College Football Week 0 Player Props: Best Bets & Picks

If you feel unmotivated by the current betting options on the college football Week 0 menu, you aren’t alone. These lines have been out for months at this point, so there’s minimal value in traditional game markets. However, at least in some states, college football player props are another option in the never-ending attempt to find an edge. 

Ahead of Saturday’s action, I have combed through each of the eight Week 0 games and identified my favorite player props of the bunch. Let’s get into the breakdown of each pick now, but don’t forget to check out our extensive amount of college football betting content prior to the official start of the regular season. You won’t want to miss our college football futures or the rest of our Week 0 best bets.

College Football Week 0 Player Prop: Jordan Shipp (UNC) 60+ Receiving Yards (+120)

Odds courtesy of Bet365 Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to +100. 

I already touched on this in my UNC-TCU Same Game Parlay, so I will briefly reiterate that I am bullish on Jordan Shipp ascending to the next level of reliability with Bobby Petrino calling UNC's plays this season. Petrino won’t necessarily over-target Shipp, but he will be more creative in the ways in which the offense utilizes his talent, which should only improve his output after pulling in 60 passes for 671 yards and six touchdowns on a poor offense that finished 111th in passing last season. 

Shipp surpassed this mark six times last year, including in the season opener against TCU. In fact, he went for 84 yards in that one against what was likely a much better secondary than what the Frogs will have on the pitch out there in Ireland this weekend.

College Football Week 0 Player Prop: King Miller (USC) Over 65.5 rushing yards (-114)

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to 68.5 (-115). 

The Trojans are almost 40-point favorites over the Spartans on Saturday, so expect multiple players to have massive showings against a clearly overmatched opponent, including running back King Miller. Miller is listed as a co-starter with Waymond Jordan, but I like the former more in this matchup. Jordan is coming off a season-ending ankle injury, for which he had a minor follow-up procedure in the spring. He has finished his rehab and is cleared to play, but why risk a player coming off a massive injury against an opponent like San Jose State?

Expecting Jordan’s reps will be limited, Miller should have a decent workload before the third and fourth stringers inevitably get some touches. Fortunately, Miller has shown a history of doing a lot with a little. Before Jordan went down, Miller put up 135 rushing yards on just seven combined carries against Missouri State and Georgia Southern last year -- that’s about the level of competition he will see Saturday. Furthermore, Miller is a big-play machine -- he tallied runs of at least 40 yards in five different games last season. The stats bear that out considering he finished top-10 in the Big Ten in yards after contact and missed tackles forced in 2025. Even if Miller only carries the ball 10 times in this one, I feel good about him surpassing this number.

College Football Week 0 Player Prop: Micah Ford (STAN) 100+ rushing yards (+158)

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to +125. 

Maybe it’s because we’ve seen Micah Ford dominate Hawaii once already, but I love this matchup for the junior running back from Stanford. In the season opener last year, Ford carried the ball 26 times for 113 yards. It was one of three times in which he surpassed the 100-yard mark, although he did fail to surpass 70 in the five remaining contests in which he played. 

I’m taking a shot at an alternate number at decent plus money because of that volatility last year, and because this Hawaii defense is in a much worse position against the run this year. The ‘Bows lost their top two tacklers and their best run stoppers in the front seven from a season ago, and the projected starters on the interior of the defensive line coming into this year are a mix of returning depth pieces that were below replacement level in limited roles last year or FCS transfers that likely haven’t seen many runners like Ford. For what it’s worth, he was top 10 in the ACC in yards after contact last year, while finishing top 15 in missed tackles forced, per PFF. Assuming he gets a full workload here, expect a bit of déjà vu from Ford against this Hawaii defense.