If you thought college football was a rollercoaster last Saturday, it’s time to buckle up for bigger matchups and even more intrigue this Saturday.
FOX’s “Big Noon Kickoff” sets the table bright and early from Provo, Utah, then we’ll be blessed with 12 straight hours of top-25 matchups across the country.
So, now would be the time to start cooking up excuses for any weekend plans.
Twenty of the AP Poll’s Top 25 teams are in action, highlighted by a top-five showdown at Autzen Stadium, the legendary Red River Rivalry, a top-15 meeting under the lights at LSU, Penn State’s and BYU’s quest to stay perfect, and Colorado superstar Travis Hunter’s hopeful Heisman Trophy push.
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Are you ready?
“We’re hoping for great handle,” Wynn Resorts senior trader Motoi Pearson told FOX Sports. “College football takes a backseat to the NFL, which is king, so when we get these higher-ranked matchups, we try to find the number as quickly as we can and write as much action as possible from there.”
Rather than wax poetic and take my sweet time building up each marquee game, I thought it would be more fun to play “rapid fire” with Uncle Mo.
Here we go.
No. 3 Ohio State (-3.5, O/U 53) @ No. 2 Oregon
Saturday, 7:30 pm ET, NBC/Peacock
Pearson: “I have this number much higher. My numbers have Ohio State -8. That might sound a little ridiculous considering how solid Oregon was ranked in the preseason, but I’m sticking to my guns. Ohio State is so much stronger defensively and [Dillon] Gabriel needs to prove to me that he can win a big game against an elite opponent. I’ll eat my words if he does.”
No. 1 Texas (-14, O/U 50.5) vs. No. 18 Oklahoma
Saturday, 3:30 pm ET, ABC
Pearson: “I thought the number was right from the jump. And this is a game where you can move off your ratings a bit because of the rivalry. It’s such a weird spot, too. Both teams come in off a bye, Oklahoma is trying to get healthy on offense and Texas has Georgia on deck. We’ll probably be rooting for Oklahoma behind the counter, and we expect a big handle.”
No. 9 Ole Miss (-3.5, O/U 62) @ No. 13 LSU
Saturday, 7:30 pm ET, ABC
Pearson: “Night games in Baton Rouge tend to be positive for LSU. However, most of us in the room made Ole Miss around -5/-5.5 or so. Neither team can afford to slip up and the SEC is kind of a mess right now. The loser here is probably on the outside looking in for the playoff. I’m a big fan of Ole Miss personally, and I’ll definitely be rooting for that side.”
CFB Week 7 Best Bets: Texas vs. Oklahoma, Penn State vs. USC
No. 4 Penn State (-5, O/U 50.5) @ USC
Saturday, 3:30 pm ET, CBS
Pearson: “Penn State is probably the toughest team I’ve had to gauge along with Oregon in terms of the eye test. After they dominated West Virginia in the opener, they sleepwalked through a lot of their games. I finally dropped Penn State a smidge, then, of course, USC threw a wrench into the whole equation by losing at Minnesota. The upside is stronger for Penn State.”
Arizona @ No. 14 BYU (-3.5, O/U 48.5)
Saturday, 4 pm ET, FOX/FOX Sports App
Pearson: “This is a massive adjustment from the summer. Arizona obviously isn’t as good as it was supposed to be and BYU is surprisingly undefeated. Man, the Big 12 is wide open right now. I think I’m still low on BYU, and I’m not even sure how the public will bet this one. There’s not much of an opinion on my end, but I’m excited to watch and see how it plays out.”
No. 18 Kansas State (-4, O/U 56.5) @ Colorado
Saturday, 10:15 pm ET, ESPN
Pearson: “Colorado is such an enigma. And it’s very easy to root against them because of the media hype and the noise that’s almost impossible to ignore. At the same time, the Buffs are clearly better than they were projected to be in the offseason. This feels like a bad spot for Colorado and a pretty decent situation to lay a short number with the Wildcats.”
If you thought Pearson was leaving our phone conversation without a best bet, think again.
“Chattanooga is the move against Furman,” he said. “That’s the bet of the week over any of those other ridiculous games that we talked about.”
Sam Panayotovich is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and BetQL Network. He previously worked for WGN Radio, NBC Sports and VSiN. Follow him on Twitter @spshoot.
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