Week 12 college football picks – Page 2

North Texas vs FIU Prediction, Game Preview

North Texas vs FIU prediction, game preview, how to watch, lines, and why each team might – or might not – win this Saturday.

North Texas vs FIU prediction, game preview, how to watch: Saturday, November 20

North Texas vs FIU How To Watch

Date: Saturday, November 20
Game Time: 7:00 ET
Venue: Riccardo Silva Stadium, Miami, FL
How To Watch: ESPN3
Record: North Texas (4-6), FIU (1-9)
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North Texas vs FIU Game Preview

Why North Texas Will Win

Where did this come from?

All of a sudden, North Texas went from being mired in a lost season to being two wins away from a bowl appearance. The regular season finale is against UTSA – there might be a hard stop to the fun next week – but it can make this interesting by getting though the free space game.

FIU is a total mess. Head coach Butch Davis is done, interim head man Ron Cooper has to try piecing things together for a team on a nine-game losing streak. The last six losses have all been ugly blowouts, there are too many turnovers, nothing is happening on defense, and the scoring pop from earlier in the year has gone away.

North Texas has cranked up the offensive efficiency, the ground game should be able to go off, and …

– College Football Expert Picks, CFN Week 12

Why FIU Will Win

Maybe the change in coaches and the drama could serve as something of a positive.

It’s been one of the strange phenomenons over the season. With the distractions and pressure gone, teams have been playing well in the first game after losing the head coach.

There are some positives with FIU. The passing game can push the ball down the field, the North Texas defense is hardly a rock, and if the O can chill on the turnovers after giving it up eight times in the last three games, this might be close.

– NFL Expert Picks: CFN Week 11

What’s Going To Happen

FIU will play a little bit better, but it won’t quite be enough.

There’s a reasonable chance FIU can pull off a win next week against a miserable Southern Miss team, and this will be a step towards that. The Mean Green offense will be too solid and too productive in the second half, but FIU will have its chances to make this interesting.

– College Football Schedule: Week 12 Predictions, Lines

North Texas vs FIU Prediction, Lines

North Texas 38, FIU 24
Line: North Texas -10, o/u: 57.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 1.5

Must See Rating: 2

5: Tummyache Soak
1: Adele 30

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Army vs UMass Prediction, Game Preview

Army vs UMass prediction, game preview, how to watch, lines, and why each team might – or might not – win this Saturday.

Army vs UMass prediction, game preview, how to watch: Saturday, November 20

Army vs UMass How To Watch

Date: Saturday, November 20
Game Time: 12:00 ET
Venue: Michie Stadium, West Point, NY
How To Watch: CBS Sports Network
Record: Army (6-3), UMass (1-9)
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Army vs UMass Game Preview

Why UMass Will Win

UMass has a whole slew of issues, and doing anything against anyone’s passing game is front and center.

Not an issue in this.

It’s a lost year with a new coach coming in for 2022 – there’s truly nothing to lose in this if the team wants to take a whole slew of chances.

Army doesn’t force takeaways, the defensive front doesn’t get into the backfield, and UMass has a way of keeping control of games just enough give the defense a little bit of a rest.

There’s a decent running game that should be able to come up with a few good drives, but …

– College Football Expert Picks, CFN Week 12

Why Army Will Win

Army should be able to do whatever it wants with the running game.

UMass hasn’t been all that bad against the run, but that’s partly because it went against a few FCS teams and UConn. Army’s No. 2 running game – Air Force leads the nation – hit 400 yards in two of the last three games and should be able to roll at will.

But Army can throw just a little bit, too. It’s not going to go airborne too often, but against the nation’s least efficient pass defense, there should be two big plays.

– NFL Expert Picks: CFN Week 11

What’s Going To Happen

It all depends on how much Army wants to keep it all rolling. The problem is that there’s no way to not slow down what it does – what is it supposed to do, throw to try to be nice?

UMass couldn’t hold up against Rhode Island and Maine, and now it’s about to have a long afternoon against the Black Knight option attack.

