Here. We. Go! The most anticipated game of the season takes place on Saturday as No. 1 Tennessee travels to Athens to take on No.3 Georgia in this heavyweight SEC matchup.

Despite the playoff rankings released this week, Georgia is -8 in this game.

No one has been able to slow down this Tennessee offence all season, and Georgia has arguably the best defence in the country. So we have an epic showdown here.

This is potentially a college football playoff elimination game, so make sure your calendar is cleared for 3:30 pm et on Saturday, as this is not a game you want to miss!

As well in the SEC, No. 6 Alabama looks to keep its playoff hopes alive as it travels to Death Valley to take on the 10th ranked LSU Tigers. 

This is a night game at Tiger Stadium, which is notoriously the best home crowd there is. However, the oddsmakers do not seem too concerned about that as Alabama is 13 points favourites in this game.

It will be fascinating to watch these two SEC battles between top 10 teams play out on Saturday!

While I will certainly be watching these games, that does not mean they are the best from a gambling perspective.
 
Here are my best bets for this week’s games.

West Virginia Mountaineers at Iowa State Cyclones

Spread: Iowa State -7.5

Total:  50

This West Virginia team is better than their record shows, in my opinion. 

While they did have one absolute no-show against Texas Tech a few weeks back, they did get a  win over Baylor in October and took undefeated TCU to the brink last week, as a garbage-time TCU touchdown made the final score deceiving.

Iowa State, on the other hand, has lost five straight and has not won a game since a September win over Ohio. Not Ohio State, Ohio. 

The Cyclones' offence has struggled to run the ball this year after losing Breece Hall to the NFL, and West Virginia defends the run well, so ISU QB Hunter Dekkers will be forced to make plays down the field in this game.

Ames, Iowa historically is a tough place to play. That probably explains why they are favourites here despite a 5-game losing streak, but a 7.5 favourite? 

So, while Iowa State may win this game, seven points seem like a good value play to me on West Virginia as they move the ball enough to make this a game. 

I’ll take the points here with the Mountaineers and might even throw in a moneyline sprinkle! 

The Pick:  West Virginia +7.5

No. 24 Texas Longhorns at No. 13 Kansas State Wildcats

Spread: Texas -2.5

Total: 54.5

Kansas State is coming off a blowout 48-0 win over Oklahoma State.

That Same Oklahoma State team, beat Texas the week prior, which would lead you to think Kansas State would be favoured in this game, especially being at home. Hmmmm.

Wildcats QB Adrian Martinez will likely be out for this again and while that does affect their running offence, backup Will Howard has filled in admirably. 

However, Will Howard is no Quinn Ewers. Ewers was a shoulder injury away from likely leading Texas to an upset over Alabama earlier this season and just seems to have that “it” factor.

To go along with Ewers, Texas has the best running back in the country in Bijan Robinson, although Deuce Vaughn is no slouch for the Wildcats.

The Big 12 championship race is really tight, and this is likely an elimination game for Texas in that regard. 

Full disclosure I have a preseason Kansas State to win the Big 12 ticket at +2500. While this game would be a huge boost for that, I have to go with my head over my heart here and think Texas talent advantage is enough to get it done on the road here.

The Pick:  Texas -2.5

No. 5 Michigan Wolverines at Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Spread: Michigan – 25.5

Total: 45

Any sports gambler in 2022 has a sports gambling community in their text messages. Or in other words, they have their “guys”. Often in specific sports.

For me, my college football “guy” is a diehard Michigan fan and a person I defer to on all things Michigan and Big 10.

In talking to him this week, he shared the same sentiment as the online Wolverines fan base appears to. Which is, that they were disrespected in the playoff rankings released Monday and will come out with a vengeance on Saturday. 

I tend to agree with him. Michigan’s resume should have them in the top 4 and certainly should be ahead of Clemson. 

There might not be a better coach to use this as a motivation tactic than Jim Harbaugh.

On top of that, Rutgers is starting their backup quarterback again, who led them to 0 points and 134 total offensive yards last week in a 31-0 loss to Minnesota. 

Michigan is Minnesota on steroids, and even worse for Rutgers, they will be playing angry and motivated this week. Whatever Blake Corum’s rushing total number is on Fanduel, take that over!

I know some people don’t like taking numbers this big, but I trust my “guy” Elliot and think Michigan just steamrolls Saturday night. 

This is my best bet for the weekend.

The Pick:  Michigan -25.5