NCAAF Week 13 Picks
Another week of free College Football bets
We’re suddenly getting very close to the end of the season here, with playoff seeding becoming at least a little clearer so now is as good a time as any to run through the playoff seedings to get a better grasp on the situation.
B1G Playoff Picture
The current 1 seed Oregon should run the regular season table with their only pre-playoff game of note being the B1G Championship Game, where they should face the winner of the Indiana/Ohio St game this weekend. Pending expected results, we should see Oregon and Ohio St in the playoffs as the 1 and 5 seeds, while Indiana probably needs a good showing against Ohio St to maintain a high seed, but should be in despite a loss to the Buckeyes. Should any of these teams slip up more than once, Penn St is waiting in the wings to climb into their spot. That’s 4 B1G schools ranked in the top 5 and all virtual locks for the playoffs. The road to the National Championship doesn’t go through the SEC this year, but B1G country.
SEC Playoff Picture
Speaking of the SEC, they make up most of the rest of the top 12 spots currently. Texas is holding onto the 3 seed and should move up this week before what is shaping up to be an interesting game against A&M in College Station next week. Potential for chaos abounds. Taking up the bottom half of the playoff seeds are 7 seed Alabama, 9 seed Ole Miss, 10 seed Georgia and 11 seed Tennessee. Knowing at least one of these teams will miss the playoffs because the fifth conference champion needs a spot means we’ll have some seed jockeying to be done in the final couple of weeks. Every one of these teams has a pretty easy schedule excepting maybe Alabama who goes to Norman this week and then hosts Auburn for the Iron Bowl. The next team to lose gets bounced and if the Aggies are able to upset Texas, we’ll have genuine SEC chaos on our hands. A potential rematch could be on deck in the SECCG, or if Texas does its job, Georgia currently will be in the unenviable position of having to play a pre-playoff playoff game, needing to beat Texas to keep their season alive. Intrigue! Drama!
The Best of the Rest
So that’s 4 B1G schools and 4 SEC schools heading for the playoff as it currently stands. So who makes up the last 4 teams? At the moment, it’s 6 seed Notre Dame, 8 seed Miami as the ACC favorite, 12 seed Boise St as the Mountain West champs, and then BYU as the Big 12 champ.
Some teams that are nipping at the heels of some of these schools include SMU, Colorado and even Clemson. The good news for the playoff committee is that they won’t be forced into including a 4 loss mid-tier conference champion here, so there’s no real way they can screw this up. It’s crunch time and the next loss can end your season early. Let’s see how these teams finish it out.
Picks Recap
But enough of all that, let’s gamble. Picks went 15-21 last week bringing the season total to 295-281. Now you know why I led with playoff talk. Personally, I’m hitting my stride, going 4-2 this past week and a fantastic 70-68 on the season. Truly remarkable stuff from me. Andy had a down week (9-14) and his volume sunk the overall record. It’s ok, he was due for a little regression. It’s a good time to get back on board the cash train. Matt has had better outings as well, going 2-5 last week. We’re a little light this week, so let’s get to it.
Consensus Picks
Last week’s consensus plays went 1-0-1 or 1-1 depending on the number you got on FAU (the Owls lost in OT by 3). Missouri did their part, losing by 4 to SC.
I highlighted some fun plays last week, so here’s how those shook out:
Illinois covered, but they almost hit the over themselves. That’s a split.
Oregon didn’t cover the half or the game. 0-2.
Purdue landed right on 10, getting a team total push.
SMU didn’t cover the 1H, but BC did cover the full game. Another split.
Three plays this week. The season total is up to 39-32-1.
Kent St +10 (L)
BYU +3, 3.5
Notre Dame -14.5, 16.5
For the full list of plays, we’ve got them listed out below.
Al:
Season Record: 70-68-1 (-4.3u)
Indiana +13.5, Wake Forest TT o19.5, SMU -9, Colorado -2.5, Florida TT o20.5, Georgia -42, Notre Dame -14.5
Andy:
Season Record: 107-103 (-4.9u)
Kent St +10 (L), Akron/ Kent St o49 (W), CMU +7 (W), WMU/CMU o56 (L), NIU/Miami OH u42 (W), Purdue +13, Alabama/Oklahoma o47, Michigan -11, Penn St/Minnesota u45.5, Wisconsin +2.5, Wisconsin/Nebraska u42.5, Wake Forest +24, BYU +3.5, Kansas +2.5, Oklahoma St +3.5, West Virginia +3, Air Force +4.5, Ga Southern/Coastal Carolina o57, Troy +12, Ga St +20, Ball St +11.5, FAU +2.5, ECU/UNT u73.5, UAB +7, Tulsa +16, UTEP/Tennessee u53, Notre Dame -16.5, Oregon St +13, Wyoming +22.5, Fresno St -3
Chris
Season record: 4-3-0 (+0.64u)
None.
Danny
Season record: 63-59 (-2.67u)
Kent St +10 (L), BYU +3
Matt
Season Record: 51-48 (-1.59u)
None.
What’s your favorite bet this week?