It’s that time of year again! As we endure the dog days of summer, the college football season draws ever closer. With just about a month left until kickoff, let’s dive into some of my favorite preseason win total overs and unders for the 2024 College Football season.

Colorado UNDER 5.5 wins

While Colorado is undoubtedly a much-improved team compared to last season, their win total is more a reflection of their schedule.  Their non-conference slate may seem light on paper but North Dakota State is no joke, and road games against rivals Nebraska and Colorado State are a very challenging way to start your season.  Add in the fact that they play the preseason top five teams in the conference and you can see why I have a hard time seeing the Buffaloes make a bowl game in 2024.  

Virginia Tech over 8 wins

This is one of those win totals that doesn’t make very much sense to me.  The Hokies return essentially their entire team from last season where they may have only finished 6-7, but showed massive improvement from the year prior.  Not only that, but this is Head Coach Brent Pry’s third season and it seems as if he has finally established his culture with his players.  Quarterback Kyron Drones is a great college quarterback that can beat you in multiple ways and should only get better with his arsenal of weapons returning.  Their schedule opens with deceptively tough non-conference games against Rutgers, and on the road against Vanderbilt and Old Dominion. However, the Hokies should start the season 4-0.  In ACC play, they have two big games at Miami and at home against Clemson, but outside of those two, they should be at least touchdown favorites in every other matchup.  The eight win mark is a great number because even if they lose both of those big games and drop one they are favored in, the Hokies will still go over.  

Iowa over 7.5 wins

Out of all my picks today, this might be my favorite. The Iowa Hawkeyes enter the 2024 season with one of the best and most experienced defenses in the country. Returning nearly all of their starters from a defense that was already elite last year, the Hawkeyes could win games even with an offense resembling a high school level. While that may sound like a joke, their offense in recent years has indeed struggled quite a bit. However, with the addition of Offensive Coordinator Tim Lester from the NFL, I believe they will at least show improvement on that side of the ball.  Not to mention, since 2013, Iowa has won at least eight regular-season games in seven of those ten seasons (excluding the 2020 season). While some may attribute this to their schedule and playing in the Big Ten West, their 2024 schedule is one of the easier in the Big Ten. They do play at Ohio State but avoid Oregon, Penn State, USC, and Michigan. With this defense and that schedule, the Hawkeyes might just hit the over by November.

Mississippi state under 4.5 wins

In the new era of the SEC, although almost every team may look good on paper, not every team will perform well, and some will inevitably stack up lots of losses.  Unfortunately for Mississippi State fans, I think the Bulldogs will be one of those teams in 2024.  With new coach Jeff Lebby taking over, I believe the offense will show significant improvement. However, there are too many holes on both sides of the ball to ignore.  They lost nearly all of their production at receiver, and the defense is heavily reliant on inexperienced returners and transfers who have yet to prove themselves at the FBS level.  Schedule wise, the Bulldogs also got a brutal draw in conference play.  Georgia, Texas, Missouri, Ole Miss, and more are all on the schedule and I will be surprised if the Bulldogs are favored in more than three or four games this season.