The top game of the Week 0 college football schedule is not even being played in the United States, as Nebraska and Northwestern will square off in Dublin, Ireland at 12:30 p.m. ET. Neither team is widely expected to compete for the Big Ten title this year, but both programs need to get off to a good start following disappointing campaigns. Nebraska recorded a 56-7 blowout win against Northwestern in the lone meeting last year on Oct. 2 — the Cornhuskers failed to win another game after that in 2021. Head coach Scott Frost is motivated to pick up another blowout win on Saturday, and his team is an 11-point favorite in the latest Week 0 college football odds at Caesars Sportsbook.
Meanwhile, Northwestern had recorded five winning seasons in a six-year stretch prior to last year’s 3-9 campaign. Which team should you be backing with your Week 0 college football picks in that game and others? Before locking in any college football bets, be sure to see the top Week 0 college football expert picks, predictions and best bets from Barrett Sallee.
Sallee is a true insider — a CBS Sports analyst, SiriusXM host, Heisman voter and consistently one of the top CBS Sports experts picking games against the spread — and his best bets have helped bring in huge returns. He debuted with SportsLine in 2017 and has delivered in a big way on his college football picks.
Over the past three years, he is 105-89 in his popular best bets column at SportsLine. Anybody who has been following him is way up.
Now, he has turned his attention to the Week 0 college football odds from Caesars and is sharing his top three best bets over at SportsLine. If you parlay them together, you could be looking at a return of around 6-1. Get his top college football picks now.
Top Week 0 college football expert predictions
One of Sallee’s top college football picks for Week 0: He’s backing Illinois against Wyoming in a 4 p.m. ET matchup on Saturday. Illinois opened at -9.5, but that line is up to -14 now. Wyoming might have made a bowl appearance last season, but the Cowboys were decimated by the transfer portal on both sides of the ball.
They lost their starting quarterback, top running back and top wide receiver, along with their leading tackler and multiple other key players on defense.
Illinois got better during the offseason as it heads into its second season under head coach Bret Bielema. The Fighting Illini added experienced quarterback Tommy DeVito in the transfer portal, and they return an experienced running back in Chase Brown to lead their rushing attack.
Wyoming has lost 10 of its last 14 road games and is winless in six straight games against Big Ten opponents, which are two of the reasons why Sallee likes Illinois to win in a blowout. See who else Sallee likes at SportsLine.
Featured Game | Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Wyoming Cowboys
How to make Week 0 college football picks
Sallee has also found two other college football picks he’s high on, including a double-digit underdog he believes has a chance to win outright. You can only see his picks at SportsLine.
What are the best bets for Week 0 of college football? And which college football picks need to be part of your parlays? Visit SportsLine now to see Barrett Sallee’s college football best bets, all from one of the top analysts in the nation who has crushed his picks for SportsLine.