We’re heading down the final stretch of the college football regular season, and it’s a fun time of the year with MAC action in the middle of the week. It leaves us with fewer small-school games to pick, but there are still plenty of values. Below, we look at the best bets for three small-school college football winners in Week 11, with expert college football picks and predictions.
Every week we target three smaller schools that are good bets to cover the spread and win big money – it doesn’t really matter the size of the school, it’s winners that matter.
This weekend we’ll focus on a trio games from Conference USA and the Sun Belt Conference.
Small-school college football best bets of Week 11
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Friday at 7:30 a.m. ET.
Georgia Southern at Texas State -2.5 (-105) (Saturday at 3 p.m. ET)
Georgia Southern (2-7, 1-5 Sun Belt) heads down to San Marcos, Texas, for a Sun Belt showdown with Texas State (3-6, 2-3), a team that is playing much better under head coach Jake Spavital this season. In fact, the Bobcats have been a tough out each week lately.
The Bobcats are all alone in second place in the Sun Belt’s West Division behind ranked Louisiana. While Texas State was no match for the Ragin’ Cajuns in Lafayette, La., Oct. 30, it has a respectable 3-2 ATS mark across the past five games, with three of those outings one-score games.
Meanwhile, the Eagles are on a four-game losing streak, and 0-3 ATS mark, showing no signs of life. Last season you could rely on GASO to be competitive with QB Shai Werts, but once he hit the transfer portal, he seemed to take a lot of talent and cohesiveness with him.
Rankings courtesy of the AFCA Coaches Poll, powered by USA TODAY Sports.
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FAU -6.5 (-117) at Old Dominion (Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET)
FAU (5-4, 3-2) lost a key game last week at home against Marshall, falling out of first place in the C-USA East Division. They’ll be looking for a bounce-back game on the road against a poor Old Dominion (3-6, 2-3) side.
While the Monarchs have shown some improvement lately, putting one on FIU last week by a 47-24 score in Miami, while going 3-1 ATS across the past four, the Owls are a tough matchup.
QB N’Kosi Perry have had a rather balanced offensive attack, and it will look to take advantage of an ODU D allowing 29.3 PPG. The Owls are also 11-5 ATS in the past 16 road games, and the favorite is 4-0 ATS in the past four in this series.
Arkansas State at UL Monroe -2.5 (-120) (Saturday at 5 p.m. ET)
Arkansas State (1-8, 0-5 Sun Belt) travels to meet UL Monroe (4-5, 2-4), a team that was expected to struggle. Now, the Warhawks are in position to at least qualify for bowl eligibility, while it’s the Red Wolves who are in the basement and the only winless team in the Belt.
When head coach Blake Anderson left for Utah State, and QB Logan Bonner followed him, the Red Wolves weren’t left with much talent in the cupboard. It has shown, as not only is Ark State 1-8 SU, but it is 1-4 ATS across the past five games, losing by 18 or more points in four of those five outings.
Monroe was tripped up at aforementioned Texas State last week but has two straight wins at home against a decent South Alabama team and a good Liberty side. The Warhawks are 3-1-1 ATS in five home dates and will improve upon that number on Senior Day at Malone Stadium.
Last week’s recap
Things started off well with a no-doubt winner from North Texas on the road against a bad, bad Southern Miss team. It’s the worst Golden Eagles team in years, so take advantage of their futility. Things went south with ULM at Texas State, two teams actually featured above. And I had a feeling UNLV wasn’t going to go winless, and it picked up its first win at New Mexico last week, a team that has struggled defensively. I should’ve known better, but backed the boys from ABQ anyway.
Let’s build that bankroll back up this week! We have just this week, and next week, and then I must bid you adieu for the season.
Last Week: 1-2
Season Total: 16-14
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