College Football Friday Night Betting
Friday nights aren’t just reserved for high school football anymore. The day has become a big one for college football teams and fans with several contests played the day before the rest of the college football betting week gets underway. The 2023 Friday night college football schedule was a good one with a number of ranked teams in action. The 2023 Friday night college football showed that major colleges are looking for any form and path to generate revenue, and schools with lower profiles are looking for additional exposure. Naturally, lesser-known teams from the Group of Five conferences, such as the American Athletic, Sun Belt, Conference USA, Mid-American, and Mountain West, are eager to take the field on Friday nights when the bigger brands are off. This strategy allows them the full attention of fans, gamblers, and, most important of all, prospective recruits. Teams that would normally be ignored on a full Saturday find that the entire nation is focused on their Friday night matchups.
Friday night college football has been so successful that the Big Boys are increasing their dates. The Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, and Pac-12 have had regular Friday night games on their schedules. The 2023 Friday night schedule featured one of the most important games of the season, as the Pac-12 Championship Game was played on a Friday night and it was Washington beating Oregon 34-31, clinching a spot in the College Football Playoff.
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Week 1 Friday night action was highlighted by a high scoring game in Atlanta, Georgia, as Louisville rallied for a 39-34 win over Georgia Tech. Louisville outscored the Yellow Jackets 26-6 in the second half. Jake Plummer threw for three TDs and Jawhar Jordan ran for 96 yards. Other games in Week 1 Friday night action on September 1 had Eastern Michigan beating Howard 33-23, Miami-Florida routing Miami-Ohio 38-3, Michigan State rolling over Central Michigan 31-7, Kansas routing Missouri State 48-17 and Stanford outscoring Hawaii 37-24.
Week 2 Friday night football had Indiana State rolling over Indiana State 41-7, while Kansas won at home against Illinois by a score of 34-23. The Jayhawks bolted out to a 28-7 halftime lead and the game was really never in doubt. Jalon Daniels threw for 277 and two TDs in the win.
Week 3 Friday night football had three games but only one was competitive. Maryland routed Virginia 42-14, as Taulia Tagovailoa, the brother of the Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa, threw for 342 yards and one TD in the win. Emmanuel Michel scored three TDs as Air Force routed Utah State 39-21. The only close game was Army winning 37-29, as Hayden Reed and Bryson Daily both had over 100 yards on the ground.
Week 4 Friday night college football had four games, two of which were close. It was NC State beating Virginia 24-21, as Brayden Narveson kicked a 33-yard field goal at the buzzer. Boise State pulled out a 34-31 win at San Diego State but failed to cover the 6-point number. Wisconsin went into Purdue and routed the Boilermakers, winning 38-17 and it was Air Force rolling over San Jose State 45-20, easily covering the 6.5-point betting odds.
Week 5 Friday night football had a matchup of Top 20 teams and it was Oregon State dominating Utah, winning 21-7. The most competitive game in Week 5 Thursday Night Football had Louisville pulling out a 13-10 win at NC State. Also taking place in Week 5 it was Louisiana Tech going on the road and routing UTEP 24-10 and it was BYU outscoring Cincinnati in Provo, winning 35-27.
Week 6 Friday night college football had two games with Oklahoma State pulling off the upset against Kansas State and Nebraska rolling over Illinois. The Cowboys were a double-digit home underdog against the Wildcats, but Oklahoma State bolted to a 10-0 lead and held off Kansas State to win 29-21. In the other game, Nebraska scored 14 points in the second quarter and won 20-7 over Illinois.
Week 7 Friday night football had the greatest comeback in Stanford football history, as the Cardinal rallied from being down 29-0 at the half to stun Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes, winning 46-43 in double overtime. Stanford kicker Joshua Karty kicked the game tying field goal at the end of regulation and the game-winning 31-yard kick in the second overtime. Also in Week 7 Friday night football, it was Tulane rallying for a 31-21 win at Memphis, as the Green Wave scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to win and cover and it was Fresno State scoring late to win 37-32 at Utah State.
Week 8 Friday night football was a humiliation game, as SMU dominated Temple, winning 55-0. The Mustangs were laying 24-points on the road and SMU had that number taken care of at the half, as they led 24-0. SMU didn’t let up at all and scored 31 points in the second half. SMU did all the scoring and those 55 points were enough to send the game over the total. Preston Stone threw for 300 yards and two touchdowns in the win.
Week 9 Friday night football saw just one game, as it was Florida Atlantic going into Charlotte and routing the 49ers, winning by a score of 38-16. The game was never competitive, as FAU led 21-6 at the half. Quarterback Daniel Richardson threw three touchdown passes in the win, while LaJohntay Wester had over 100 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Week 10 Friday night football had two games and both were low scoring. It was Boston College going on the road and beating Syracuse by a score of 17-10. Thomas Castellanos passed for a touchdown and ran for another as the Eagles won outright as road underdogs. In the other game it was Wyoming winning 24-15 over Colorado State, covering the 6.5-point number. The Rams scored eight points in the fourth quarter but could not get any closer.
Week 11 Friday night football had two routs as SMU rolled over North Texas, while UNLV crushed Wyoming. Both home teams easily covered the spread. SMU was listed as a 17.5-point favorite against North Texas and the result was never in doubt in the second half, as the Mustangs outscored the Mean Green 28-7 winning by a final score of 45-21. In the other Friday game, it was UNLV dominating the second half against Wyoming after leading 21-14 at halftime. The Rebels outscored the Cowboys 13-0 in the second half to win by as score of 34-14, easily covering the 3-point spread.
Week 12 Friday night football had two routs as UTSA rolled over South Florida 49-21, while Washington State crushed Colorado 56-14. Both home teams easily covered the spread. The only thing in doubt was the total in the UTSA win, as it was 73.5 and the teams couldn’t quite get there to send the game over. Just seven points were scored in the fourth quarter to keep the game under. Nothing was ever in doubt in the Washington State game, as they rolled to a 42-7 halftime lead and coasted in the second half, easily covering the 7.5-point number and sailing over the total of 60.5. Bettors were all over the Cougars from the start, as the number on this game opened as low as 4 and sailed right past the key number of 7.
Week 13 Friday college football action had 13 games since it was the day after Thanksgiving. There were not a lot of competitive games, as it was one of the most lopsided Fridays in recent memory. One of the few games that was close was Iowa’s 13-10 win over Nebraska. The Hawkeyes have a stout defense and a weak offense and the total on that game was actually 25 and the game still went under. The one matchup between Top 25 teams on Friday had Oregon hosting Oregon State and it was the Ducks rolling to a 31-7 win, easily covering the 14.5-point spread.
Week 14 Friday night betting had two games, as Liberty beat New Mexico State 49-35 in the Conference USA championship game, while Washington defeated Oregon 34-31 in the Pac-12 title game. Kaidon Salter threw two touchdowns and ran for another, as Liberty outscored New Mexico State to complete an undefeated regular season. The Flames had 712 yards of total offense as they covered the 10.5-point spread in a game that easily went over the total.
In the Pac-12 title game it was Washington beating Oregon yet again. The Huskies completed an unbeaten regular season and they will face Texas in the College Football Playoff. The Huskies were given very little respect from the oddsmakers, as they were 9.5-point underdogs. Michael Penix Jr. passed for 319 yards and Dillon Johnson had three touchdowns in the win for Washington.
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