College football is taking a much needed deep breath after a week full of some of the best matchups the sport has to offer. Still, there is two top-25 clashes on the ledger Saturday afternoon.
The first of the two takes place in Tuscaloosa where the 10th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide are 10.5 point favorites over the 16th ranked Vanderbilt Commodores.
The second of the two is the week’s prime time matchup. The Florida State Seminoles will host the Miami Hurricanes as 4.5 point home underdogs.
While I’m staying away from fading Vandy, I’m all over Florida State to get it done on the money line (read more about that here). But if you really want to get in on the SEC fun, I’ll leave you with this statistic.
In games featuring two ranked teams since 2017, the home team is 204-100 straight up. Additionally, the home team is 178-118-8 against the spread.
So history favors FSU and Alabama.
Washington -6.5
The Maryland Terrapins are 4-0 on the year under head coach Greg Schiano. However, their best win is over the Wisconsin Badgers, who haven’t beat a power four opponent yet this season.
Additionally, Maryland is going up against a particularly odd set of betting circumstances.
“This week, they got Washington, at home, and because of that victory in Madison a couple weeks ago, they will be up against a pretty sound betting system that say teams playing at home in conference games as dogs of more than 3-points when coming off a huge upset win as a double-digit road underdog have been a play against team, 28-49 ATS (36.4%) since 2010,” writes Steve Makinen on VSIN.
Basically, Maryland pulled off an upset on the road, now they are hosting a better team than them in the Washington Huskies.
I’m taking the Huskies to keep their conference hope alive and even up their record on the road.
Louisville -6.5
There is a reason why the unranked team is a touchdown favorite over number 24 UVA, and that because they’re the better football team.
The Virginia Cavaliers are coming off a 46-38 double overtime victory over the FSU Seminoles last week. The emotional field storming makes this a tough road trip to make for a team trying to refocus and make an ACC championship run.
Louisville on the other hand is defending their home turf after a come from behind victory in a road rivalry game over the Pitt Panthers.
I like Louisville to settle into their home crowd and dominate this game from whistle to whistle. UVA is 0-1 on the road this year and they’re going up against a turnover forcing machine.
Fast Money Line Plays
For this section, I’m throwing out a money line parlay for three teams who’s spread I would also back or tease.
Virginia Tech -6.5
Clemson -14.5
Navy -12.5
SMU -17.5
Take these teams on the money line for a +130 parlay, or buy 7.5 points to bring this to a +220 teaser.
Best Bets Against The Spread: College Football Week 6