DraftKings released spreads on the sides for 64 different Games of the Year this past weekend. In this first installment of our breakdown of those contests, we’re going to cover the numbers for the September showdowns from Week 2 through Week 5.
The betting shop posted three games for Sept. 6. Iowa St. is a 1.5-point home favorite vs. Iowa, Missouri is a 6.5-point home ‘chalk’ vs. Kansas and Oklahoma is a 1.5-point home favorite vs. Michigan.
The Hawkeyes will be looking to avenge a 20-19 loss to the Cyclones, who went into Iowa City in Week 2 and won outright as three-point road underdogs last season. The 39 combined points went ‘over’ the 36.5-point total, but the ‘under’ is still on a 17-3 run in the last 20 games in this rivalry.
The Missouri-Kansas rivalry dates back to 1891, but this will be the first meeting since 2011. The Tigers have won three games in a row over the Jayhawks and lead the all-time series 57-54, and there have also been nine ties.
KU plays host to Fresno St. in Week Zero and takes on Wagner in Week 1, so this will be the third game for Lance Leipold’s team. After going to back-to-back bowl games in 2022 and 2023, the Jayhawks went 1-5 in six one-possession games last year and fell short of the postseason with a 5-7 record both straight up and against the spread.
Eli Drinkwitz’s last two teams have both compiled 10-3 SU and 9-4 ATS records.
Oklahoma and Michigan have previously met just once, as Barry Switzer’s Sooners beat Bo Schembechler’s Wolverines 14-6 in the 1976 Orange Bowl to win a second straight national championship.
In Week 3, DraftKings has five lined games. Georgia is -5.5 at Tennessee, Notre Dame is -7 vs. Texas A&M, LSU is -7.5 vs. Florida, Pittsburgh is -1.5 at West Virginia and Clemson is -8.5 at Ga. Tech.
The Gators had lost five games in a row to LSU until capturing a 27-16 win over the Tigers as 3.5-point home underdogs on Nov. 16 of last season. Jadan Baugh’s 55-yard touchdown run with 3:48 remaining put the game on ice.
LSU had a 25-13 advantage in first downs and more than doubled UF in time of possession, but Brian Kelly’s team coughed up two turnovers and missed a field goal. The Gators played turnover-free football and Trey Smack buried both of his field-goal attempts from 49 and 55 yards out.
DJ Lagway threw for 226 yards and one TD, while Garrett Nussmeier had 266 passing yards and one TD. UF owns a 14-9 ATS record with eight outright wins in 23 games as an underdog during Billy Napier’s tenure.
Kirby Smart’s team has won eight consecutive games over the Volunteers, who have lost those eight contests by margins of 14, 28, 14, 24, 23, 29, 26 and 41 points. UGA is 7-1 ATS in the last eight head-to-head meetings with the Vols, who are 2-4 both SU and ATS in six games as home underdogs on Josh Heupel’s watch.
Ga. Tech is 4-0 ATS with three outright wins in four games as a home underdog at Bobby Dodd Stadium during Brent Key’s tenure. However, the Yellow Jackets have lost nine games in a row to Clemson, and eight of those defeats have been by margins of at least 14 points.
When Texas A&M goes to South Bend, it’ll be seeking revenge for a 23-13 loss vs. Notre Dame as a three-point home favorite in last year’s season opener for both schools.
There are six lined games on Sept. 20, including Indiana -3 (+100) vs. Illinois, Utah -3.5 vs. Texas Tech, Oregon -27.5 vs. Oregon St., Miami -5.5 vs. Florida, Michigan -3 vs. Nebraska and Washington -10.5 at Washington St.
Napier’s UF team will be in revenge mode after being pounded 41-17 by Miami in last year’s opener at The Swamp.
Since 2014, Texas Tech has won eight games only twice, and both of those eight-win seasons came on Joey McGuire’s watch in 2022 and 2024. The Red Raiders are hoping to win at least nine for the first time since Mike Leach did so in three out of four years from 2005-08.
With heavy investments from donors into the school’s NIL program, McGuire and his staff were able to land the nation’s #2 recruiting class in terms of transfer-specific imports, according to the 247Sports Composite. Texas Tech signed 21 players from out of the portal, including 13 four-star transfers.
The Red Raiders lost the program’s all-time leading rusher, Tahj Brooks, who had 1,505 rushing yards, 17 TDs and a 5.3 yards-per-carry average last year despite missing two games. They’re looking to replace him with the combination of sophomore J’Koby Williams and Quinten Joyner, who had 603 rushing yards, four TDs and a 7.4 YPC average in 18 games for USC in 2023 and 2024.
QB Behren Morton threw for 3,335 yards with a 27/8 TD-INT ratio last year, and he’ll have a better WR group in 2025. Caleb Douglas and Coy Eakin return, and they’re joined by a pair of four-star transfer WRs (Reggie Virgil and Micah Hudson) and a four-star TE in Terrance Carter Jr. (Louisiana).
Douglas had 60 catches for 877 yards and six TDs last season, while Eakin snagged 49 receptions for 652 yards and seven TDs. Virgil caught 41 balls for 816 receiving yards and nine TDs for Miami (OH.) in 2024, and Hudson had eight receptions for 123 yards in eight games as a true freshman at Texas A&M.
