Week 13 of the college football season is here!
FOX Sports’ Chris “The Bear” Fallica and Geoff Schwartz had a lot of thoughts on the Week 13 schedule, as did FOX Sports contributors Sam Panayotovich and Will Hill.
The Group Chat segment of the latest episode of “Bear Bets” broke down this week’s big games and handed out some futures bets to make, too.
Let’s get right to their thoughts!
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Do you like No. 2 Ohio State (+3.5) or No. 3 Michigan or any other plays in the battle in Ann Arbor (noon ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app)?
Sammy P: Over 45.5
“I know it’s gonna be very, very popular to go Under. Have you guys looked at the last five meetings? [The final scores were] 45-23, 42-27, 56-27, 62-39, 31-20, 30-27. Granted, what happened five years ago has nothing to do with what happens this weekend. But maybe this is the Marvin Harrison Jr. explosion game. Maybe Michigan still can run the ball well, against a sort of weak Ohio State front seven.”
Hill: Under 45.5; Lean Ohio State +3.5
“There’s whispers J.J. McCarthy’s not 100 percent. By the same token, do you really want to trust Kyle McCord on the road in Michigan? I don’t know that I do. To me, it’s a 23-20 type of game. I think it’s a conservative game plan.”
Schwartz: Under 45.5; Ohio State +3.5
“I feel like both these teams are pretty even on a neutral field. I know the power ratings suggest otherwise. But if you look at the way they play … they’re identical.
“You take the points here, in a game where quarterbacks, you want to avoid them making mistakes. But the best player on the field is Marvin Harrison Jr. If there’s an ability for him to get loose at some point, it’s good [for Ohio State].”
The Bear: Maybe take the Over if it falls a couple more points
“I grabbed Under 47.5 on Saturday night when I first got access to the look-ahead line, assuming that this thing was going to close around 44, 44.5. I’d like for it to come down a little bit more. That way I could buy a little bit back. Weather looks OK right now. It doesn’t look like it’s going to be super windy. Temperatures low 30. So it does look like potentially we could get good weather.”
The only other ranked matchup this weekend is the Civil War. No. 6 Oregon (-13.5) hosts No. 15 Oregon State, as the Ducks look to keep their playoff hopes alive (Friday, 8:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app). Is there a side you like in that game?
Schwartz: Oregon -13.5
“I think Oregon’s ready for this one. I think they’ve been waiting for this one the entire season. They’ve been building momentum up for this one. And it’s gonna be ugly. I think they’re gonna stop the run. And they brought specific players for this game. … It’s gonna be 49-20 or something like that.”
Hill: Oregon State +13.5
“Oregon State, they’ve lost three games but it’s only by a combined eight points. This Oregon team a couple of weeks ago against a completely dead as a door nail USC team was 17.5-point favorites. They won that game by nine points. There’s some +14’s out there for -120. I’d much prefer to play that.”
We bid adieu this weekend to one of the Group Chat’s favorite topics to discuss: Colorado. Deion Sanders’ squad is still stuck at four wins and won’t go bowling this year, making Saturday’s game at Utah (-21.5) its season-finale. Are you still fading Colorado this late in the season?
Sammy P: Utah -21.5
“Why would Shedeur Sanders play in this game? … Utah is going to bring the house for four straight quarters. And the thing about Colorado is no quarterback wanted to go there because they knew they weren’t going to play. So there’s no depth behind Shedeur Sanders.”
Schwartz: Utah -21.5
“Colorado gets everyone’s best shot each week because of the hype they’ve created around their team. So this game is going to be maybe 45-10?”
The Bear: Utah -21.5
“The last time we saw Utah lay an egg was against Oregon and a week later they came back and beat Arizona State 55-3. I think we’re looking at a similar type of game like that. Utah does not play bad football the way they did last week, two weeks in a row.”
Hill: Utah -21.5
“Remember, these schools view Colorado as a little bit of a threat in terms of the recruiting and might say, ‘Hey, let’s take care of that threat right now. It’ll be 55-6, and we’ll show these recruits where they should go and where they shouldn’t go to school.’ So keep that in mind for running up the score.”
LSU’s Jayden Daniels (-114) and Oregon’s Bo Nix (+130) are the clear frontrunners to win the Heisman entering the last week of the regular season. Do you like a side here?
Sammy P: Lean Daniels
“Jayden Daniels is going to have 50 touchdowns this year, guys. That’s absurd. And I think it’s clear that LSU is putting him in full position to get there. I mean, they could have taken him out of halftime against Georgia State but they kept him in there, and they’re going to try and run it up.”
Schwartz: Lean Nix
“Jayden Daniels is probably the best quarterback in the country. He doesn’t have the benefit of playing a top-15 team and then a top-five team though. Bo Nix has the benefit of playing those games. … If it were to end today, Jayden Daniels wins. But Bo Nix still has those two games.”
Any other plays you like this weekend?
Hill: Nebraska money line vs. Iowa
“You have a Nebraska team where this game means something to them. They’re fighting for a bowl. Matt Rhule in his first year, you get the direction going in the right program kind of thing. It would mean something to get to a bowl.”
“I don’t know if we know for sure Dillon Gabriel is going to be 100 percent. TCU is looking for bowl eligibility. Since making the change at quarterback and sending Chandler Morris to the bench, they’ve been pretty good. Oklahoma had the one big win against West Virginia Mountaineers lately, but a lot of their games have been one-score wins.”
Schwartz: Washington -16.5 vs. Washington State
“[Washington State] allows a ton of points — 39 points to California, 44 to Arizona. I think Washington’s offense gets back on track in this game. Washington State can’t run the football. They’re just not a good football team.”
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