Ricky Dimon
Show Bio
As always, there are plenty of betting opportunities to be found on the college football schedule, starting with four games on Friday, including Oregon vs California. Things obviously heat up on Saturday, when Auburn is among the teams taking the field. The Tigers are being overshadowed by Georgia and others in the SEC, but they have a big game against Arkansas on their hands this weekend.
Let’s take a look at some of our best bets for Week 7 of the college football season.
California Golden Bears +14 over Oregon Ducks
Oregon saw leading rusher CJ Verdell go down with a season-ending injury last week. On the other side of the ball, the Ducks lost safety Bennett Williams to a season-ending injury earlier this month. Thus the secondary may be hard-pressed to contain California quarterback Chase Garbers and and the rest of the offensive attack. Cal is averaging 249 yards per game through the air. The Golden Bears’ scoring has been dependent on Garbers’ performance, as they have produced at least 24 points in the 3 games in which he has thrown for at least 275 yards. California heads into this road contest coming off back-to-back losses to Washington and Washington State, which is why you can get the visitors with a 2-touchdown spread. Against a reeling Oregon squad, that should be enough to cover. The Ducks are just 1-4 ATS this season and have won by double-digits only against Stony Brook and Arizona (who are a combined 0-11). California is 9-1 ATS in its last 10 games as a road underdog.
Check out our full game preview
Auburn Tigers +4.5 over Arkansas Razorbacks
For the first time since 2015, Arkansas is favored against Auburn. Both teams are entering this game off losses. The Razorbacks lost in the final seconds to Ole Miss, while the Tigers understandably got beaten by now-No. 1 Georgia. Arkansas, a team that has been talked about a lot for its defense, gave up 52 points to the Rebels. The good news for the Razorbacks is that Auburn isn’t going to spread them out the way Ole Miss did. The bad news is that Auburn is probably going to try to attack them like Georgia did on the ground. Auburn averages 206 rushing yards per game and Arkansas has one of the worst rushing defenses in the SEC, giving up an average of 191 yards per game. On the other side of the ball, Arkansas has been most successful when it is able to run the football. The Razorbacks are going to have a tough time doing that against an Auburn defense than ranks third in the SEC in rushing defense. This is a bad matchup for Arkansas, so taking the points and siding with Auburn is the play.
Check out our full game preview
Rutgers Scarlet Knights -2 over Northwestern Wildcats
Northwestern has really struggled on both sides of the ball and is already saddled with a bad loss on its resume, to Duke earlier this year. The Wildcats’ last time out on the field was two weeks ago, when they were dismantled by Nebraska 56-7. After surrendering an outlandish 427 yards of rushing to the Cornhuskers, Northwestern is now allowing more than 237 yards per game on the ground. The offense has averaged a lousy 17 points in 3 games against Power 5 opponents. Rutgers is on a 3-game losing skid, but its opponents have been Michigan, Ohio State, and Michigan State, who are all in the top 10 of the AP poll. The Scarlet Knights’ offensive numbers aren’t anything otherworldly, but they do tend to limit turnovers. Rutgers has actually played pretty well defensively, holding opponents to 212 passing yards and less than 23 points per game.
Check out all of our college football picks for Week 7
At Pickswise we offer free expert College Football Picks and College Football Predictions for all games in the Power Five conferences and the top 25 teams outside of Power five, including our College Football Parlay picks each week.
