There are three games on the college football slate for Friday night, including a top-25 matchup in the Big Ten. Are the Illini a live dog? Will Syracuse cover as a home favorite against Stanford? Check out our Friday College Football Best Bets.
Saturday College Football Best Bets Recap
I backed Tulsa +17, LSU -6.5 and Colorado State +7.5. None of those selections hit. The Golden Hurricane were waxed 45-10 at home by Oklahoma State. The Tigers staged a comeback in a 36-33 victory over South Carolina, but came short of covering the spread. The Rams were also hammered 28-9 by Colorado, which couldn’t protect Sheduer Sanders just a week prior in Lincoln, NE.
Let’s try to get back on track tonight.
Friday College Football Best Bet: Stanford Cardinal +8.5
When Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels is on his game, he’s a handful for opposing defenses. Syracuse has been fine defensively, but the Orange have lacked a pass rush. That’s a drawback in a game against an opponent that can beat you through the air.
The 56.5-point total is modest for a college football game, but this matchup still has sneaky shootout potential. I like backing underdogs in potential high-scoring games and I see both offenses having success tonight.
Friday College Football Best Bet: Nebraska Cornhuskers -8
I could be eating crow by the end of night, but I think the Illini’s ranking speaks more to the parity in college football than it does to Illinois’ prominence. The win over Kansas in Week 2 was impressive. That said, it was a home game on a Saturday evening and the Jayhawks turned around the next week and lost to UNLV as a 9-point home favorite.
Was KU down? Perhaps. Or, the Jayhawks weren’t as good as everyone thought coming into the season. The other wins for Illinois was Central Michigan (which still gave Illinois’ offense some issues) and Eastern Illinois. That’s it. That’s what Illinois has done to earn its ranking.
Granted, you could make the same case for Nebraska, which topped UTEP, an overrated Colorado team, and Northern Iowa. Still the ‘Huskers covered as 27.5-, 6.5- and 30-point favorites. In other words, they were dominant. And while CU is overrated, that same Buffs team has handled the Huskers in year’s past.
As we move beyond the schedule and look at this matchup, Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer has been steady, while Nebraska signal-caller Dylan Raiola has been brilliant. He’s hitting 74% of his passes with five scores and just one interception. The Cornhuskers’ offensive line has also been outstanding, allowing just one sack and 12 tackles for loss thus far.
Illinois’ defense has been excellent, but tonight will be a different challenge. Altmyer was also a question coming into the season and I see tonight being the night things fall apart.
Friday College Football Best Bet: San Jose State/Washington State over 55
Public bettors seem to like the under in this matchup because of the defensive prowess of San Jose State. The Spartans rank in the top-50 in several key defensive categories, but who have they played? Their biggest win was at Air Force as a 3-point underdog. Their other two wins were against Sacramento State and Kennesaw State. How can anyone look at their defense and say there’s any legitimacy to those top-50 numbers?
Even though the schedule doesn’t tell us much about San Jose State’s defense, the fact that both of these teams are top-40 in seconds per play tells us all we need to know about the offenses. Both sides want to play fast, which means each team will have an opportunity to score fast or punt fast. Either way, we should be working with tired defenses by the end of the game.