Utah will be breaking in a new QB in Devon Dampier, who was New Mexico’s starting signal caller as a true sophomore last year when the Lobos ranked #3 in the Mountain West Conference and #23 in the country in scoring with their 33.5 points-per-game average.
Dampier led the MWC in total plays (541), TDs responsible for (31), total yards per play (7.2), total yards (3,934) and YPC average (7.5). He completed 57.9 percent of his throws for 2,768 yards, but he had a mediocre 12/12 TD-INT ratio.
Dampier had six TD passes without an interception in 2023, though. In his 21 career games in two seasons at UNM, he had 1,494 rushing yards, 23 TDs and a 7.0 YPC average.
Illinois returns 16 starters, including its entire offensive line and QB Luke Altmyer, who had a 22/6 TD-INT ratio while leading Bret Bielema’s team to a 10-3 record. The Fighting Illini own a 12-4 ATS record in 16 games as a road underdog during Bielema’s tenure.
Indiana is off its first 11-win season in program history. In fact, the Hoosiers had never posted a double-digit win total until Curt Cignetti orchestrated an eight-win turnaround in his first year on the job. He was deservingly named Coach of the Year both nationally and in the Big Ten.
IU went 5-0 ATS in five games as a single-digit favorite in 2024. Cignetti’s second team returns eight starters, with four on each side of the ball. He brought in the nation’s #39 overall recruiting class and the #22 group of transfers.
There are three four-star transfers, QB Fernando Mendoza (Calfornia), CB Amariyun Knighten (No. Illinois) and offensive guard Pat Coogan (Notre Dame). Mendoza, who is replacing Kurtis Rourke, played in 11 games for the Golden Bears last year, completing 68.7 percent of his passes for 3,004 yards with a 16/6 TD-INT ratio.
In Week 5, DraftKings has five lined games. The headliner will be Georgia as a four-point home favorite vs. Alabama. Both teams are breaking in new QBs, with the Bulldogs going from Carson Beck to Gunner Stockton.
In Year 2 of the Kalen DeBoer Era, the hope in Tuscaloosa is that offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb was the missing ingredient for an offense that struggled mightily in losses at Tennessee, at Oklahoma and vs. Michigan.
Grubb initially followed DeBoer from Washington to Alabama last January, but he abruptly left after a few weeks when he was hired to be the OC for the Seattle Seahawks. After losing that gig, he’s back to direct the Crimson Tide’s offense.
Coming out of spring, Ty Simpson was the leader to win the QB job, but he’ll have to hold off Austin Mack in August.
Since 2008, Alabama has won nine of 10 head-to-head meetings against Georgia, including last year’s 41-34 win as a two-point home underdog. This is the Tide’s first trip to Athens since 2015 when it smashed the Bulldogs, 38-10.
Alabama hasn’t lost in Athens since 2003. In fact, the Tide hasn’t lost a game inside the state of Georgia since losing a 31-20 decision to Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators at the 2008 SEC Championship Game in Atlanta.
The four other games on Sept. 27 are Ole Miss -2.5 vs. LSU, Ohio St. -14 at Washington, Notre Dame -12.5 at Arkansas and Penn St. -4 vs. Oregon.
The Nittany Lions are in an extremely advantageous spot hosting Dan Lanning’s team, which has to travel across the country for the second time in three weeks and play its fifth game in five weeks. The Ducks play host to Oklahoma St. in Week 2, are at Northwestern in Week 3 and are at home for a rivalry game vs. Oregon St. on Sept. 20.
On the flip side, James Franklin’s squad has two weeks to prepare for Oregon after playing three cupcake home contests vs. Nevada, vs. FIU and vs. Villanova. Making matters even better for PSU, the school has already dubbed this a ‘white-out game’ and it’ll be under the lights for a 7:30 p.m. Eastern kickoff on NBC.
Oregon has been an underdog only five times on Lanning’s watch, compiling a 3-2 ATS record with two outright victories.
Arkansas is 10-4 ATS with two outright wins in 14 games as a double-digit underdog during Sam Pittman’s tenure that’s entering its sixth season.
This is a crucial fourth season for Kelly in Baton Rouge, so he has to be thrilled with how the program’s NIL arm stepped up and helped him bring in the country’s #1 transfer portal class. The 247Sports Composite had Ole Miss with the #1 portal group in 2024, but the Rebels come in at #4 this year.
Lane Kiffin’s team lost 29-26 at LSU in overtime last year, but it has beaten the Tigers in each of their last two trips to Oxford. Ole Miss is going from Jaxson Dart, who was a first-round pick by the New York Giants in the 2025 NFL Draft, to Austin Simmons at the QB position.
Simmons, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, has tons of talent but is lacking in the experience department. He did get his feet wet and looked sharp in last year’s 28-10 him win over Georgia. When Dart had to leave the game in the first half with an injury, Simmons completed 5-of-6 passes for 64 yards.
Washington has struggled as a home underdog since 2014, limping to a 3-7 ATS record. Likewise, Ohio St. is 3-8 ATS in its last 11 games as a double-digit road favorite.