Welcome to college football Week 13 — the last week of the regular season.
While it's been 13 weeks of backdoor covers, heartbreaking beats, unexpected victories and pure chaos, it's not over yet. We still have plenty of action left on the board before conference championship week.
And our staff is ready to attack the day.
It all starts at noon ET on Saturday with one of the biggest games of the season — Ohio State vs. Michigan — along with Boston College vs. Wake Forest and Florida vs. Florida State.
So, strap in and prepare yourself for some stellar Rivalry Week action. And you know what? We might as well make some money while we're at it.
Saturday College Football Best Bets
Our Top Picks for Saturday's Noon Slate of Games
The team logos in the table below represent each of the matchups that our college football staff is targeting from Saturday's Noon ET slate of games. Click the team logos for one the matchups below to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.
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| Specific bet recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our NCAAF Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | ||
Ohio State vs. Michigan
Saturday, Nov. 27 12 p.m. ET FOX |
Michigan +8.5  |
Ohio State has absolutely dominated this rivalry in recent memory, much to the chagrin of Michigan fans.
This year’s matchup is one of the biggest in the rivalry’s history given what is on the line for both teams.
The winner of “The Game” takes the Big Ten East and will head to Indianapolis, needing one more win to advance to the College Football Playoff.
For Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan faithful, plain and simple, it’s time. Time to go finally take care of business at home against your fiercest rival. Time to win the turnover battle, come up with the key third-down stop, and make the plays in the red zone.
I believe Michigan has the defensive personnel to at least slow down the potent Ohio State offensive attack. The Wolverines should be able to put pressure on CJ Stroud with just their front four, led by star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson.
On the other side of the ball, while Michigan is more of a methodical offense, the Ohio State defense has shown it can be susceptible to the big play. Look for Michigan to control the time of possession on the ground and then occasionally take its chances down the field.
This was an immediate play for me once the number creeped outside a touchdown. The Big House will be rocking, and Harbaugh’s team understands the opportunity in front of them.
I think this line is an overreaction to the Buckeyes’ dismantling of Michigan State last week. Sparty has had a poor secondary throughout the season, and the Ohio State receivers feasted.
Two weeks ago, most look-ahead lines had the Buckeyes around a 4.5-point favorite.
Michigan’s defense is much more equipped to slow down Stroud and the OSU passing attack.
Most of my action will come on the Wolverines +8, but I also plan on sprinkling a little on the Michigan moneyline, which is right around +260 at the moment.
If there was ever a time for the Wolverines to finally break through, it’s this Saturday in Ann Arbor. As someone who grew up a Notre Dame fan, I don’t say this often: Go Blue.
Pick: Michigan +8.5
To all my Michigan friends, family, and fans. Take some advice from our most hated Green Bay Packer Aaron Rodgers and R-E-L-A-X.
This was the first bet I made as soon as books started to post numbers, and I was in shock that this opened more than a touchdown — especially when the look-ahead line was +4.5.
This is simply an overreaction. Collin Wilson has Michigan projected around +6.
Wolverine fans are coming into this worried, as OSU comes off of a dominant performance against MSU. That’s the thing: We knew OSU was going to dominate Michigan State. MSU is 100th in Def. Pass Success, an area that OSU was going to torch it in all day long. Shocker, it did.
Michigan is not MSU. I’m still annoyed it took a career game from Kenneth Walker III and a horrible Michigan game plan for MSU to squeak out the win.
Michigan comes into this game as one of the best defenses in college football. If it wasn’t for Georgia having one of the best defensive performances in history, then we would be talking about this Michigan defense as the best in the nation. It’s top-30 in all defensive metrics.
The Wolverines will have answers to stop everything that Ohio State will throw at them.
It will be up to the Michigan offense to take advantage of any stalled-out drives its defense can generate.
While their Finishing Drives is worrisome, the Wolverines are still the most efficient offense, one that should continue to find success in small gains at a time — specially if Corum is back.
I’ve hated Michigan for 26 years of my life, but I have to admit… it’s winning me over. If the Wolverines can cover, let alone pick up the upset win, I'll be the loudest in the bar yelling, “Go Blue!”
Pick: Michigan +8.5
Wake Forest vs. Boston College
Saturday, Nov. 27 12 p.m. ET ESPN2 |
Over 63.5 |
By Doug Ziefel
We have seen this Wake Forest team in shootouts all season long.
The most notable one was its duel with Army that ended with a final score of 70-56. Army, a team that ran the ball 70 times for 416 yards, scored 56 points on this Demon Deacon defense. Now, the other half of that game was the air show put on by Sam Hartman, who threw for 458 yards and five touchdowns.
We certainly cannot expect another 126-point total here, but a game against Boston College has similar makings to the matchup with Army.
The Eagles will be able to run the ball with ease against the Demon Deacon defense. The Eagles are a team that runs the ball nearly 60% of the time and will face a unit that is 110th in yards per rush allowed.
Boston College will also have the ability to have some big plays when it goes to the air. The return of quarterback Phil Jurkovec has sparked this offense. Wake has been burned by the big play this season as it’s are 80th in yards per pass allowed.
On the other side of the field, Hartman will actually be facing a fairly stout pass defense. The Eagles are 30th in opponent completion percentage allowed and seventh in opponent passing yards per game.
Though, we have not seen a defense that has slowed Hartman and the Demon Deacon offense down for an entire game. I fully expect Wake Forest to fire back all game long.
Take the over, and enjoy watching the scoreboard light up.
Pick: Over 63.5
Florida State vs. Florida
Saturday, Nov. 27 12 p.m. ET ESPN |
Florida -2.5  |
The Florida Gators’ season has spiraled out of control over the last month, as they’ve lost four of their last five games outright — and its sole victory came over FCS opponent in Samford.
One of those losses came at the hands of Georgia, but the Gators were double-digit favorites in the other three and failed to win outright. They’ve undeniably been struggling. They find themselves at 5-6 and need this win to sneak into bowl season.
Florida State is also 5-6 and can make it to bowl season with a win over its in-state rival. The Seminoles came from behind to defeat Miami and barely survived Boston College last week.
Through four games this season, Florida was a 2-point conversion away from going to overtime with Alabama and potentially starting undefeated.
Florida State, meanwhile, was 0-4, including a loss to Jacksonville State. But due to the Gators’ recent struggles, we’re able to get them below a field goal in this matchup.
The Florida State offense will go as far as quarterback Jordan Travis will take it. But the Gators defense is a different animal, and they will own the Seminoles offensive line to slow the rushing attack. Florida has compiled 62 tackles for loss and 31 sacks this season.
After Emory Jones was banged up last week, the Gators will likely go with Anthony Richardson at quarterback. That’s a great thing for Florida fans, as he’s an electric playmaker who has averaged 9.4 yards per rush on his 40 carries this season.
Florida will dominate in the trenches on both sides of the ball and remain the top program in the state. Despite all of the distractions that Florida is facing, it will get up for this rivalry game that falls on Senior Day.
Pick: Florida -2.5
