Intriguing College Football Games To Bet On In Week 13
One Big Ten game stands out, but a slew of others create exciting betting opportunities
The Marquee Matchup
#9 Penn State (9-1) at #2 Ohio State (10-0)
OSU -18.5, O/U 57.5, Saturday, 12:00pm EST
The Buckeyes have the best odds to win the national championship and have been dominant on both sides of the ball. Their 41.7 point margin of victory leads Division I by 7.5 points over the next-best team (Clemson). Led by Justin Fields and J.K. Dobbins, their offense is as dominant and efficient as their defense that’s filled with future NFL talent. However, while some wrote off the Nittany Lions after their five-point loss to Minnesota a couple weeks ago, they can get back into the College Football Playoff picture with an upset win. It’s surprising that this game kicks off at noon, but it’s the clear must-watch contest on the Week 13 slate.
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The 40-Point Home Underdog
BYU (6-4) at UMass (1-10)
UMASS +40, O/U 69, Saturday, 12:00pm EST
UMass is absolutely horrible. Their only victory of the season was over winless Akron and since then, they’ve lost 44-0, 69-21, 56-35, 63-21, 63-7 and 45-6. For context, Northwestern (2-8) just put up 45 points against them despite the fact that the Wildcats' starting QB completed just seven passes and threw two interceptions and no touchdowns. However, it’s hard not to at least consider a 40-point home dog. BetQL’s NCAA Football Model labels the Minutemen as the best bet to cover the spread in this matchup. If UMass is able to score once or twice in front of their home fans (if they still have any), it’ll make it very difficult for BYU to cover.
The Potential Rebound In Hostile Territory
#11 Minnesota (9-1) at Northwestern (2-8)
MINN -13.5, O/U 39.5, Saturday, 12:00pm EST
In recent years, Northwestern has been a hostile setting for opposing teams. This year, they’re just 2-8, but still play a bruising, ground-and-pound style of football. They’ll be looking to further spoil Minnesota’s season after the Golden Gophers’ perfect year ended at the hands of Iowa last week. To further complicate things, Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan is in concussion protocol and his status for this game is uncertain. Find out more about what that might mean and read about the other storylines surrounding this contest in our full preview.
The Pro Edge
Georgia Southern (6-4) at Arkansas State (6-4)
AKST -1.5, O/U 55.5, Saturday, 3:00pm EST
One of the most useful tools here at BetQL is our Sharp Picks Dashboard. There, you can easily sort and identify which teams are getting the most love from pro bettors. The largest discrepancy between total money percentage wagered and total bet percentage wagered results in a Pro Edge. In this contest, Georgia Southern has attracted 40 percent of total bets, but an incredible 97 percent of the money (57 percent Pro Edge). That’s one of the most significant insights on the entire slate and it means that the experts are all over GSU.
The Huge SEC Spread
Arkansas (2-8) at #1 LSU (10-0)
LSU -43.5, O/U 69, Saturday, 7:00pm EST
Everyone fully expects Heisman Trophy frontrunner Joe Burrow to add to his resume and for the Tigers to roll in this matchup. The question is how much LSU will win by and if they’ll cover the slate’s largest spread. At this point in the season (as seen last week with Tua Tagovailoa’s injury), maintaining Burrow’s health will be of paramount importance to LSU and their title hopes. If they get out to a huge lead, will their backups still be talented enough to add to it or maintain it against Arkansas’ first-teamers? Perhaps, but it’s a tough question.
The Potential Shootout
Oregon State (5-5) at Washington State (5-5)
WSU -10.5, O/U 76.5, Saturday, 9:00pm EST
If you like watching touchdowns, you’re going to want to tune into this game. Oregon State averaged 29.6 points per game and Washington State passes the ball 76.7 percent of the time (over 12 percentage points higher than the next most pass-happy offense). Therefore, this might end up looking more like a tennis match than a football game. As indicated by the slate’s highest total (76.5), expect a ton of crooked numbers on the scoreboard all game long.
Our NCAA Football Model went 183-98-43 across all Week 12 bets (65.1% win, +8.84 average return). Get in the action right now and check out all of our Week 13 best bets!