– College Football Schedule: Week 12 Predictions, Lines

Army vs UMass Prediction, Lines

Army 52, UMass 10
Line: Army -37, o/u: 56.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2

Must See Rating: 2

5: Tummyache Soak
1: Adele 30

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UCF vs UConn Prediction, Game Preview

UCF vs UConn prediction, game preview, how to watch, lines, and why each team might – or might not – win this Saturday.

UCF vs UConn prediction, game preview, how to watch: Saturday, November 20

UCF vs UConn How To Watch

Date: Saturday, November 20
Game Time: 4:00 ET
Venue: Bounce House, Orlando, FL
How To Watch: ESPN+
Record: UCF (6-4), UConn (1-9)
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UCF vs UConn Game Preview

Why UConn Will Win

The UCF offense is fine, but it’s hardly the high-flying fun show we’re all used to with this program.

The team is finding ways to stay alive and come up with a decent season despite losing QB Dillon Gabriel early on, but it’s a struggle for this group to put big points on the board. UConn’s defense hasn’t been totally awful on third downs, and it’s been able to pick off a few passes here and there.

The Huskies have to hope UCF is off, and they need their own passing game to be great like it was against Vanderbilt and Middle Tennessee. But …

– College Football Expert Picks, CFN Week 12

Why UCF Will Win

UConn just doesn’t score.

It managed 13 points or fewer in three of the last four games, and that fourth game was a 21-15 win over Yale.

No, UCF isn’t putting up points in bunches unless it’s playing Temple, but it doesn’t have to be crazy. It can run the ball as much as it wants to against the UConn defensive front, and field position shouldn’t be a problem against an offense that’s the worst in the country on third downs.

It’s going to want to put this game away fast with the rivalry date against USF coming up in short week, and …

– NFL Expert Picks: CFN Week 11

What’s Going To Happen

UCF will score on its first two drives and the defense will take care of the rest.

UConn will come up with a few nice chances, and they won’t work. The UCF defense will be fired up to come up with something big after getting hit by SMU for 55 last week.

– College Football Schedule: Week 12 Predictions, Lines

UCF vs UConn Prediction, Lines

UCF 44, UConn 10
Line: UCF -30, o/u: 55.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2

Must See Rating: 2

5: Tummyache Soak
1: Adele 30

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Temple vs Tulsa Prediction, Game Preview

Temple vs Tulsa prediction, game preview, how to watch, lines, and why each team might – or might not – win this Saturday.

Temple vs Tulsa prediction, game preview, how to watch: Saturday, November 20

Temple vs Tulsa How To Watch

Date: Saturday, November 20
Game Time: 4:00 ET
Venue: Chapman Stadium, Tulsa, OK
How To Watch: ESPN+
Record: Temple (3-7), Tulsa (4-6)
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Temple vs Tulsa Game Preview

Why Temple Will Win

The Owls haven’t had a whole lot go their way since the win over Memphis five games ago, but it gets a Tulsa team that manages to play up or down to the competition.

The Golden Hurricane pushed Cincinnati to the brink, and then struggled with Tulane. It beat Memphis, and slipped past USF. All four wins were by a touchdown or less, and five of the losses were by eight points or fewer.

Temple has a decent enough pass defense to be a bother, and it’s able to get into the backfield from time to time, but the real key will be takeaways. Tulsa has a huge turnover problem, but …

– College Football Expert Picks, CFN Week 12

Why Tulsa Will Win

Temple doesn’t score.

The offense has come to a dead stop – it can’t keep things moving.

It’s awful on the ground, there aren’t enough easy third down chances, and it’s not putting points on the board when it does get its shot. It hasn’t scored more than a touchdown in four of the last five games and hasn’t scored more than 14 points in seven of the ten.

Tulsa might have a slew of issues, but it’s got enough of an offense to put this away fast with a few good scoring drives.

– NFL Expert Picks: CFN Week 11

What’s Going To Happen

The Golden Hurricane are not only playing on Senior Day – the last home game of the year – but they’re still alive for a bowl game. Win this, stun SMU next week, and they’re in.

