The Old Dominion Monarchs finished last season with a record of 3-9 and a Sun Belt record of 2-6 which led to a last-place finish in the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference and the Monarchs missing a bowl game after making a bowl game in the 2021 college football season. Ricky Rahne made a change at Offensive Coordinator by hiring Kevin Decker in the offseason, Decker most recently served as the Offensive Coordinator for the Fordham Rams from 2019-2022. The Monarchs enter the season with an over/under win total of 3.5 win which is one of the lowest win totals in college football and means Old Dominion is likely to miss a bowl game for the 2^nd consecutive year and based on Vegas odds are projected to be the 3^rd worst team in the Sun Belt only ahead of the Texas State Bobcats and Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks.

The Virginia Tech Hokies with a losing record for the 3^rd consecutive season ending with a record of 3-8 and a record of 1-6 in the ACC which led to a tie with the Virginia Cavaliers for last place in the Coastal Division in the ACC. 

The Hokies enter this season with an over/under win total of 5.5 wins which means Virginia Tech is projected to miss a bowl game for the 2^nd consecutive year, something that has not happened since the 1991-1992 college football seasons and based on Vegas odds are projected to be the 4^th worst team in the ACC only ahead of the Virginia Cavaliers, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and Boston College Eagles.

BookMaker has the Virginia Tech Hokies listed as 16-point favorites at home against the Old Dominion Monarchs on Saturday in week 1 of the college football season. These teams have played each other in college football four times with the teams splitting those matchups 2-2, however, the Monarchs have been the better team at covering the spread in the series, going 3-1 ATS all-time. 

Old Dominion won the most recent matchup by a score of 20-17 and covered the 6-point spread by winning outright as an underdog last season. The Monarchs finished with a record of 5-7 ATS overall, 4-2 ATS on the road, and 5-5 ATS as an underdog while the Hokies finished 4-7 ATS overall, 2-3 ATS at home, and 1-3 ATS as a favorite.

Neither team is projected to be bowl-eligible this season as Old Dominion enters the season with an over/under win total of 3.5 wins while Virginia Tech enters the season with an over/under win total of 5.5 wins. 

The teams have split the four games in the series with the Monarchs winning the most recent matchup last season by a score of 20-17 while also going 3-1 ATS all-time in the series. 

I look for that trend to continue in this spot which is why I am taking the Old Dominion Monarchs +16 on the road against the Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday night in week 1 of the college football season.