Conference play is finally here in the NCAA and we will have a few marquee matchups this weekend.

No. 21 Wake Forest, who was fortunate to have Star QB Sam Hartman miss only one game, will take on No.5 Clemson. 

Clemson is -7.5 on the road and this game could have major implications down the road on both the College Football playoff and ACC championship.

As well, in the SEC, the 20th ranked Florida Gators head to Knoxville to take on the 11th ranked Tennessee Volunteers. 

The Vols are 10.5 point favourites and this will be their first big SEC test of the season and you know the crowd at Neyland will be rocking! 

An interesting game is also happening in the opening week of Pac 12 play. The No. 7 USC Trojans head to Corvalis to take on a tough Oregon State Beavers team.

I was tempted to call the Beavs “sneaky tough” but USC being only 5.5 point favourites in this game shows that the oddmakers are aware of how good this Oregon State team is.  They are baiting you to take USC. “Only -5.5 against an unranked team”. This will be a stay away for me. 

As much as these are the best games on the field, that does not necessarily mean they are the best games to bet on at FanDuel this weekend. 

Here are my best bets for this week’s games.

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Charlotte 49ers at South Carolina Gamecocks

Spread: South Carolina -22.5

Total:  68.5

This has been a really disappointing start for South Carolina. 

It’s not so much their 1-2 record, as losing to Georgia and Arkansas is nothing to be ashamed of, but moreso how they have looked in those losses.

Spencer Rattler started at Oklahoma last season and went from Heisman hopeful last season and a projected first round pick, to losing his job mid-season and then transferring to South Carolina in the offseason.

The thought process was that this change of scenery would re-energize his career.  Well, he had 118 yards passing  and against Georgia last week ……

However, what better way for Rattler and South Carolina to get back on track than playing this Charlotte 49ers team. This line is lower than expected, likely due to the Gamecocks struggles last week.

Charlotte has given up 46 ppg with three of those opponents being FCS William and Mary, Florida Atlantic and Georgia State. Not exactly an SEC opposition. Rattler displayed a bully mentality all the way back on the Netflix show QB1, and I think he takes this chance to beat up on an inferior opponent before the Gamecocks SEC grind continues.

The Pick:  South Carolina -22.5

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Arizona Wildcats at California Golden Bears

Spread: California -3.5

Total: 50.5

Aside from Lance Leipold at Kansas, there may not be a Power 5 team that has turned itself around faster with a coaching change than Jedd Fisch at Arizona.

The Wildcats were a PAC-12 laughingstock for years and went 1-11 last season, but have been sneaky good to start this season.

They have wins over two pretty decent programs in San Diego State and North Dakota State, and won both those games as outright underdogs.

Cal plays solid defence, but struggles moving the ball. They been very underwhelming for years now and a close loss against Notre Dame in 2022 with Drew Pyne at QB does not quite have the same meaning as it would in past years.

This line opened with the Wildcats as 6-point underdogs and by Monday night had been bet down to +3.5.  I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Arizona wins outright here.

The Pick:  Arizona +3.5

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Tulsa Golden Hurricane at No. 16 Ole Miss Rebels

Spread: Ole Miss – 21.5

Total: 65.5

I’ve been watching college football for years now and never in my life did I think I would associate the words “Lane Kiffin” and “defence “together but here we are.

Through 3 games the Rebels have given up 13 total points!  

As well, the offence has not looked nearly as explosive as years past. Jaxson Dart has not picked up from where Matt Corral left off at all as he has only eclipsed the 200 yard mark once through 3 games. 

The Rebels do have two pretty talented running backs and because they have used a more run heay offence than a Kiffin coached team is used to. For reference they ran 19 pass plays vs 62 run plays last week and on the season have 80 pass attempts vs 142 run plays. 

Tulsa on the other hand scored a lot of points and gave up a lot of points this year. Their three games have averaged 73.6 total points and I think that’s why this total is a bit inflated in my opinion.

Ole Miss will score on Tulsa for sure, but I’m not sure Tulsa can keep up against a much higher quality defence than they have faced thus far. With the Rebs focusing more on a run heavy attack, if Tulsa can just limit some big plays, I don’t think this game quite gets to 66 points.

Can’t believe I’m picking a Lane Kiffin coached team to go under, but this number just seems a little too high based on the 2022 Ole Miss team.

The Pick: Under 65.5