10 Best College Football Predictions Against The Spread Week 7

10 Best Predictions Against The Spread Week 7

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9 and 10 Below
8. UNLV at Nevada
7. Fresno State at Utah State
6. Ohio State at Purdue
5. Florida at South Carolina Point Total
4. UMass at Penn State Point Total
3. USC at Notre Dame Point Total
2. Indiana at Michigan Point Total
1. Georgia at Vanderbilt Point Total

Yeah, I gave you Oklahoma last week - outright. Old Dominion, too.

Yeah, I gave you Michigan last week - with ease.

Yeah, I gave you … uhhhhhh, ummmmmmm … yeah, Oklahoma and Michigan, and that’s about it in my first losing week of the year.

Oddly enough, I’m sort of drilling everything else, but this 10 Best Predictions Against the Spread thing has been mediocre, and there’s a reason for that.

My brain.

Did I use my brain on the Oklahoma pick? Hell no. Well, sort of - I did think Dillon Gabriel would go off and OU was better than everyone was giving it credit for - but why did I make the pick? Uhhhhhh, just because. The underappreciated team tends to show up large in that Red River thing, or something floopy like that.

After doing this for 25 years, and knowing the teams like I do, sometimes you get a weird sense that defies all logic and reason.

My brain knew West Virginia was much, much, much better than Houston - who probably won’t win another game this year, by the way - so I made the smart, responsible call that the Mountaineers would win and cover. Everything else in me - home game, weeknight, the Dana Holgorsen factor - screamed Houston … just because.

My brain was dead-on right, and then my gut got the W on the Hail Mary.

As I’ve said a million times over the years, as your third grade teacher probably told you, always go with your first answer.

That, and Mrs. Landers also drilled into our still-forming brains that when in doubt, pick point totals. (Actually, it was probably Mr. Peterson, who I bet against for NFL team logo pencils.)

So with a mixture of totally irresponsible “just because” picks, and a whole lot of point total madness, this is the week we get it back.

However, I start out with a little bit of logic and reason …

Results So Far: 34-36

10. Kansas at Oklahoma State

Line: Kansas -3
Prediction: Oklahoma State

I was originally going to go with NC State -3.5 over Duke, since star Blue Devil QB Riley Leonard is probably out with his injured ankle. I’m just not sold on the Wolfpack doing anything consistently right, and there’s a shot Leonard might go. However, I will go with a home underdog doing against a backup QB.

Kansas QB Jason Bean is a strong veteran. This is his sixth year - he started at North Texas - and filled in just fine last week in the win over UCF, but he’s not Jalon Daniels.

Daniels is almost certainly out, the running game carried the Jayhawks against UCF, and now they have to deal with an Oklahoma State team that might have found something in last week’s potential season-saving win over Kansas State.

Being +3 in turnover margin saved the day for the Cowboys, and Kansas isn’t turning it over. However, I’m getting the home team and points, and the belief that KU - who struggled on the road against Nevada and got wiped up by Texas in the two road games so far - will make just enough mistakes to matter.

9. Florida Atlantic at USF

Line: USF -2.5
Prediction: USF

This is a straight home team play.

Yup, USF didn’t exactly tear it up over the last few years, and it just got walloped at UAB. However, between the newbies in the Big 12, and the Conference USA types moving up in weight class to the AAC, for the most part the current residents have been stronger. The AAC teams that stuck around are stronger than the new CUSAers, UTSA excluded.

USF has been solid at home so far - 2-1 with the lone loss that rain-soaked weirdo against Alabama - but mostly, Florida Atlantic doesn’t score a whole bunch. It has to win on turnover margin - I will warn you, FAU will probably be +2 - but USF might crank out 100 more yards.

FAU beat FIU last year in Miami, but the last road win for the Owls outside of the southeast Florida area was at Charlotte in 2021.

NEXT: 8. UNLV at Nevada

10. Kansas at Oklahoma State & 9. Florida Atlantic at USF
8. UNLV at Nevada
7. Fresno State at Utah State
6. Ohio State at Purdue
5. Florida at South Carolina Point Total
4. UMass at Penn State Point Total
3. USC at Notre Dame Point Total
2. Indiana at Michigan Point Total
1. Georgia at Vanderbilt Point Total