The college football season gets underway this weekend with five Week 0 matchups, headlined by an AP Top 25 matchup between Big 12 teams as Iowa State meets Kansas State in Dublin.
Not all of the Week 0 games have player props available, as some involve FCS teams (like UNLV hosting Idaho State), but we have scoured the data from what odds are available to make our three most confident wagers.
Read on for our top Week 0 player props, bets and picks.
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Saturday's Best College Football Player Props & Bets
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
Let’s dive into our top college football Week 0 player props for Saturday’s slate of games.
Dylan Edwards Anytime Touchdown Scorer (-125)
Though both Kansas State and Iowa State possess experienced quarterbacks in Avery Johnson and Rocco Becht, respectively, each of their plus-money odds to go over their 1.5 projected passing touchdowns total suggests this game should have more of an old-school ground-and-pound feel.
Dylan Edwards was the team's workhorse running back in its bowl win against Rutgers last season. He averaged 7.4 yards per carry and ran for 196 yards in that game, and his biggest competition for rushing yards early in the season should be from his own quarterback.
Edwards flashed his home run ability in the bowl game, with touchdown runs of 36 and 65 yards. He also caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from returning quarterback Johnson, which shows his versatility in the passing game.
The Wildcats threw for three touchdowns in last year's loss to the Cyclones, but I expect them to lean on Edwards in this matchup, after he ran for five touchdowns a year ago, two of which came in the only game he had more than eight carries.
Jalon Daniels Under 200.5 Passing Yards (-114)
Few teams have as much experience with their returning starting quarterback as Kansas does with returning signal-caller Jalon Daniels.
Daniels has thrown for 6,751 yards and rushed for another 1,401. However, much of that experience is mitigated by his learning a new system under a different coordinator for a third straight season.
Daniels stayed under this projected total in seven out of 12 games last season, including each of the first five while he acclimated to a new system. I expect much of the same in this season opener, while the Jayhawks rely on his legs more early (he had double-digit carries in two of the first three games last year).
Micah Alejado Under 290.5 Passing Yards (-114)
Stanford ranks 26th in the country and third in the ACC with 64% of its roster returning. The most production comes back on defense (73%), including 15 out of 20 players who played 150+ snaps.
That should pose issues early for Hawaii quarterback Micah Alejado, whose player props are inflated given how he ended last season. Alejado threw for 469 yards and five touchdowns in the season finale against New Mexico. But I believe that was more of a product of an awful Lobos defense than potential success that could carry over into this season.
I trust in Stanford interim head coach Frank Reich, who brings an NFL pedigree, and will lean on an offensive line that returns three starters. Ball control from Stanford is as much of a reason for this wager as is the fact that Alejado is still inexperienced, with just 70 pass attempts last season.
Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.