Jason Radowitz shares his five best bets for the most popular games in College Football for Week 4.
We’ve made it to Week 4 of the College Football season. Conference games are starting to take place along with some very interesting Power 5 match-ups this week. In my best bets, I will not be featuring the Georgia and Notre Dame game. I wrote a separate article on that game and you can check it out here.
11 Michigan (2-0) @ 13 Wisconsin (2-0) at 12pm EST
Let’s start with this: Michigan is 0-6 against the spread in their last six games. Wisconsin will be no easy task. The spread is sitting at -3.5 in favor of Wisconsin. Wisconsin’s point differential is up to 110 after two games. They’ve allowed 0 points and have scored 110 against USF and Central Michigan. Of course, these teams aren’t top tier, but they’re also not pushover teams either.
The Wisconsin Badgers are coming off a bye. They’ve covered 10 of their last 12 times on the road and are 5-0 against the spread overall. Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor has helped a balanced Wisconsin attack this season. In his last two games against Michigan, Taylor has gained 233 rushing yards.
Michigan doesn’t look nearly as good as many thought they would. Shea Patterson, quarterback of Michigan has played average at best and can’t hold onto the football. I don’t know how Michigan is scoring many points against Wisconsin, who hasn’t allowed a single point in eight quarters. Take Wisconsin on the spread. This game feels like a Wisconsin win by double digits.
8 Auburn (3-0) @ 17 Texas A&M (2-1) at 3:30pm EST
Auburn is lucky to be 3-0 on the season. A fortunate last minute heave from Bo Nix allowed Auburn to sneak by Oregon in the final seconds during Week 1 of the season. A&M’s lone loss this season was against number one ranked Clemson where they only lost by 14 and covered the spread. The verdict of that game was that they didn’t look THAT overmatched against the number one team in the country.
This game feels like it’ll be a defensive battle between two teams that have a lot of talent in their front sevens. While A&M didn’t look THAT overmatched against Clemson, A&M’s quarterback Kellen Mond didn’t look his best against Clemson’s defense. Auburn’s doesn’t compare to Clemson’s but it’s close.
On the other hand, Bo Nix, the freshman quarterback for Auburn has completed about half of his passes. It’ll be a struggle for Nix as well as both defenses stop the run and force both quarterbacks to make plays.
Nix has had his moments, but there’s no explosiveness to Auburn’s offense in the passing game. The A&M defense gave Trevor Lawrence a hard time two weeks ago. I expect the same this week with A&M’s defense. I’ll take Kellen Mond and A&M on the spread at -3.5.
22 Washington (2-1) @ BYU (2-1) at 3:30pm EST
The Washington Huskies are coming off a solid win at home against Hawaii. Georgia Transfer Jacob Eason looks to be getting into his groove with his Washington receivers after going 18-25 for 262 yards and three touchdowns. Washington’s defense stepped up against a very underrated Hawaii offense holding them to 20 points and forcing three turnovers.
On the other hand, BYU is coming off a big upset win at home against USC in overtime. Zac Wilson had a big game for BYU throwing for 280 yards and a touchdown, while also scoring a rushing touchdown. However, BYU’s defense wasn’t great after allowing 452 total yards offense by USC. BYU did secure the win with three forced turnovers.
Washington has a better offense than USC has…by a wide margin. I expect Washington to explode on offense against BYU. They’ll cover -6 on the spread. Don’t get too hyped over BYU’s win last Saturday like the line is.
Kentucky (2-1) @ Mississippi State (2-1) at 4pm EST
The Mississippi State defense used to be top notch. This year? It’s in rebuild mode. They haven’t been able to get their pass rush going effectively at all. But Kentucky is 0-6 against the spread against the Miss State Bulldogs.
Miss State has been very good at home against the SEC. They’ve won 10-2 straight up in their last 12 games. When laying points at home, they’ve done even better going 11-0 straight up and 9-2 against the spread as home favorites. Kentucky will have to play on a short week at Miss State which will be more than difficult. Kentucky is also 2-9 in their last 11 conference games against the spread.
I think you know where I’m going with this. I love Kentucky and their progress in college football. But I’ll take the home (bull)dogs on the spread -6.
Oklahoma State (3-0) @ 12 Texas (2-1) at 7:30pm EST
Oklahoma has won this rivalry game the last three times. Oklahoma State were underdogs last season and enjoyed their win by knocking Texas out of the Big 12 title game. This year, things are about to change.
Texas’ lost was against #4 seeded LSU and they handled LSU pretty well. Texas responded in the second half against LSU and stayed in the game throughout.
Oklahoma State will push the tempo just like LSU did two weeks ago. Texas will be prepared. The Longhorns are more balanced on both sides of the ball. They’ve aired out the long ball quite a few times and then they’ve helped their time of possession with some good running game. They looked very good against Rice winning 48-13 and they’ll continue their run now.
Oklahoma has had an easy schedule coming into this game. Don’t let the 3-0 fool you. They allowed Oregon State to score 36 points. Enough said.
