College Football Odds Breakdown
It won’t be easy to live up to the excitement from Week 4. Yes, the No. 1 Clemson Tigers and No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide rolled to easy wins against overmatched opponents, but in the featured game on last week’s NCAA football lines, the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs held firm to defeat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 23-17. It was a reasonable showing for Notre Dame as a 16-point road dog on the closing lines, even if they did fall from No. 7 to No. 10 in the polls.
Week 4 also saw the Auburn Tigers improve their title chances with a big 28-20 win over the Texas A&M Aggies (–4.5 at home). Auburn moved up one notch to No. 7 after that win, while Texas A&M fell from No. 17 to No. 23. More importantly, the Tigers find themselves at +4000 to win the National Championship, moving ahead of Notre Dame (+8000) on the NCAA odds board. Now all they have to do is run the table, win the Iron Bowl over Alabama, and they’ll be in the College Football Playoff. No problem.
NCAA Odds Week 5: Best Odds and Matchups
1. No. 18 Virginia Cavaliers at No. 10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET, NBC)
Once again, the Irish (2-1 SU and ATS) are featured in the top matchup on the Week 5 NCAA football betting menu. This time, they’re 11.5-point home favorites with a total of 50; these are all must-win games for Notre Dame if they want to return to the CFP. They’ll be tested by the Cavaliers, who are undefeated thus far at 4-0 SU and 2-1-1 ATS. The ACC is the weakest of the Power 5 conferences, though, and Virginia needed a rally to beat Old Dominion 28-17 last week as 26.5-point home favorites.
2. No. 21 Southern California Trojans at No. 17 Washington Huskies (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET, FOX)
The Pac-12 might only be a small step above the ACC, but if you like some excitement when you bet on NCAA football, you’ve come to the right place. Both the Trojans (3-1 SU, 2-2 ATS) and Huskies (3-1 SU and ATS) have been in some crazy games already, although USC have walked the tougher path with their top two quarterbacks going down to injury. Matt Fink could get the start against Washington if Kedon Slovis (concussion) isn’t cleared in time for Saturday’s contest; even with that decision up in the air, the Huskies are 10-point home favorites with a total of 59.5, up from –9 at the open.
3. No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes at Nebraska (Saturday, 7:30 PM ET, ABC)
It’s another level up in talent from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten, and the Buckeyes (4-0 SU, 3-1 ATS) look like the best team in the conference so far. They’re 18-point road favorites on the NCAA football odds for this matchup with the Cornhuskers (3-1 SU, 1-3 ATS), who have fallen out of the rankings after checking in at No. 24 during the preseason. Nebraska needed a fourth-quarter comeback last Saturday to beat Illinois (+13.5 at home) 42-38 in their Big Ten opener.
4. Texas Tech Red Raiders at No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners (Saturday, 12 PM ET, FOX)
So far, the Big 12 has been the most powerful member of the Power 5, with the Sooners (3-0 SU, 2-1 ATS) looking very much like a playoff team – albeit against substandard competition. That won’t change much Saturday when they host the Red Raiders (2-1 SU and ATS). Both teams will be fresh after sitting out Week 4, but Oklahoma are in the driver’s seat as 27-point home favorites with a massive total of 71.5 points.
5. No. 12 Penn State Nittany Lions at Maryland Terrapins (Friday, 8 PM ET, FS1)
Last on this list but first chronologically, this Big Ten battle features the resurgent Lions (3-0 SU, 2-1 ATS) taking on the dangerous Terrapins (2-1 SU and ATS), who are no doubt still feeling the sting after dropping a 20-17 decision to Temple in Week 3 as 6-point road favorites. Penn State fans aren’t exactly smiling, though, after they needed a goal-line stand and a highly questionable coaching decision by Pat Narduzzi to beat Pittsburgh 17-10 in a game where the Lions were laying 17.5 points at home. They’re 6.5-point road favorites with a total of 60 for Friday’s matchup.
*For more info on NCAA Football Betting check out our College Football Betting page!