You likely don’t need me to tell you this, but my goodness, we have one heck of a college football slate ahead of us this week, friends! I mean seriously, this week’s schedule is enticing enough to give you the warm and fuzzies even on the chilliest fall morning. So before I get to my official parlay picks of the week, I just want to briefly touch on some of the games — both SEC and non-SEC — that didn’t make the cut for one reason or another.
Notre Dame at Arkansas — The Fighting Irish take a trip down to SEC country to face a Razorbacks squad that is going to have a chip on its collective shoulder after blowing an 11-point halftime lead in Memphis last Saturday.
USC at Illinois — Is Lincoln Riley back? More importantly, have the Illini recovered after a 63-10 beatdown at the hands of Curt Cignetti and the Indiana Hoosiers in primetime last weekend?
Indiana at Iowa — I don’t know if Iowa has the firepower to get it done, but I’ve got the Hoosiers on upset alert this week.
Baylor at Oklahoma State — Mike Gundy is a man, he’s 40, and now he’s unemployed. Could the Cowboys get an interim coach bump from Doug Meacham?
Ohio State at Washington — Is anyone else just a little bit curious why the No. 1-ranked team in the country is only favored by a touchdown against an unranked opponent?
Tennessee at Mississippi State — The chance for the Bulldogs to prove they’re for real, because it doesn’t seem their win over Arizona State did the trick.
Oregon at Penn State — There’s not much better than a whiteout at Beaver Stadium… but a whiteout on a night when a pair of top-10 teams take the field? You can’t ask for much more than that.
As usual, all betting lines are courtesy of BetMGM.
Leg 1: Ole Miss -1.5 (-115) over LSU
Do I worry that Trinidad Chambliss, who was playing Division II football last year at this time, will have his hands full against an LSU defense that has allowed only 37 points in its first 4 games of the season? Of course I do. But as I wrote earlier this week in my Week 4 SEC Weekend Awards column, “Trinidad Chambliss” is the name of a once-in-a-generation athlete and someone destined to emerge as a superstar, regardless of what sport he’s playing. With Chambliss getting his third start of the year over Austin Simmons, I like the Rebels to defend their home field, score one of the biggest wins of the entire season, and vault up the rankings in the next AP Poll.
Leg 2: Vanderbilt -21.5 (-110) over Utah State
So here’s my logic: Vanderbilt has won its first 4 games by 42 points, 24 points, 24 points and 49 points. Meanwhile, Utah State is 3-0 vs. non-SEC opponents this year, and 0-1 versus the SEC, losing to Texas A&M by 22 points on the first Saturday in September. Check all of those results again and you’ll see that the math is indeed mathin’, so give me Diego Pavia and the Commodores to win, cover and take care of business ahead of the start of a brutal stretch of SEC play.
Leg 3: Texas A&M -6.5 (-105) over Auburn
Auburn has to make the trip to College Station and deal with Mike Elko‘s Aggies and the 12th Man just 1 week removed from a hard-hitting slugfest against the Oklahoma Sooners. Meanwhile, Texas A&M will be fresh, hungry and ready for its SEC opener after getting a week off following a dramatic win over Notre Dame. I think the Aggies might roll here.
Leg 4: Georgia -3 (-110) over Alabama
I lost real-world money on this game last season, backing Georgia and feeling downright giddy after the first 15 minutes of action. Then I had to watch a football game turn into a horror movie, seeing the Bulldogs let a 30-7 halftime lead slip away against the Crimson Tide in Kalen DeBoer‘s first game in SEC play. But this game ain’t in Tuscaloosa, and I can’t see Kirby Smart letting his team drop a second straight game to Bama.
This line is a little lower than I was expecting — I had anticipated something in the 5.5- to 6.5-point range — so I’ll take the free 3 points, grab Georgia, and hope that, this time around, I’ll be celebrating a win when 2 of the SEC’s best depart the field in Athens on Saturday night.
Total Odds: +1230
