We are back once again for even more of the best college football bets for Week 13! You got a little bonus action from Friday’s games, now we’re onto the main event. Here are five great bets for Saturday’s college football slate. All lines come via Draft Kings as of Friday morning.
South Carolina at #8 Clemson: South Carolina +14.5 (-110)
This is a very generous spread. The Gamecocks may be inconsistent, but they have plenty of talent. Don’t forget, this is still a down year for Clemson — at least by their lofty standards. These teams are pretty close this year. While Clemson is still the favorite on paper, 14.5 points feels a bit excessive.
South Carolina is coming off a massive upset of over Tennessee, but don’t expect a letdown here. With the gauntlet of ranked teams that they have faced this year, the Gamecocks are used to having to get up for big games each week. This is also one that has a little extra motivation built in. This is a true rivalry with an origin that is over a century old.
Honestly, it is tempting to take the visitors to win this one straight up. However, we will respect Clemson’s talent and play it safe. Just take the points and call it a day.
Auburn at #7 Alabama: Auburn +22 (-110)
We are going to try this one more time. We are 2-0 this year betting against Alabama. Hopefully we don’t get burned going to this well a third time. That being said, there are several reasons to believe Auburn can cover this spread.
The biggest reason is interim coach Carnell “Cadillac” Williams. He has his alma mater playing its best football of the season, and the Tigers actually look competitive with quality SEC competition. Putting together a respectable showing in the biggest game of the season against a top-ten Alabama team could be enough to earn Williams a permanent gig.
Looking at ‘Bama, the seventh-ranked Crimson Tide are a fugazi top-ten team. They are a deeply flawed team being carried by elite quarterback play. They haven’t been nearly as dominant as normal, and now that they’ve been effectively eliminated from the College Football Payoff, there is far less motivation to blow teams out. This might not be a super tight affair, but expect Auburn to at least stay somewhat in the game.
Wake Forest at Duke: Wake -3.5 (+105)
This is one of those games that could go either way, but the value is hard to overlook. The Demon Deacons are better than their four losses would have you think. On the other hand, the Blue Devils’ boast the same record, but their’s has been a bit inflated by a weak schedule. Duke isn’t necessarily bad, and they could win this one, but they are clear underdogs in this one.
While we are leaning Wake, the question is whether or not they will cover 3.5 points. Of their seven wins this season, only one has come by less than 10 points. It is safe to say that assuming Wake does win, they will most certainly cover. The fact that they are getting +105 odds to do so makes this pick a no-brainer as one of the best college football bets for Week 13 — if not the best.
Michigan State at Penn State: Penn State -19 (-115)
While the battle for the Land Grant Trophy is one of the Big Ten’s bigger rivalries, don’t expect this one to be particularly close. The same logic that we used to pick the Nittany Lions to cover 19 last week against Rutgers applies in this one as well.
Michigan State is very much in the same realm as Rutgers, Maryland, and Indiana, who were all stifled over the past three weeks by PSU’s dominant defense. This game should look pretty similar to those contests. Expect to see more of Drew Allar for Penn State in the second half once again.
Iowa State at TCU: Iowa State +9.5 (-110)
This is another situation where the moneyline is tempting, but we will just play it safe with the points instead. TCU might have the sketchiest resume of any team ever to be ranked in the top-five at this point in the season. They flirt with disaster every week.
The Cyclones could be the team to finally make them pay. While the results haven’t quite gone their way, this team is just as good the rest of those middle-of-the-pack Big 12 squads. Those are the teams the Horned Frogs have struggled to dominate. While Iowa State might not have enough firepower to pull off the upset, expect them to keep it within 10.