vs Tennessee (-6.5)

Miami at Louisville (-3.5)

Meanwhile, here’s a further look ahead to the odds of winning the 2014-2015 College Football FBS Championship.

Jameis Winston

Florida State - 9/2
Alabama - 6/1
Oregon-13/2
Ohio State - 9/1
Auburn and Oklahoma - 12/1
LSU - 16/1
Michigan State and UCLA - 20/1
Stanford - 25/1

In addition, early quarterback-heavy Heisman odds are also out.

Jameis Winston (Florida State): 5/2
Marcus Mariota (Oregon): 5/1
Braxton Miller (Ohio State):11/2
Bryce Petty (Baylor):10/1
Todd Gurley (Georgia):12/1
Brett Hundley (UCLA), Everett Golson (Notre Dame), and T.J. Yeldon (Alabama): 14/1
Melvin Gordon (Wisconsin) and Mike Davis (South Carolina): 18/1
Connor Cook (Michigan State), Nick Marshall (Auburn) and Trevor Knight (Oklahoma): 25/1

Meanwhile, stealing headlines on Friday is Northwestern University’s football team’s historic vote on whether or not to unionize. The players will have two opportunities to vote during the day and the ballots will sit impounded. Should the National Labor Relations Board side with the team’s players, they’ll be opened.

A decision may not come for months, reported ESPN, and its impact may not be felt for years.

Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald is opposed to unionization and has meet with players both independently and in groups to talk about it as well as position coaches speaking with the players and parents.

As for Northwestern’s upcoming season, they’re not on Vegas’ radar for the national championship.

NCAA Hoops News

In other NCAA news, basketball players are continuing their early jump to the NBA. On Thursday, Colorado’s Spencer Dinwiddie announced his intention to throw his hat in the ring. Dinwiddie is giving up his last year of college eligibility.

Spencer Dinwiddie

 It was a short season for Dinwiddie as he suffered an injury on January 21 in the Washington game. Prior to his season’s end, he averaged 14.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals, according to NBC Sports.  He had a better scoring average in the previous year (15.3 ppg) but in his 17 games this season, his shooting percentages were higher this year. This included 46.6% from the field, 41.3% in 3’s and 87.2% for free throws.

Dinwiddie’s size is considered an asset and while in college, he played point guard but he is likely play either at the next level. Prior to his injury, Dinwiddie had been estimated as a first-rounder but now questions will swirl on how much his knee injury will impact his draft.

For the 2015 Men’s NCAA Championship, Colorado sits at +10,000.

Also on Thursday, UNLV junior Khem Birch announced he will turn pro.

This season Birch averaged 11.5 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.8 blocked shots each game and was the Mountain West’s Defensive Player of the Year. He has been listed by Draft Express as No. 61 on its Top 100 draft prospects.

He’ll join teammate Roscoe Smith, who previously announced his intentions to go pro.

UNLV’s team will be affected on the defensive front as it sat at No. 3 in the Mountain West for field goal percentage defense and No. 2 for three-point percentage defense. The team will bring back one starter from the front court, Christian Wood, and will look to two freshmen Demetris Morant (a redshirt this season) and Goodluck Okonoboh to step up.

As for UNLV, it sits at +10,000 to win it all in 2015.