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College Football Week 13 Best Bets: Composite Ratings Picks The Winners
Welcome to the hardest week to bet.
Now, I don’t have the data to back this up but I do have the vibe: I absolutely loathe betting rivalry week. First of all we have the classic “throw the records out” theory (fallacy?) of the fact that weird things tend to happen when teams that have played for 100 years get it on. You never know who’s going to be newly motivated after sleepwalking through the last month or so. The other thing is obviously the interim coach factor. We’ve had more of that than usual last year, but it can be hard to peg which coaching staffs are fully in it.
There’s also the fact that a hefty amount of teams have a relatively short week to contend with, with some potentially scrapping for bowl eligibility with others more or less ready to fold up the tents and pack it in until spring practice. There’s just far too much narrative this week and when you mix that with our, well, relatively poor composite results this season it’s enough to fill the belly with some heavier than usual butterflies while filling out bet slips this week. At least I’ll have turkey to soothe the queasiness.
LW: 28-34-0, 45.2%
Season: 307-342-6, 47.3%
Check Out the Latest Odds at SI Sportsbook
Composite Best Bets
DOWNLOAD: PDF or VIEW AS WEBPAGE
The process behind the picks is briefly explained in my Week 1 column. Most of the time, the computer spits out something within one or two points of the real line (and at that point, sharp plays and whale plays are what’s moving the line anyway). But if the computer gives something more than three points, it’s worth a second look.
Favorites
-Boise State (-2.5) over San Diego State
-Coastal Carolina (-14.5) South Alabama
-Cincinnati (-13.5) over ECU
-Louisiana Tech (-3.5) over Rice
-UTSA (-11) over North Texas
-West Virginia (-15) over Kansas
-Alabama (-19.5) over Auburn
-Clemson (-11) over South Carolina
Dogs
-Buffalo (+6.5) over Ball State
-Eastern Michigan (+9) over Central Michigan
-Troy (+6.5) over Georgia State
-Charlotte (+9.5) over Old Dominion
The Big Dogs
-Missouri (+14) over Arkansas
-Colorado (+23.5) over Utah
Check Out the Latest Odds at SI Sportsbook
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Richard Johnson is known for his college sports expertise. He co-hosts the “Split Zone Duo” podcast and co-authored The Sinful Seven: Sci-fi Western Legends of the NCAA. Richard was the 2022 winner of the Edward Aschoff Rising Star Award, and previously appeared as an analyst on the SEC Network show “Thinking Out Loud.” He established an early career with ESPN and SB Nation before joining Sports Illustrated in 2021 and lives in Brooklyn.