They’ll take care of Part One without much of a problem – after the first half. Tulsa will go Tulsa and make this difficult on itself with two turnovers, but it’ll pull away late.

– College Football Schedule: Week 12 Predictions, Lines

Temple vs Tulsa Prediction, Lines

Tulsa 38, Temple 13
Line: Tulsa -22, o/u: 51
ATS Confidence out of 5: 1.5

Must See Rating: 2

5: Tummyache Soak
1: Adele 30

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BYU vs Georgia Southern Prediction, Game Preview

BYU vs Georgia Southern prediction, game preview, how to watch, lines, and why each team might – or might not – win this Saturday.

BYU vs Georgia Southern prediction, game preview, how to watch: Saturday, November 20

BYU vs Georgia Southern How To Watch

Date: Saturday, November 20
Game Time: 4:00 ET
Venue: Allen E Paulson Stadium, Statesboro, GA
How To Watch: ESPN+
Record: BYU (8-2), Georgia Southern (3-7)
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BYU vs Georgia Southern Game Preview

Why BYU Will Win

It’s not that the Georgia Southern offense has totally stalled, but it doesn’t do what it’s supposed to.

This is a running team that’s been able to bring in the passing attack enough to balance things out, and it all worked against Texas State last week. However, the ground game that ripped it up over the first half of the season isn’t getting the job done – it failed to get to 170 yards in four of the last five games, and now it goes against a BYU run defense that’s rested and good.

It allowed under 100 yards in two of the last three games and gives up 146 yards or fewer on the year.

On the flip side, the Cougar offense has been a machine with over 1,300 yards and 125 points in the last two games.

– College Football Expert Picks, CFN Week 12

Why Georgia Southern Will Win

Yeah, that passing game. It has to be good.

Justin Tomlin and Cam Ransom have combined to get things going over the last few games, but no matter what’s happening, the Eagles have to push the downfield plays a bit more and take some chances against the Cougar defense that will give up the occasional big play.

BYU doesn’t do a ton to get into the backfield when it’s not playing the awful teams – the Georgia Southern ground game should get a little time to work, too. There should be a little bit of balance, but …

– NFL Expert Picks: CFN Week 11

What’s Going To Happen

BYU will come back from the break roaring – after a quarter.

The running game will get going right away with nothing crazy, but the breakthrough dashes will start coming after a few drives. The defense that started to wear down a bit – at least it did in the 66-49 win over Virginia – will overcome a few early Georgia Southern scores to dominate in the second half.

– College Football Schedule: Week 12 Predictions, Lines

BYU vs Georgia Southern Prediction, Lines

BYU 38, Georgia Southern 14
Line: BYU -20, o/u: 57
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2.5

Must See Rating: 3

5: Tummyache Soak
1: Adele 30

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Louisiana vs Liberty Prediction, Game Preview

Louisiana vs Liberty prediction, game preview, how to watch, lines, and why each team might – or might not – win this Saturday.

Louisiana vs Liberty prediction, game preview, how to watch: Saturday, November 20

Louisiana vs Liberty How To Watch

Date: Saturday, November 20
Game Time: 4:00 ET
Venue: Williams Stadium, Lynchburg, VA
How To Watch: ESPNU
Record: Louisiana (9-1), Liberty (7-3)
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Louisiana vs Liberty Game Preview

Why Louisiana Will Win

The Ragin’ Cajuns keep on rolling.

They might have lost the opener to Texas, but they’ve cranked out ten straight wins since, they’re on the way to the Sun Belt Championship game next week, and with a whole lot of help and luck, they could be in the mix for the New Year’s Six out of the Group of Five teams.

First, the offense has to get going against a Liberty defense that’s been good, but allowed over 450 yards in two of the last three games. To be fair one of those was against Ole Miss last week, but North Texas came up with a good balance and enough points to provide a push in a 35-26 loss.

