As the 2010 college football season begins, sports bettors are trying to decide which schools are for real and which ones are coasting on inflated reputations. In last year’s AP Top 25 for the preseason, Oklahoma was No. 3, Oklahoma State was 9, California was 12, and Georgia was 13th. However, none of these four teams finished the season in the Top 25. Traditionally powerful schools like Florida State (18) and Notre Dame (23) were rated to start the season strong yet these two ended up with six losses. Cincinnati wasn’t ranked, and went on to be undefeated in the regular season. In the preseason, Pittsburgh, Wisconsin and Miami went from being un-ranked to being in the top 20 at the end of the season.

So how can the sports betting public decide if a team is worthy of the hype?

One quick way is to see how many starters are returning. This is especially true for quarterbacks.

However, sports bettors cannot always know if a team that appears constant is actually going through big changes. Even if most of the starters come back that doesn’t mean the team will automatically play well or better this year season. For example, Rice has 18 returning starters. This is a team that went 2-10 last season. Syracuse has 20 starters returning, and that team was 1-6 against Big East schools. These records are probably bad because of lackluster coaches, coordinators, or players.

To help bettors decide which matches are mismatches, in experience, this rundown includes offensive and defensive returning starters and gives bonus points to teams with the same returning quarterback. For Week 1, in 14 out of the 39 games, we’ll compare the advantage experience will play in five. Here are the games, along with an opinion from StatFox. Point spreads listed are based on current options at YouWager.com.

Arkansas St – Off: 2, Def: 3 @

Auburn – Off: 7, Def: 8

Advantage: Auburn +10

Spread: Auburn –30

Statfox: Auburn has a huge experience advantage, with a +5 factor on both sides of the ball. Auburn has a new JUCO transfer QB Cameron Newton (6-6, 247). He can do major damage on the ground or in the air. Arkansas State may not have the horses to compete with the Tigers, but the Red Wolves tend to keep games close. They lost three games by only a field goal last year. But these were against Sun Belt opponents, not SEC teams. Expect Auburn to cover the hefty spread.

Boise State – Off: 10*, Def: 10 vs.

Virginia Tech – Off: 8*, Def: 4

Advantage: Boise State +8

Spread: Miss Boise State -3

Statfox: This is where the experience really matters. In a game with two powerful offenses and sound defenses, which team do you choose? This match will be played on “neutral” territory, FedEx Field in Washington, DC. It’s still a lot closer to Virginia than Idaho. The Hokies will be playing without seven defensive starters. This could be an enormous factor against a dynamic offense. Va Tech lost three starters in their secondary and Kellen Moore (39 TD, 3 INT) will be looking to exploit any weaknesses. It’s time to get on the Boise bandwagon. Pick the Broncos.

Tulsa – Off: 9*, Def: 5 @

East Carolina – Off: 5, Def: 2

Advantage: Tulsa +8

Spread: Tulsa –7.5

Statfox: Tulsa has great big advantage here in terms of experience. It could be the deciding factor in a game that’s hard to predict. The Golden Hurricane has s nine starters returning on offense, and that includes QB G.J. Kinne and RB Jahmad Williams. ECU lost 15 starters, replaced the head coach and offensive coordinator and switched to a spread offense. It may be tempting to take the home underdog, but there is too much instability for ECU to win straight up or against the spread against a school like Tulsa.

Washington St – Off: 8*, Def: 9 @

Oklahoma St – Off: 6, Def: 4

Advantage: Washington St. +8

Spread: Oklahoma St –14.5

Statfox: WSU certainly has an advantage in experience here. However, OSU is a big favorite at home. The Cowboys are trying to replace QB Zac Robinson with Brandon Weeding, 26-year-old junior. He has done well in his short college career (16-27, 256 yds, 4 TD, 1 INT), but will have four new Offensive Linemen. On defense, the Cowboys don’t have much left to give. WSU’s Jeff Tuel was adequate calling signals last year (71-121, 789 yds, 6 TD, 5 INT), and the experts think the experienced Cougars will be getting the points.

Miami (OH) – Off: 9*, Def: 9 @

Florida – Off: 6, Def: 5

Advantage: Miami (OH) +8

Spread: Florida –35

Statfox: It’s hard to give an experience edge to the Miami (OH) program. They lost 21 of their last 24 games. Florida lost a bunch, but the Gators still have several future NFL pros on the lineup. This includes QB John Brantley. From the RedHawks side, sophomore QB Zac Dysert may never ever see a better defense. If he has enough protection, he has two very good senior wideouts, Armand Robinson and Jamal Rogers. Brantley should lead Florida to a 40-point blowout victory.

