Welcome back to our college football gambling column. It's called COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAMBLING.
A 9-7 mark in Week 5 brings me to 38-35, -$50 as we enter Week 6. This week features a ton of big games! All wagers at -110 odds unless otherwise noted. Visit SB Nation odds partner Odds Shark for updated lines throughout each game week.
Thursday and Friday
1. FAU -6.5 at FIU: FAU is a lot better than FIU, and the turnover luck for these two could be about to change.
2. Louisville at Syracuse Under 47: Louisville's offensive line is really suspect -- as in, it's allowed 36 tackles for loss in five games. Syracuse is very aggressive on defense, but its kicker is tied for the team lead in passing touchdowns, with ONE.
Saturday
3. LSU at Auburn -7.5: This is a bad number to take, but is LSU really ready to go on the road? New quarterback Brandon Harris is promising, but this a wholly different animal than New Mexico State. Nick Marshall will have to throw the football well, because Auburn's run game is less consistent than it was a year ago.
4 and 5. Alabama -6 at Ole Miss Under 52: This wager is all about taking advantage of Ole Miss' offensive line, which is simply not that good. If Alabama can take away the run game, Bo Wallace will chuck some interceptions. On the flip side, look for Alabama to lean on the run game more to keep Blake Sims out of third-and-long. Getting Derrick Henry and T.J. Yeldon the football is a good thing. Nick Saban off a bye week is a very good thing.
6. Baylor at Texas Under 57.5: Baylor's defense might indeed be for real, as might Texas'. But the Longhorns' offense is just not. Betting the under in a Baylor game feels so strange, but Baylor is just not the same team on the road.
7. Texas A&M at Mississippi State -1.5: Texas A&M is a public darling, and it just played a tough game against Arkansas. Now it faces Mississippi State on the road, and the Bulldogs are coming off a bye week. This will be the best defensive front A&M has faced.
8. Florida +3 at Tennessee: Florida should be better than the Vols on both lines of scrimmage, and it should be able to correct some of the breakdowns it has suffered in the secondary of late. UF is also off a bye, and Tennessee just played at Georgia.
9. Miami at Georgia Tech +1: Miami is without both its starting right tackle and his backup and just played a division game against Duke. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech is coming off a bye week, and with a win, it can put a stranglehold on the division race.
10. North Texas at Indiana -13.5: The Hoosiers run the ball very well and at an aggressive tempo, and North Texas won't be able to keep up.
11. Purdue at Illinois -10: Perhaps Illinois will get back its injured starting quarterback, Wes Lunt? Even if he's out, Purdue is really terrible on offense, and a non-public team (as in, a team people don't bet on Illinois just because of its name) like Illinois is favored by this margin for a reason. Lay it.
12. Pitt +6.5 at Virginia: Now is a time to buy low on Pitt, coming off its loss to Akron. The value may be gone with Virginia, as the Wahoos have covered game after game this year.
13. Kansas at West Virginia -26: This pick is hugely public, so you might not want to follow here. But the Mountaineers are tough at home, and Kansas has very little to play for. And West Virginia doesn't have anything big on deck that could be considered a distraction.
14. Eastern Michigan +23 at Akron: This is a perfect lookahead spot for Akron. Eastern Michigan can be better just by hanging on to the football a little bit, as EMU has a net negative seven fumbles lost in its games.
15. Navy -4 at Air Force: Air Force is extremely overrated now after beating an overrated Boise State squad on the strength of seven turnovers.
16. Oklahoma at TCU Under 57: TCU's defense is legit, but is its offense? This bet says no. QB Trevone Boykin has had a decent start, ranking fifth in the Big 12 in passer rating, but he simply isn't exceptional. And Oklahoma's defense remains better than its offense. Look for a good number of passing downs in this game, which favors OU's defense.
17. Stanford -1 at Notre Dame: Stanford is one of the most underrated teams in the country. it plays great defense, and should get its red zone issues figured out at some point. Receiver Ty Montgomery should be the most explosive player on the field, and Stanford has been tremendous against mobile quarterbacks.
18. Georgia State at Louisiana-Lafayette -16.5: It's time for the Ragin Cajuns to really get it clicking. Georgia State is a bad, bad football team.
19. Wake Forest at Florida State -38: Nobody will watch this game, with all of the other great stuff going on, and they shouldn't, considering how bad Wake's offense is. FSU has a talented second-team offense that many have not yet seen, and they should be able to score after the starters come out.
20. Oregon State at Colorado +7.5: Colorado is legitimately much improved, and Oregon State is not that good. Look for Colorado to match OSU score for score.
21. UAB at Western Kentucky -9: This could turn into a shootout, but WKU's defense should get enough stops to win by double digits. If UAB cannot get the run game going, this could get away from the Blazers quickly.
22. Memphis +4 at Cincinnati: Memphis is a scrappy team, and Cincy has been the benefactor of a lot of turnovers in only three games. The worry is a letdown for Memphis after a loss against Ole Miss that was close for much of the game.
23. Utah at UCLA Under 61: UCLA is a bit overrated right now, thanks to defeating a very lackluster Arizona State squad. Meanwhile, Utah's offense was awful against Washington State. But both teams are capable of playing defense. And this could be a prime lookahead spot for UCLA, with the Oregon Ducks on deck.
24. Vanderbilt +34 at Georgia: Vanderbilt's offense is terrible, but its defense is quickly rounding into form. Georgia does not throw the ball well at all, and this is a lookahead spot for the Dawgs, as a trip Missouri is up next.