Louisiana isn’t running the ball like it did last year, but there’s a good balance, there aren’t a lot of turnovers, and there shouldn’t be a whole lot of mistakes against a Liberty D that doesn’t take the ball away.

However …

– College Football Expert Picks, CFN Week 12

Why Liberty Will Win

The Flames get into the backfield.

The defense has a few issues here and there, but the line makes plays. Against a Louisiana attack that needs a little time to let things develop – and loves to get outside – it’s going to be tough with the Liberty ends crashing in.

This isn’t the smoothest of Ragin’ Cajun offenses. It gets the job done, but it makes things harder on itself than it needs to be. Defensively it’s been fantastic over the last several weeks, but it hasn’t faced anything like Malik Willis and the Flame backfield that ran for 284 yards on Ole Miss and averages close to 200 yards per game.

– NFL Expert Picks: CFN Week 11

What’s Going To Happen

It’s like a good December bowl game at the end of November.

Louisiana has bigger fish to fry in a few weeks, and it’s got a rivalry date with ULM coming up next. First, it’s going to give Liberty a hard time for a full four quarters. The problem will be the lack of consistent scoring.

With a dangerous home finale against Army next week, the Flames need to get a win here to avoid a possible late season slide. They’ll get it, but they’ll have to come up with a few late scoring drives to get out alive.

Willis will be great when he needs to be.

– College Football Schedule: Week 12 Predictions, Lines

Louisiana vs Liberty Prediction, Lines

Liberty 28, Louisiana 23
Line: Liberty -4.5, o/u: 53.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2

Must See Rating: 4

5: Tummyache Soak
1: Adele 30

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Navy vs East Carolina Prediction, Game Preview

Navy vs East Carolina prediction, game preview, how to watch, lines, and why each team might – or might not – win this Saturday.

Navy vs East Carolina prediction, game preview, how to watch: Saturday, November 20

Navy vs East Carolina How To Watch

Date: Saturday, November 20
Game Time: 3:30 ET
Venue: Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, MD
How To Watch: CBS Sports Network
Record: Navy (2-7), East Carolina (6-4)
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Navy vs East Carolina Game Preview

Why East Carolina Will Win

The East Carolina run defense continues to be stunningly strong.

A disaster a few years ago, and a problem over the last few seasons, the Pirates are doing a great job of holding teams down on the ground, allowing fewer than 200 yards in each of the last seven games.

Overall, the Pirates struggled during the first half of the season and haven’t allowed more than 400 yards of total O over the last five games.

Navy’s offense has to run to win, and it’s not running well. It’s 2-1 when running for over 300 yards, and it’s 0-6 when it doesn’t.

– College Football Expert Picks, CFN Week 12

Why Navy Will Win

East Carolina’s D isn’t that good.

Yeah, the run defense is coming up with nice numbers, but it’s not going against a slew of great ground games. Navy still leads the American Athletic Conference in rushing, it dominates the time of possession battle, and it doesn’t make any mistakes to make anything easy.

For all of the good things East Carolina is doing, it turns it over lots and lots and lots of times. The O has given it up 13 times in the last five games and multiple times in the eight games.

Navy needs to be +2 in turnover margin, but …

– NFL Expert Picks: CFN Week 11

What’s Going To Happen

East Carolina can control the clock, too.

It’s not going to get destroyed in the time of possession battle – it keeps the ball over 32 minutes per game – with a defense that dominates on third downs.

Navy won’t go on enough long marches, but it’ll score off of two takeaways to stay alive. The Pirates, though, will go into the Cincinnati on a four-game winning streak to keep the momentum going.

– College Football Schedule: Week 12 Predictions, Lines

Navy vs East Carolina Prediction, Lines

East Carolina 26, Navy 20
Line: East Carolina -4, o/u: 46.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3

Must See Rating: 3

5: Tummyache Soak
1: Adele 30

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Boise State vs New Mexico Prediction, Game Preview

Boise State vs New Mexico prediction, game preview, how to watch, lines, and why each team might – or might not – win this Saturday.

