If you want to start the 2018 college football season off with a bang on Thursday, there's nobody better to listen to than SportsLine experts Josh Nagel and Stephen Oh, as well as SportsLine's advanced computer model. 

Those who have been on board with them since the beginning have reason to be happy. Nagel, a Reno-based analyst and radio host who has worked in the sports-handicapping industry for 20 years, hit 60 percent of his college football bowl picks during the past two years. When it comes to insightful analysis, Nagel is unmatched and prides himself on consistency.

Armed with his trusty projection model as a guide, SportsLine data scientist Stephen Oh has been on a roll when it comes to his college football against-the-spread picks the past two seasons. Since the start of the 2016 season, Oh is a phenomenal 67-41, a cash rate of 62 percent. And SportsLine's advanced computer model has racked up incredible profits for users. During the past three years, the prediction model has returned a whopping $4,210 to $100 bettors and closed last bowl season on a perfect 7-0 run.

If you're bold enough to parlay their best bets for Thursday together, you would be hitting on a monster 6-1 payout. We'll even give one pick away: The computer is projecting Northwestern, a 2½-point road underdog, to defeat Purdue outright in a season-opening Big Ten Conference game.

While Northwestern rattled off an eight-game winning streak to close out the 2017 season, it had plenty of luck along the way. That includes three consecutive contests decided in overtime -- two of them against Nebraska and Iowa in which the Wildcats were favored.

The status of Northwestern star quarterback Clayton Thorson remains up in the air. The school's all-time leader in touchdown passes has been recovering from an ACL injury suffered in the 2017 Music City Bowl victory against Kentucky.

Many defensive stars are also returning for the Wildcats, who held their final eight opponents to an average of 16 points per game. Northwestern is expecting a breakout season from sophomore linebacker Blake Gallagher, who amassed 33 tackles as a second-teamer.

This pick is less about how Northwestern will play on Thursday, but instead about how Purdue can keep up with the Wildcats.

The Boilermakers won seven games last season thanks to a defense that forced 21 turnovers. They also competed in their first bowl game since 2011, but despite the 7-6 record, Purdue suffered ugly conference losses to Rutgers and Nebraska. While coach Jeff Brohm has brought a swagger back to West Lafayette, this is still a squad in search of an identity.

Oh has also identified a road team that is not getting the respect it deserves and Nagel has a sharp selection on an important Big Ten matchup.

So what three-way parlay do you need to jump on Thursday? Visit SportsLine now to see which road team Vegas is completely overlooking, and which contest has the potential to be a blowout cover, all from a proven team of college football experts.