Rivalries give us plenty of unexpected results as teams (both good and bad) play some of their best games when facing a rival team. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t break down these games. We scoured some of the best college football minds from all over the internet to break down some of this week’s best games. Read on for everything you need to know before making a bet.
Want to read up some more before diving into Week 13 of the college football season? Check out our best games to watch in Week 13 as well as our complete preview for The Game between Ohio State and Michigan.
[sc:NCAAFArticles ]Experts’ Picks for 2015 College Football Week 13
Bleacher Report
| Game | Michael Felder | Barrett Sallee | Adam Kramer | Ben Kercheval | Greg Couch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baylor Bears at TCU Horned Frogs | Baylor | Baylor | Baylor | Baylor | TCU |
| Ohio State Buckeyes at Michigan Wolverines | Ohio State | Ohio State | Ohio State | Michigan | Michigan |
| Florida State Seminoles at Florida Gators | Florida State | Florida State | Florida State | Florida State | Florida State |
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Stanford Cardinal | Notre Dame | Stanford | Stanford | Stanford | Notre Dame |
| Oklahoma Sooners at Oklahoma State Cowboys | Oklahoma State | Oklahoma | Oklahoma | Oklahoma | Oklahoma State |
The Bleacher Report College Football staff gives us its take on the best five games in Week 13 of the college football season. They note that Baylor vs. TCU, Ohio State vs. Michigan, Florida State vs. Florida, Notre Dame vs. Stanford and Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State are all intriguing games. But The Game should garner the most attention as the best game of the week.
[sc:NCAA240banner ]While Ohio State laid an egg in a last-second loss to Michigan State two weeks ago, the Buckeyes’ showdown with Big Ten rivals the Michigan Wolverines isn’t too meaningless. If the Spartans lose to Penn State in Week 13, then Ohio State could enter the Big Ten title game with a victory over Michigan. The Wolverines won’t back down, though. With a collection of hungry Wolverines led by a stellar head coach in Jim Harbaugh, Michigan won’t go out with a fight.
As it stands the experts at Bleacher Report are torn when it comes to The Game. Michael Felder, Barrett Sallee and Adam Kramer are picking the Buckeyes to win, while Ben Kercheval and Greg Couch went the other way.
While the experts had a hard time seeing eye-to-eye on The Game, they were unanimous in picking Florida State to win its matchup against Florida this coming weekend. Florida has been winning ugly the past few weeks, while the Seminoles have an unstoppable running back in Dalvin Cook.
CBS Sports
| Game | Total | Pick |
|---|---|---|
| University of Massachusetts at Buffalo | 51.5 | Under |
| Florida State at Florida | 43.5 | Under |
| Ohio State at Michigan | 45 | Under |
| Boston College at Syracuse | 41 | Under |
| Duke at Wake Forest | 46 | Under |
| Northwestern at Illinois | 41 | Under |
| Vanderbilt at Tennessee | 41 | Under |
| Kent State at Akron | 40 | Under |
| Air Force at New Mexico | 52 | Over |
| Texas State at Idaho | 67.5 | Over |
Bleacher Report gave us their picks for the top five games this week. CBS Sports gave us their top 10 totals picks of the week. The under has been a hot pick for CBS Sports writer Robby Kailand this week with Massachusetts vs. Buffalo, Florida State vs. Florida, Ohio State vs. Michigan, Boston College vs. Syracuse, Duke vs. Wake Forest, Northwestern vs. Illinois, Vanderbilt vs. Tennessee and Kent State vs. Akron all going under their respective point totals.
Kailand notes that struggling offenses and solid defenses are a perfect recipe for plenty of unders to cash. In the Florida State vs. Florida rivalry game, he notes that Florida has struggled to put points on the board against sound defensive teams. The Gators chipped in nine against Vanderbilt and 20 on Florida Atlantic. The Seminoles happen to have a very solid defense, ranking 17th in the nation in defensive S&P.
Florida’s offense may not be of much good, but its defense should still be able to limit the Seminoles from scoring plenty of points. Two good defenses should equal to an under. Another contest featuring two sound defenses is The Game between Ohio State and Michigan. The Wolverines have a very solid defense, which Kailand believes is good enough to keep Ohio State’s Ezekiel Elliott under tabs.
While the under is a hot pick for the week, Kailand does have two overs that he likes. He’s backing Air Force to score a ton on New Mexico considering the Falcons have gone over in seven of 11 games this season. Texas State should also score aplenty against Idaho, who allowed 56 points to Auburn last week while scoring 35 of their own.
247sports
247sports has plenty of projections for this week’s slate of games, especially for some of the biggest rivalry games set to occur. They are pegging Florida State to win the bitter rivalry game against the Florida Gators on the road by over five points. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech should be a solid home dog in a close upset victory over the Georgia Bulldogs.
247sports has also sorted out the Big Ten title picture with Michigan beating Ohio State as -1.5 favorites, while the Spartans beat the Nittany Lions by more than a touchdown. They also settled the SEC with the favorites LSU, Alabama and Ole Miss winning their respective games. But LSU fails to cover the spread in Les Miles’ final home game as the Tigers’ head coach.
Want to know what happens in the Big 12? 247sports has you covered with Oklahoma blows out rivals the Oklahoma State Cowboys by 20-plus points as a -4.5 favorite. Meanwhile, Baylor (-1.5) should deal with business against an injury-ravaged TCU Horned Frogs.
Armed with all these experts picks, it’s time to create a betting account and earn plenty of cash.
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