College Football Week 5 Best Bets: Key Matchups and Public Betting Trends

In Week 5 of the college football season, three high-profile matchups are capturing the attention of both bettors and fans. Whether it’s the Oklahoma State vs. Kansas State clash, the heavyweight showdown between Georgia and Alabama, or Oklahoma’s visit to Auburn, these games offer excellent betting opportunities. With sharp lines and heavy public action, understanding the current odds and betting splits can give you the edge you need to make informed wagers. Let’s break down the betting trends and odds for these key matchups and identify where the public money is going.

#20 Oklahoma State +4.5 at #23 Kansas State

The first big game of Saturay’s slate will feature two midwest college football heavyweights when the Oklahoma State Cowboys visit the Kansas State Wildcats. Both teams are coming off some pretty embarrassing losses last week, and both fell in the latest AP poll to their current marks. The Cowboys lost 22-19 to the Utah Utes at home, but that score is much closer than the game actually was. Utah dominated them for about 3.5 quarters until garbage time when Oklahoma State made a late push. Kansas State got ripped 38-9 on the road at BYU in a game that was never even a contest, to be honest.

As we sit right now in the market, Kansas State is a -4.5 home favorite at BetMGM, but some places are at -5 as well. It should be no surprise to anyone that has been reading these articles that the higher-ranked team getting points is getting a lot of public attention. Oklahoma State is getting 60 percent of the early spread bets and 55 percent of the early moneyline bets at plus money. These percentages aren’t super lopsided, so this can change fairly quickly on gameday, as most tickets and money come in before kickoff. Make sure to get the updated splits tomorrow morning to put yourself in the best position here.

#2 Georgia -1.5 at #4 Alabama

I am actually quite surprised by this one, as I thought the public would stray more to the opposite side of this matchup. The biggest game of the weekend, and maybe of the entire college football season, will be between the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide in Alabama. These teams are both undefeated coming into the game, but considering how they each played the last time we saw them, I am shocked the public likes Georgia on the spread. The Bulldogs barely scraped by an unranked Kentucky team at home, while Alabama crushed Wisconsin 42-10. They must be buying into the bounce back narrative, and the fact that Georgia hasn’t lost in the regular season for years.

As it stands, Georgia is a -1.5 favorite at BetMGM, but some places are sitting at -1. The splits are not lopsided at all, and this actually could be a game you might want to stay away from, as hard as that would be. 56 percent of spread bets are on Georgia, but 58 percent of moneyline bets are on Alabama. It’s two-way action through and through, but perhaps on gameday we will see a shift one way or the other as bets flood the market towards kickoff. I truly expect that Alabama will be public here.

#21 Oklahoma -2.5 at Auburn

One of the most lopsided public wagers this weekend is a game between two prominent SEC schools, although it still feels weird calling the Sooners an SEC school. They had their first real taste of action in their new conference last week, losing at home to Tennessee 25-15 in a game that probably wasn’t as close as that final score indicates. They benched their starting quarterback for a true freshman, and their wide receiver corps is devastated, but the public really doesn’t seem to care about that against Auburn. The Tigers aren’t the program that they used to be, and are sitting at 2-2 right now through four weeks.

As it stands, Oklahoma is a -2.5 favorite on the road at Auburn. 66 percent of the bets are on the Sooners to cover here, which is not shocking considering they are ranked and under a field goal to cover the spread. The books are very likely going to be cheering for the Tigers for this game as the public hammers Oklahoma on the road. What could go wrong?

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