Welcome to Before The Snap, For The Win’s college football series where we’ll break down the sport’s trending storylines, examine each week’s biggest matchups and track the College Football Playoff and Heisman Trophy races.
Going into Week 7 of this wild college football season, Before The Snap was joined by BetFTW managing editor Caroline Darney for some picks against the spread in some of this week’s top games.
And, especially after madness in Week 6, the college football picture this year is far from what we expected. Georgia is undefeated and No. 1 in the country, Cincinnati is ranked higher than one-loss Alabama, the Big Ten has five teams ranked in the top 10 and two-loss Clemson is not even ranked in the AP Poll. So who knows what the College Football Playoff picture will look like in a couple weeks?
What we do know is that when it comes to the lines and over-unders for Week 7, a few teams’ potential may have been overestimated, providing us with some confident picks against the spread. Let’s break it down with all betting info per Tipico Sportsbook as of Wednesday.
No. 11 Kentucky at No. 1 Georgia (-22.5)
When: Saturday, October 16, 3:30 p.m. ET
Where: Sanford Stadium, Athens, Georgia
Channel: CBS
O/U: 44.5
As the No. 1 team in the country, Georgia also boasts the top defense, which is giving up just 201.2 yards and 5.5 points per game. And while it’s certainly possible that the Bulldogs will steamroll the Wildcats, Kentucky deserves a bit more credit for being 6-0 at this point with a win over Florida earlier in October. We’re predicting Georgia will beat Kentucky but not by more than three touchdowns.
No. 10 Michigan State (-4.5) at Indiana
When: Saturday, October 16, Noon ET
Where: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Indiana
Channel: FS1
O/U: 48.5
Michigan State tends to have some trouble with seemingly innocuous Big Ten teams, like Indiana, which beat the Spartans 24-0 last season. Now, both teams are looking and playing very differently this year, but we’re not fooled by Michigan State’s top-10 ranking. The Spartans’ best win this season was against a bad Miami team, and their defense is still giving up 420.5 yards per game. We’re thinking Indiana pulls off the upset or Michigan State saves its undefeated season with a late score.
TCU at No. 4 Oklahoma (-13.5)
When: Saturday, October 16, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma
Channel: ABC
O/U: 65.5
Oklahoma being favored by nearly two touchdowns seems like a bit of a stretch here. With the exception of the Sooners’ obscene 76-0 win over Western Carolina, they’ve won all their other games by no more than seven points. That lopsided win aside, Oklahoma has won its other games by 28 total points with a 5.6 average margin of victory. Plus, it’s in a tricky situation with a quarterback battle between original starter Spencer Rattler and Caleb Williams, who replaced Rattler against Texas last week and led the team to a win. If Oklahoma wins, it won’t be by almost two touchdowns, but TCU might steal a victory here.
Pitt (-4.5) at Virginia Tech
When: Saturday, October 16, 3:30 p.m. ET
Where: Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, Virginia
Channel: ESPN2
O/U: 57.5
This is a pivotal game in the ACC Coastal race — stick with us here! — and it’s hard to predict what we’re going to see. Virginia Tech had Notre Dame on the ropes until a late field goal lifted the Fighting Irish to a victory, and Pitt lost to Western Michigan to open the season and has only two games against P5 competition. But Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett is still one of the best in the conference, so we’re predicting a Panthers win but perhaps by just a field goal.
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