Boise State vs New Mexico prediction, game preview, how to watch: Saturday, November 20

Boise State vs New Mexico How To Watch

Date: Saturday, November 20
Game Time: 9:00 ET
Venue: Albertsons Stadium, Boise, ID
How To Watch: FS1
Record: Boise State (6-4), New Mexico (3-7)
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Boise State vs New Mexico Game Preview

Why New Mexico Will Win

The running game is getting a bit better.

It’s not necessarily leading to wins, but the Lobos went from struggling on the ground – and in offense as a whole – to coming up with three of its best rushing days of the season over the last three games.

One of the decent days – even with just 147 yards on the ground – was part of the win over Wyoming.

Boise State doesn’t run all that well, the offense hasn’t been its normal explosive self, and now it’s dealing with a Lobo defense that hasn’t been that bad.

But …

– College Football Expert Picks, CFN Week 12

Why Boise State Will Win

The running game is getting a bit better.

The Broncos weren’t great over the first part of the season on the ground, but it’s coming off a three-game run with its best three rushing days of the season – winning all three games.

In this, it also helps that New Mexico doesn’t and can’t score.

Dead last in the nation in scoring, the Lobos are averaging fewer than 14 points per game, haven’t scored more than 17 points in and of the last eight games, and it’s not going to go off against a Boise State defense that hasn’t allowed 20 points in four of the last five games.

– NFL Expert Picks: CFN Week 11

What’s Going To Happen

Boise State needs to win this and get a little help – Utah State has to lose and it would help if Air Force loses to Nevada or UNLV – and the Mountain Division title hopes are still alive.

It starts with dominating a struggling New Mexico team that’s not going to score enough to matter.

– College Football Schedule: Week 12 Predictions, Lines

Boise State vs New Mexico Prediction, Lines

Boise State 38, New Mexico 10
Line: Boise State -27.5, o/u: 48.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2.5

Must See Rating: 2

5: Tummyache Soak
1: Adele 30

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USF vs Tulane Prediction, Game Preview

USF vs Tulane prediction, game preview, how to watch, lines, and why each team might – or might not – win this Saturday.

USF vs Tulane prediction, game preview, how to watch: Saturday, November 20

USF vs Tulane How To Watch

Date: Saturday, November 20
Game Time: 12:00 ET
Venue: Yulman Stadium, New Orleans, LA
How To Watch: ESPN+
Record: USF (2-8), Tulane (1-9)
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USF vs Tulane Game Preview

Why USF Will Win

The team is playing better.

It might be 1-4 over the last five games, but the four losses – including against Cincinnati and Houston – were were good battles. The passing game picked up over the last few weeks, the running game has had its moments, and the there are signs of life in a building year for 2022.

Tulane’s offensive line isn’t doing much of anything in pass protection, and on the flip side, USF’s line is doing a decent job of keeping everyone in the backfield clean. The Bull front five doesn’t allow a ton of sacks or tackles for loss, and again, it’s decent enough to generate a push for the ground game.

– College Football Expert Picks, CFN Week 12

Why Tulane Will Win

It’s a brutally painful year for the Green Wave – they have yet to beat an FBS team – but the defense stepped up in losses to UCF and Tulsa, and the team is still putting up a good battle.

The offensive line is having problems, but USF doesn’t generate any semblance of a steady pass rush. As long as Michael Pratt can get a little time to work, there’s a wee bit of passing game that was there before dealing with Cincinnati, UCF, and Tulsa over the last three weeks.

USF might be playing better overall, but it’s not moving the chains consistently enough and the secondary can get torched – it gave up close to 700 yards through the air over the last two weeks.

– NFL Expert Picks: CFN Week 11

What’s Going To Happen

Tulane’s offense isn’t working – 13 points or fewer in the last three games – and USF’s defense is having problems with 99 points allowed in the last two.

The offense should be able to perk up for the Green Wave, but USF is playing better overall.

The Bulls are going to look a whole lot stronger now that they’re not playing Houston and Cincinnati.

