Week 4 College Football Opening Odds and Spreads

• The opening lines for College Football Week 4 have been released
• Texas A&M and Alabama open as the biggest favorites, starting at -29.5 and -28.5, respectively
• Spreads and totals for every game are listed below

More college football programs ease their way back into the 2020 season during Week 4. Barring any postponements or cancellations, this weekend provides an exciting slate of games for bettors to dive into.

Conference play begins for the SEC and Big 12, while ACC teams continue to press forward through obstacles presented by COVID-19. North Carolina and Charlotte canceled their Week 3 game, and for the second consecutive week, four contests across the country were postponed.

In the games played this past weekend, taking the points remained an effective overall strategy. As teams continue to try and find their footing this season, heavy favorites have yet to consistently provide the margins that sportsbooks have expected.

Although Miami widely closed as a narrow favorite in its game against Louisville, at least one book kept the Hurricanes as 2.5-point underdogs prior to kickoff. Otherwise, dogs covered the spread – or won outright – in four of the six games played featuring teams in the Top 25 last week.

Here are the updated look at the College Football Odds for Week 4, with the opening lines below.

Week 4 College Football Opening Odds

Odds taken on September 20th from FanDuel and DraftKings.

Norvell’s Positive COVID-19 Test Leaves FSU vs Miami Line TBD

FSU was already a likely underdog heading into its game this weekend at Miami, but the Seminoles’ chances of upsetting the Hurricanes were made worse following Mike Norvell’s positive test. The game has been conspicuously omitted from early line releases after in the wake of the news and the Hurricanes’ big win over Louisville on Saturday night.

Deputy head coach Chris Thomsen will handle in person coaching.

In an emailed statement, FSU head football coach Mike Norvell discloses he has tested positive for COVID in the most recent round of testing. Plans to be involved remotely as much as possible. Deputy head coach Chris Thomsen will handle in person coaching. pic.twitter.com/7mzbAIwFxz

— Warchant.com (@Warchant) September 19, 2020

Norvell had tested negative twice over the course of last week, but is now forced into a remote coaching role as Chris Thomsen handles on-field responsibilities for the Seminoles. The only time Thomsen served as a head coach came in 2012 with Texas Tech in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, where Thomsen led the Red Raiders to a 34-31 win against Minnesota.

Florida State opened its season with a 16-13 home loss to Georgia Tech, who in turn was throttled in the second half of its home-opener against UCF, and lost 49-21. FSU redshirt junior quarterback James Blackman wasn’t very decisive beyond the Noles’ two early scoring drives, and barely completed just over 50-percent of his passes in the game.

Blackman also finished with a paltry four yards-per-attempt and turned the ball over three times.

Miami has opened its season with two straight wins. After riding the legs of junior running back Cam’Ron Harris against UAB, head coach Manny Diaz turned senior transfer quarterback D’Eriq King loose against Louisville, and the Canes cruised to a 47-34 win against the Cardinals.

Even though the Canes have just beaten Florida State once at home since 2004, that win came in 2018, 28-27. Miami failed to cover the 14-point spread in that game, but did so last year as a three-point favorite in a 27-10 victory. The Hurricanes should have plenty of momentum against an opponent that will have a different head coach on the sidelines for the fourth time in its last seven games.

Betting Against COVID-19

As recently as two weeks ago, Ole Miss had 27 players flagged for positive COVID-19 tests.

Ahead of the Rebels’ season-opener against Florida, new head coach Lane Kiffin announced that the team is completely clear and ready to go. New head coaches have had a tough enough time navigating the pandemic without having their players infected, but opening up against a Top 5 program is even less ideal.

The Gators are favored by 12.5 points for the Saturday afternoon game.

Texas Tech has been a poster child for how to not handle the virus, after it was reported earlier this week that 75 Red Raiders players have tested positive for it since June.

Currently, Tech is reporting that it has just six active cases, but after barely escaping with a win against Houston Baptist in its season-opener, the Raiders are going to have to hit on some big plays to keep up with Texas. The Longhorns may have turned in the strongest performance of any team in its first game this season. They covered more than a 40-point spread to dismantle UTEP 59-3 on September 12 and will be a well-rested 17.5-point favorite in Lubbock.

Two Games With Intrigue

Pittsburgh started slow and failed to cover against Syracuse in Week 3, but pulled things together for a win following a strong second half against the Orange.

Louisville was outclassed by Miami on Saturday night but didn’t quit, and the Cardinals have the look of a team that can stay within punching distance of any team that doesn’t feature a high-powered offense. Pitt is favored by 3.5 for their Saturday afternoon game.

Tennessee and South Carolina begin their seasons with a matchup in Columbia and the Gamecocks will pay plus-money if they can keep things within a field goal.

After a bumpy start to his career in Knoxville, redshirt senior quarterback Jarrett Guarantano has slowly progressed in just under three seasons as the Volunteers’ starting quarterback. He should benefit from playing behind a talented and experienced offensive line to start the season, but South Carolina sophomore quarterback Ryan Hilinski has shown that he’s not afraid of big moments and should be poised to take another step forward this season.