CFB Week 2 upset alert: Don't sleep on Georgia Tech
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Week 1 of the 2020 college football season was rather anticlimactic.
Outside of South Alabama's win over Southern Miss as a 12.5-point underdog last Thursday, all eight favorites on the docket won outright. Will there be more drama in Week 2 with a larger slate?
Here, we'll handpick one team on Saturday's docket that has the best chance at pulling off a huge upset.
Week 2 Spreads
| Matchup | Spread |
|---|---|
| UAB at Miami | Miami -14.5 |
| Syracuse at North Carolina | North Carolina -22.5 |
| Charlotte at Appalachian State | Appalachian State -17 |
| UL Lafayette at Iowa State | Iowa State -11.5 |
| Arkansas State at Kansas State | Kansas State -10.5 |
| UL Monroe at Army | Army -21 |
| Duke at Notre Dame | Notre Dame -20 |
| UTSA at Texas State | Texas State -9 |
| Georgia Tech at Florida State | Florida State -12.5 |
| Clemson at Wake Forest | Clemson -33 |
| Tulane at South Alabama | Tulane -8 |
| Western Kentucky at Louisville | Louisville -11.5 |
| UTEP at Texas | Texas -43 |
| Coastal Carolina at Kansas | Kansas -6.5 |
These teams are safe
Louisville gets a competent mid-major program to open the season in Western Kentucky, but the Cardinals should roll. They're a legitimate sleeper in a deep ACC and are on the incline with head coach Scott Satterfield.
Notre Dame draws Duke at the right time. The Blue Devils are almost always dangerous as 'dogs under head coach David Cutcliffe, but these two clubs are heading in opposite directions.
Texas State won't be favored by more than a touchdown against many other FBS programs, but UTSA is that bad - the Roadrunners were 75-1 to win the Conference USA this offseason.
Upset alert for Week 2 - Florida State (-12.5 vs. Georgia Tech)
The 2019 season was a complete teardown for Georgia Tech in head coach Geoff Collins' first year at the post.
Players recruited to run the triple option under Paul Johnson had to switch gears on the fly. There were unsurprising growing pains: Georgia Tech ranked No. 120 in the country in yards per play en route to a 3-9 record. The Yellow Jackets didn't score more than 28 points in a single game.
Most bettors wouldn't want anything to do with a program that doesn't yet have its footing, but this is a good spot to back the Yellow Jackets.
Georgia Tech will improve drastically in the second year of a new system. The Yellow Jackets also rank second in the entire country in returning production, behind only Northwestern. There's certainly some continuity there - a huge plus considering the circumstances this offseason.
On the flip side, Florida State has been a low-floor, high-ceiling program the last few years. The Seminoles have notoriously started slow, going just 3-7-2 against the spread the last 12 games in September.
Collins has pulled off five upsets over the last three years, including two in which he was getting 14 or more points.
He and the Yellow Jackets are the best bet to make noise this weekend.
(Odds source: theScore Bet)
Alex Kolodziej is a betting writer for theScore. He's a graduate of Eastern Illinois who has been involved in the sports betting industry for 12 years. He can quote every line from "Rounders" and appreciates franchises that regularly wear alternate jerseys. Find him on Twitter @AJKolodziej.