Illinois – Off: 5, Def: 7 @

Missouri – Off: 9*, Def: 9

Advantage: Missouri +7

Spread: Missouri –13

Statfox: Missouri has a great big experience advantage in this game. They’ve got +5 on the offensive side and +2 on the defensive side. Only three guys, C. Keenum, T. Potts, and R. Mallett have racked up more passing YPG than the quarterback for the Tigers, Blaine Gabbert, with his 276 pass YPG. Defensive ends Jacquies Smith and Aldon Smith secure a defensive squad that lost only two starters. Illinois has six new coaches and Nathan Scheelhaase, a freshman QB. All factors point to Missouri winning and covering.

Texas – Off: 6, Def: 7 @

Rice – Off: 9*, Def: 9

Advantage: Rice +6

Spread: Texas –28

Statfox: In this match, the experience factor is more of a liability. Rice has 18 returning starters on the team that went 2-10 last season. With the stability that Texas represents, the experience factor for the Owls is null and void. Even though Texas lost QB Colt McCoy, WR Jordan Shipley, DE/LB Sergio Kindle and DB Earl Thomas, the Longhorns have some good players to fill those spaces. QB Garrett Gilbert is only one example. Texas should win by at least 35 points in front of a home crowd.

Washington – Off: 10*, Def: 6 @

BYU – Off: 6, Def: 6

Advantage: Washington +5

Spread: BYU -3

Statfox: Significant returning starter experience in this match. Washington is on the way up with a superstar QB, Jake Locker. BYU lost two top offensive players, QB Max Hall and RB Harvey Unga, after an honor code violation. The Cougars start the season with a 2-QB system, featuring junior Riley Nelson and freshman Jake Heaps. BYU usually has a strong passing attack, but there is going to be a period of adjustment for two quarterbacks. The Huskies are the pick in this situation.

Wisconsin – Off: 6*, Def: 5 @

UNLV – Off: 8*, Def: 8

Advantage: UNLV +5

Spread: Wisconsin –20.5

Statfox: UNLV has the edge in experience edge in this matchup. However, Wisconsin has better talent on their team, especially with QB Scott Tolzien (16 TD) and RB John Clay (1,517 yards). Wisconsin lost some defensive players, but still has some great players on the def squad, like LB Chris Borland and CB Niles Brinkley. UNLV was rated 115th in total defense last season. They allowed a gigantic 456 YPG. As the new head coach of the Rebels, Bobby Hauck was brought in to improve this 115th-ranked crew. Take the Badgers and lay the wood, sports bettors.

North Texas – Off: 10*, Def: 8 @

Clemson – Off: 7*, Def: 6

Advantage: North Texas +5

Spread: Clemson –23.5

Statfox: North Texas may have the advantage with experience, but the Mean Green do not have the depth or the talent Clemson’s team has. The Tigers lost RB C.J. Spiller, their best player, but they still have plenty of talent to handle the large spread. Both teams have quarterbacks returning and RB Lance Dunbar (1,378 yards, 17 TD, 6.9 yds per carry) is probably the best player at North Texas. North Texas must be a lot more careful with the ball (they were minus-14 in turnovers last year) if they want this to be close. Clemson is the pick in this matchup.

Northern Illinois – Off: 8*, Def: 9 @

Iowa State – Off: 8*, Def: 4

Advantage: Northern Illinois +5

Spread: Iowa State –3.5

Statfox: The difference is in the defense. Iowa State lost seven from a team that gave up 416 total YPG (they were ranked 99th in nation). Northern Illinois only lost two players from a defensive squad with better numbers. The Huskies permitted 330 YPG (30th in nation). The Cyclones played against better offensive teams in the Big 12 than NIU faced in the MAC. The big discrepancy in yardage allowed, certainly makes up for any talent gap. NIU is the pick against the spread.

Florida Atlantic – Off: 3*, Def: 9 @

UAB – Off: 8*, Def: 9

Advantage: UAB +5

Spread: UAB –13.5

Statfox: The difference here is with the offense. Both schools lost their QBs. Joe Webb added more value to UAB as the team’s leading rusher than Rusty Smith did for FAU. Webb’s replacement is David Isabelle. He’s thrown only 14 passes as a college player. The Owls’ senior QB, Jeff Van Camp, played 10 games (five starts) when Smith was injured last season. FAU also has their best RB, Alfred Morris coming back. As the Owls have more depth in skill-positions than the Blazers do, the difference here is nullified. StatFox says take the Owls against the spread.

Arizona – Off: 10*, Def: 7 @

Toledo – Off: 6*, Def: 6

Advantage: Arizona +5

Spread: Arizona –14.5

Statfox: There is not much difference on defense, so look at the offense here. Arizona has only lost one player while Toledo has lost five. And that includes QB Aaron Opelt and RB DaJuane Collins. Opelt was the clear star and leader of the Rockets. Opelt will be replaced by Austin Dantin, a sophomore who was OK in his five games for the team (three starts) for 79-119, 962 yds, 4 TD, 4 INT. Arizona gets their two best players back with QB Nick Foles and NB Nic Grigsby. This is enough of a reason to give the points on the road.