– College Football Schedule: Week 12 Predictions, Lines

USF vs Tulane Prediction, Lines

USF 27, Tulane 24
Line: Tulane -5.5, o/u: 60.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 1.5

Must See Rating: 2

5: Tummyache Soak
1: Adele 30

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Cincinnati vs SMU Prediction, Game Preview

Cincinnati vs SMU prediction, game preview, how to watch, lines, and why each team might – or might not – win this Saturday.

Cincinnati vs SMU prediction, game preview, how to watch: Saturday, November 20

Cincinnati vs SMU How To Watch

Date: Saturday, November 20
Game Time: 3:30 ET
Venue: Nippert Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
How To Watch: ESPN
Record: Cincinnati (10-0), SMU (8-2)
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Cincinnati vs SMU Game Preview

Why SMU Will Win

Cincinnati isn’t playing all that well.

Give it full and total credit for going into South Bend and giving Notre Dame its only loss of the season, but that’s it. That’s Cincinnati’s “Mambo No. 5” one-hit wonder followed up by a bunch of duds.

It’s not that the schedule has been lousy – up until this, the Bearcats haven’t played a team other than the Irish that has a win over a Power Five team, and that includes Indiana – it’s that it’s been such a struggle against the sad.

Where are the 52-3 blowouts over the awful teams? There was one over Temple, but that’s it.
So what’s the problem?

The running game has been wildly inconsistent, there are just enough turnovers to matter – six in the last two games – and it’s been too much of a struggle overall until the last few minutes.

SMU has the offense to take care of all of that.

Including Notre Dame, Cincinnati has yet to deal with anyone who can bomb away. The SMU offense leads the American Athletic Conference in total offense, partly because the offensive line leads the league in sacks allowed, and that all helps the team lead the was in scoring, too.

No, it hasn’t always been easy for the Mustangs against the mediocre teams, there’s a different standard here – no one’s putting in the College Football Playoff hunt.

However, win this, beat Tulsa next week, and it’s in the American Athletic Conference championship f Houston beats Cincinnati.

With all of that said …

– College Football Expert Picks, CFN Week 12

Why Cincinnati Will Win

Blah blah blah blah blah.

Yeah, Cincinnati hasn’t played well enough over the last month for a team that’s supposedly the second or third best in the country according to some polls, but it’s winning, it’s winning by a lot in most of these battles – by 19 over Tulane and 17 against USF – and now we get to see what it can do when it really matters.

Those close games against awful teams won’t mean spit if the Bearcats roll SMU, at East Carolina, and against Houston in the AAC Championship.

Lost in the overall narrative is that Demond Ridder got better. The veteran quarterback wasn’t accurate enough early in the season – yeah, he didn’t hit 60% of his passes against Notre Dame, Indiana, and UCF, aka, the good teams – but he’s been far more accurate over the back half of the season, he’s running well, and he’s making up for the team’s inconsistencies in the running game.

– NFL Expert Picks: CFN Week 11

What’s Going To Happen

Not yet.

It’s coming. Watch out for that trip to East Carolina, and Houston isn’t going to be any sort of a pushover, but if Cincinnati biffs its possible run to the College Football Playoff, it’s not going to be here.

SMU will put up numbers. QB Tanner Mordecai will wing it around the yards for around 300 yards, there will be moments when it looks like the big moment is happening, but Cincinnati’s lines will take over as the game goes on.

It’ll be more of a slow-and-steady-wins-the-race thing. Don’t expect dynamic, but Ridder is about to go off.

SMU couldn’t do a thing against Houston or Memphis – allowing 864 passing yards in the two games – and it somehow managed to make Tulane and UCF look like they could throw.
No. Not yet.

– College Football Schedule: Week 12 Predictions, Lines

Cincinnati vs SMU Prediction, Lines

Cincinnati 45, SMU 28
Line: Cincinnati -11, o/u: 65
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3

Must See Rating: 4.5

5: Tummyache Soak
1: Adele 30

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