College Football Picks

Labas has been efficient all season, completing 72.2% of his throws for 1313 yards and 10 touchdowns. With no wind or rain in the forecast, along with strong protection in front of him, it makes an ideal opportunity for another big passing game. 

The senior also grew up just down the road in Brecksville and is coming off a season-high 247 passing yards against Buffalo.

Labas’ passing yards prop is too low. Play the Over.  

The best unit in this game is the Buffalo defense. The Bulls rank 21st in the country in defensive success rate and are second in the MAC in opponent yards per play. They'll be facing off against Miami backup QB Henry Hesson, who went an ugly 11-for-38 for 147 and three interceptions in last week's loss to Toledo. The Bulls get the job done at home on Wednesday night.

Tommy Castellanos is averaging 246.1 passing yards over his last seven games, going Over 235.5 yards six times during that period. He should cook a North Carolina State secondary that is struggling. The Wolfpapck have been torched for 367 passing yards to Miami, 408 to Georgia Tech, 423 to Pitt, and 342 to Notre Dame over the last four games. 

I like this spot for Hawaii. They're off a bye, catching UNLV off an overtime game on a short week. I actually think Hawaii is the slightly better team and there's some prior perception built into this line. Also, don't underestimate the "hidden homefield," don't be surprised to see Hawaii have 40% or 50% of the crowd based on my experience of attending this game in Las Vegas in past years.

The Sooners keep almost every opponent below their season average of points allowed and the Tigers have been struggling on offense against good teams.

Missouri has yet to beat a ranked team and on the road they will struggle to keep up with the Sooners. 

Baylor's rush defense has become a laughingstock. Admittedly, it started the year as a joke, giving up 307 yards to Auburn in the opener. Utah ran for nearly 400 late on Saturday, just a few weeks after Cincinnati took 50 carries for more than five yards per carry. Enter Arizona and a top-25 rushing offense. The Wildcats should gash the Bears.

Going strictly by the numbers, James Madison should be a full two-touchdown favorite. Going by the motivation at hand as the Dukes try to make a case for a College Football Playoff bid, expect James Madison to press the gas for the whole game. This is one moment in which there should be on risk of a backdoor cover.

Notre Dame has won three Senior Days under Marcus Freeman by a combined score of 124-21. Some of that reflects the quality of opponents, but much of it reflects Freeman's tendency of bettering his team as the season goes along. That was evident as Pittsburgh's supposedly dynamic offense went 2-of-13 on late-down situations last weekend. This aggressive defense now faces a bottom-25 offense in late-down situations, one that has so scuffled for a quarterback since Steve Angeli's injury that it at one point turned to the lacrosse team.

Neither team plays at a fast tempo, the pace should be relatively slow. The Ducks will run the ball, keeping the clock ticking, and USC's vaunted offense will be slowed by Oregon's elite defense.

This is too many points - USC was -2 in turnover margin against Notre Dame and still covered the 10.5-point spread. The Irish and the Ducks are of similar caliber, and this is another inflated line for a Lincoln Riley team on the road.

I think Georgia Tech is the slightly better team and if they win, they're in the ACC Championsip game. They're at home with the much more experienced and better quarterback. They also have the much better coaching staff. I question where Pittsburgh is at phycologically and think Georgia Tech is feeling good about themselves after that big 4th quarter rally against Boston College. 

Defensively, BYU is built to shut down what Cincinnati does best. The Cougars allow just 191.5 passing yards per game and only eight passing touchdowns all season, making life difficult for Bearcats quarterback Brendan Sorsby. 

Add in BYU’s strong third-down defense (31%), superior turnover production, and overall red-zone efficiency, and the Cougars hold a complete situational edge.