Get locked and loaded for college football’s Week 7 slate by checking out our betting preview. Our CFB insider has 2 best bets for October 11. Enjoy the action, and best of luck with all of your bets this weekend.
| Saturday, September 5 at 12:30 PM | Spread | Money | Total |
| Ball State Cardinals |  +50.5 (-115) | O 57.5 (-115) | |
| Ohio State Buckeyes |  -50.5 (-110) |  U 56.5 (-108) |
Best Bet: Ohio State vs Illinois OVER 50.5
The defending champions have gotten off to a 5-0 start this season and already have a marquee win over then #1 Texas in the season opener. Julian Sayin has stepped into the role as QB and has been efficient in leading this offense to this point. While he and the offense have been producing week in and week out, it has been the OSU defense that has excelled and made their wins come in an easy fashion. They have held opponents to an average of just 5 points per game. That said, the Illinois offense is likely to be the best they will have faced to this point and could force OSU to rely more on the offense this time.
The Illini are 5-1 and ranked 17 at this point. After a trouncing by Indiana a few weeks ago (63-0), the Illini were able to bounce back and score a solid 34-32 win over then #21 USC, and last week won on the road against Purdue 43-27. While the offense has gotten back on track since the Indiana loss, the defense remains a bit iffy. They have allowed 59 points combined in the last two and will need to be tougher in this matchup against the #1 Buckeyes coming to town. QB, Luke Altmyer, has gone back-to-back games with throwing over 300 yards and has accounted for 4 total touchdowns.
This is a decent-sized spread of over 2 touchdowns, and we feel like OSU has a better chance of covering the number, but we will side with the total going over as our official play. While it is possible that the Buckeye defense could hold Illinois under 10 points, we think they should be able to score enough to help this one get over the total. Illinois’ inability to stop USC and Purdue is also leading us to believe that the Buckeye offense should have little resistance in scoring in this one.
Key Trends for Buckeyes at Illini
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Illinois’ last 5 games.
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Ohio State’s last 5 games against Illinois.
- The total has gone OVER in 6 of Illinois’ last 6 games against an opponent in the Big Ten conference.
| Friday, September 11 at 8:00 PM | Spread | Money | Total |
| Missouri Tigers | -7 (-110) | -235 | O 51.5 (-110) |
| Kansas Jayhawks | +7 (-110) | +190 | U 51.5 (-110) |
Best Bet: Alabama -3 over Missouri
Alabama picked up another quality win last week. This time it was at home over then #16 Vanderbilt. The Tide pitched a shutout in the 2nd half after scoring a game-tying touchdown just before half to cement this win. Ty Simpson was strong under center, finishing with 340 yards passing and 2 touchdowns with just 1 interception. Jam Miller used his 22 carries to accumulate 136 yards on the ground and 1 score. The defense was the main character, holding the Vandy offense to just over 100 total yards in the 2nd half and not allowing a single point. If the season did not start off with a loss to FSU, many would be saying this Bama team is the best in the country.
The Tigers are 5-0 on the season and are currently ranked #14 in the nation. They are averaging a whopping 45.2 points per game and have held opponents to 10 or less in 3 of their 5 wins. However, these numbers are inflated when you look at exactly who the Tigers have faced. Their best wins have come over a mediocre program like Kansas and South Carolina, both of which have 2 losses on their records already. Beau Pribula has been a difference make for the Tigers and has them in a much better position than the program he left (Penn State) to this point. He will now face his toughest task as a Tiger when the Tide come to town this weekend.
This line makes absolutely no sense to us. As we stated, the Tigers have not played any significant opponents to date while the Tide have been tested in 3 tough matchups. The Tide seem to be heading in a great direction and should walk into Columbia and take care of business with relative ease. The public seems to be in love with the short home dog here, as we are seeing 65% of the bets coming in on the Tigers. We are going to fade the public and back the better team here in what could be a trap spot for the Tide.
Key Trends for Crimson Tide at Tigers
- Alabama is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 games when playing as the favorite.
- Alabama is 8-3 ATS in its last 11 games.
- Missouri is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games against Alabama.
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