Alabama Football: Week 1 Schedule & Early Betting Lines|Alabama Hot Topics|Team BattleGround|College BattleGround

WEEK 1

ABC and ESPN have announced the television schedule for Week 1 of the 2016 College Football and WOW what a schedule! Forget any thoughts of doing outdoor activities on Labor Day weekend. You will be glued to the TV set.

(All times CT)

Thursday, Sept. 1

South Carolina at Vanderbilt 7 p.m. ESPN – How will Gamecocks fans react if the Coach Boom Era begins with a loss to the ‘Dores?.

Saturday, Sept. 3

Georgia Tech vs. Boston College (Dublin) 6:30 a.m. ESPN2 – Really? This game starts at 12:30 p.m. Ireland time. Why so early?
Oklahoma at Houston 11 a.m. ABC – I’d bet Bob Stoops thought this was a cupcake game when he scheduled it.
Hawaii at Michigan 11 a.m. ESPN – This should get ugly REAL fast.
LSU vs. Wisconsin (Green Bay, Wis.) 2:30 p.m. ABC – Played in Lambeau Field, this should be a fun one to watch.
Georgia vs. North Carolina (Atlanta) 4:30 p.m. ESPN – Kirby Smart does not get a lot of time to acclimate himself.
Southern Cal vs. Alabama (Arlington, Texas) 7 p.m. ABC – Two of the most historic programs facing off in Jerry’s World.
Clemson at Auburn 8 p.m. ESPN – The Tigers are gonna STOMP the Tigers. I think you know which is which.

Sunday, Sept. 4

Notre Dame at Texas 6:30 p.m. ABC – Is it blasphemy that a staunch Catholic college should play on Sunday?

Monday Sept. 5

Ole Miss vs. Florida State (Orlando) 7 p.m. ESPN – This is a HUGE game for both teams. It very well could signify where each program is headed in the future.

Every year it seems like there is a competition to see what casino can be the first to come out with the betting lines for college football. This year’s winner is something called South Point Casino in Las Vegas which is south of the airport. They have released spreads for select college football games this fall. If you are in Vegas, it might be worth a drive down the strip to plunk down some cash on some of these surprising odds (*):

Sept. 10:

Penn State at Pittsburgh (-9)
BYU at Utah (-7.5)
Arkansas at TCU (-6.5)

Sept. 17:

Michigan State at Notre Dame (-6)
Ohio State at Oklahoma (-9) *
Oregon at Nebraska (-2)
Alabama (-3) at Ole Miss

Sept. 24:

Arkansas (-1.5) vs. Texas A&M (in Arlington, TX)

Oct. 1:

Tennessee at Georgia (PK)

Oct. 8:

Oklahoma (-14) vs. Texas (in Dallas, TX)
Washington at Oregon (-4.5)

Oct. 15:

Ohio State (-3) at Wisconsin
Stanford (-1) at Notre Dame
Alabama (-3.5) at Tennessee

Oct. 20:

BYU at Boise State (-11.5)

Oct. 29:

Clemson (-1) at Florida State
Baylor (-4.5) at Texas
Michigan (-2) at Michigan State
Nebraska at Wisconsin (-4)
Florida vs. Georgia (-1) (in Jacksonville, FL)
Auburn at Ole Miss (-12)

Nov. 12:

LSU (-5.5) at Arkansas
Stanford at Oregon (-1.5)

Nov. 19:

Stanford (-13.5) at Cal
Southern Cal at UCLA (-3)

Nov. 25:

TCU (-1) at Texas
Arizona State at Arizona (-7)
Washington at Washington State (PK)
Florida at Florida State (-11)
Michigan at Ohio State (-6.5)
Utah State at BYU (-1)
Nevada (-1.5) at UNLV
Auburn at Alabama (-18)
Georgia Tech at Georgia (-11)
Kentucky at Louisville (-16.5)
Mississippi State at Ole Miss (-12)
Notre Dame at Southern Cal (-6.5)

Dec. 3:

Oklahoma State at Oklahoma (-12.5)

National sportswriters come up with their quickly forgotten “Way Too Early” polls and picks which are all conjecture. But Las Vegas betting lines are a different beast all together. They are serious about these picks because they are talking about millions (billions?) of dollars. Imagine several people in 20th floor executive meeting rooms pouring over stats, rosters, and scouting reports to come up with these numbers. More than anything else out there, these lines are the true “previews” for now.