As a Syracuse alum, I was thrilled when the Orange were the story of the college football season. Now that a four-game losing streak has taken the shine off of Syracuse’s year, I’ve turned my attention to another local underdog in the Connecticut Huskies, who earned bowl eligibility last week.
UConn beat the Liberty Flames 36-33 to pick up its sixth win of the year. I’m banking on them continuing to build on that win in my picks this week as the Huskies visit the Army Black Knights on Saturday. That’s just one of four games that I’ll be using to build tickets this weekend.
Read on to see the rest of my selections in my best college football parlay picks for Week 12.
Week 12 college football parlay picks
- Connecticut +10 (-110) + Minnesota -2.5 (-110) = +264
- TCU -2.5 (-110) + Ohio State-Maryland Under 64 (-110) = +264
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Parlay Pick 1
PARLAY: Connecticut +10 (-110) + Minnesota -2.5 (-110) = +264 at BetMGM
Connecticut +10 (-110)
The Huskies stunned the world last week when they managed to defeat the then-ranked Liberty Flames at home. The victory was not only one of the biggest in the history of Connecticut’s football program, but also made the team bowl eligible for the first time since 2015.
UConn will now head to West Point to take on Army as a 10-point underdog. That’s despite the fact that the Black Knights are just 3-6 on the year. It’s not particularly surprising that Army is favored at home, but the large spread does come as a bit of a shock to me. Army has scored just 16 points combined in its last two outings, both of which were close losses.
Earlier in the season, the Black Knights also struggled to score points against decent opponents like Georgia State Panthers, Wake Forest, and even FCS Citadel — all of whom held Army to 14 points or less.
This looks like a game in which both teams should be able to run the ball but struggle to get anything going through the air. Army hasn’t shown the ability to blow out any opponents, let alone a Huskies squad that has won three straight games. The Black Knights deserve to be slight favorites at home, and I’m not suggesting taking the Huskies on the moneyline.
However, Army -10 is far too big a spread here, so I’m backing UConn with the points.
Minnesota -2.5 (-110)
Despite the fact that both programs are just 4-3 in conference play, the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Iowa Hawkeyes are among four teams tied for the Big Ten West title as we near the close of the season. That makes their matchup at Huntington Bank Stadium critical in the race to see who will reach (and likely lose) the Big Ten title game.
Minnesota (7-3) comes in riding a three-game winning streak, most recently blowing out Northwestern 31-3 at home last week. Iowa (6-4) has also won three straight, including a critical home victory against Wisconsin in Week 11.
We should expect a very low score in this game as both teams boast Top 10 defenses nationally, with each giving up less than 14 points per game. But while Iowa’s offense has failed to show much of anything all season long, Minnesota can at least run the ball. Senior running back Mohamed Ibrahim has found the end zone 18 times for the Golden Gophers and is averaging 5.3 yards per carry. Ibrahim will be, by far, the most impactful offensive player on the field.
That’s enough to make Minnesota the clear favorite to win this game. With the spread under a field goal, I’m willing to give the points and take the Golden Gophers to cover in a close game.
Parlay Pick 2
PARLAY: TCU -2.5 (-110) + Ohio State-Maryland Under 64 (-110) = +264 at Caesars
TCU -2.5 (-110)
If the TCU Horned Frogs (10-0) can run the table and win the Big 12 Championship, they will all but certainly make the College Football Playoff. While No. 4 TCU will be favored in every game down the stretch, the Horned Frogs face perhaps their trickiest test on Saturday when they visit the Baylor Bears (6-4).
Baylor will pose some challenges for TCU as its scoring 34.8 points per game and are the kind of team that could thrive in the shootouts that the Horned Frogs prefer. Baylor may also offer up the toughest defense TCU has faced yet this year. That will be enough to keep Baylor in this game, but the Bears aren't coming out on top.
Pundits and oddsmakers continue to underestimate this Horned Frogs team, which has done nothing but beat everyone that has stood in its way. TCU has played better than Baylor, which has lost four games despite playing the same competition as the Horned Frogs. It’s hard to take the Bears’ home-field advantage seriously either after they lost to the Kansas State Wildcats by 28 points at home last weekend.
TCU will win yet another close game, probably by 7-10 points — more than enough to cover the 2.5-point spread.
Ohio State-Maryland Under 64 (-110)
It’s another week, and the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes (10-0) are once again a huge favorite, this time over the Maryland Terrapins (6-4). While the 27.5-point spread has me laying off the result in this game, there does seem to be some value in the total. Betting sites have the Over/Under at around 64, probably due to the fact that Ohio State has been playing high-scoring games all season long. However, we’ve already seen that solid defenses can slow down the Buckeyes.
Northwestern managed to hold the Buckeyes to just 21 points two weeks ago, and Penn State held them to just 16 points through three quarters before Ohio State exploded in the fourth quarter. Maryland has been solid on the defensive side of the ball all year long, giving up an average of just 24.6 points per game.
The Terrapins' problems have come on offense, where they’re just average in both the passing and running games. Maryland is averaging just 28.3 points per game and is coming off a shutout at the hands of Penn State. Ohio State is allowing just 15.6 points per game and has been particularly effective against the pass, despite the fact that its opponents are constantly playing from behind.
Maryland will struggle to get on the board on this one, and the Buckeyes probably won’t reach their average of nearly 47 points per game against a steady Terrapins defense. The Under is clearly the play here, even if Ohio State will be hunting for a statement blowout.
