This is our weekly college football gambling column. It's called COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAMBLING.
An 11-9 Week 13 brings me to 122-114, -$405 as we enter Week 14 (my futures are doing quite well, however). This week features the best rivalry games of the year. All wagers at -110 odds unless otherwise noted. Visit Odds Shark for updated lines throughout each game week.
1. TCU at Texas +7: The Longhorns are playing excellent defense over the last month, and TCU has not been a strong road team this year (losing at Baylor, and narrowly escaping West Virginia and Kansas).
2. LSU at Texas A&M +3.5: LSU's quarterback situation is horrible -- the Tigers have not completed better than 55 percent of passes in a game since September. The Aggies have a lot of young talent on defense that should come together and take advantage.
3 and 4. Stanford +6 at UCLA AND Under 50 points: Can the Bruins handle success after beating down USC? Can Stanford keep its momentum going from last week's beatdown of Cal? This bet says that Stanford's defense keeps this game close.
5. Virginia at Virginia Tech Under 40.5: It's not often that I bet under on a total this low, but both of these defenses are much better than their respective offenses, and both offenses are very banged up. Turnovers leading to points via short fields are always a concern, but it's hard to see this game going over without that.
6. Georgia Tech at Georgia -12: Georgia Tech has been incredibly lucky with turnovers of late, and if this game is played relatively straight up, the Bulldogs should be able to control it and hit big runs. Tech is also a very public underdog this week, with many outright upset picks. When the general public backs an underdog, race to take the other side.
7. South Carolina at Clemson(whatever the line is at closing; currently Clemson by -4.5): The Tigers have one of the finest defenses in the country, and if Deshaun Watson doesn't play, I expect the Tigers' staff to use a conservative gameplan for whichever backup QB plays.
8. Minnesota at Wisconsin -14: The Gophers have had excellent turnover luck the last few weeks, and this is a wager against that streak continuing. The Badgers' defense should be able to hold down the Gophers and Melvin Gordon should do his thing.
9. Mississippi State at Ole Miss Under 49.5: The Rebels' defense is still very good, and neither of these offenses has been very good down the stretch. Add in Bo Wallace's injury, and an ugly Egg Bowl seems like the play.
10 and 11. Auburn at Alabama -9 AND Over 53.5: I expect that Auburn will score some on Alabama, but that Alabama will score a lot more, as its offense has been considerably better at home, and Auburn's defense on the road has been a mess. I expect a 38-21-type game.
12. Michigan at Ohio State Under 53: Michigan's defense is solid and should play inspired football, but its offense just doesn't help out at all.
13. Purdue +3 at Indiana: Judging by the betting patterns, Purdue is being given no chance to beat Indiana, and the Hoosiers aren't a great team by any stretch. This is a contrarian play.
14. Notre Dame at USC -6.5: Notre Dame is battling a ton of injuries, almost all on defense. USC has a chance to put up some big points in this one.
15. Florida at Florida State -7: Florida's defense is vulnerable to passes in the middle of the field, and few quarterbacks exploit those holes better than Jameis Winston.