College Football Predictions & Best Bets for Week 7

One of my bets for Week 6 in college football, the Kent State Golden Flashes, were shut out and lost by 44 points. Yet, they still covered the spread, and I hit my bet. Strange. I ended up going 1-1, and am still up 8% return on investment for the season. BUT I WANT MORE!! For my college football predictions and best bets for Week 7, we’re hitting up Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois, then heading across the country to Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. Let’s go!

College Football Predictions & Best Bets for Week 7

#1 Ohio State Buckeyes vs #17 Illinois Fighting Illini

Start Time: 12:00 PM EST

One of the premier games of Week 7 is this Big Ten matchup, as the nation’s top team, the 5-0 Ohio State Buckeyes, visits the 5-1, #17-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini. And, despite what the official spread says, this game is a lot closer (at least on paper) than it may seem.

The Fighting Illini’s lone slip-up this season was a big one, losing by 53 points at Indiana in Week 5. However, they bounced back to beat #21 USC and Purdue since that time, and the advanced stats have them ranked as the 11th strongest team in the country.

The Buckeyes, meanwhile, are only ranked eighth by those numbers due to their weak strength of schedule thus far (#1 Texas in Week 1 being their lone ranked victory).

Make no mistake about it, Ohio State is the better team in this matchup – but not by much. After crunching the numbers, my line is Ohio State -1.5, so the value is on the home side.

Best Bet: Illinois +14.5 (-110)

#7 Indiana Hoosiers vs #3 Oregon Ducks

Start Time: 3:30 PM EST

Ohio State vs Illinois isn’t the only key matchup in the Big Ten this week, as two undefeated teams, the #7-ranked Indiana Hoosiers and #3-ranked Oregon Ducks, battle to keep the zero in their loss column in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday. And as has almost completely been the case this season, I’m going with a big dog, the Hoosiers.

As mentioned above, Indiana isn’t just undefeated – they also smoked a very solid Illinois squad by 53 points. In fact, only one team kept the final score within a touchdown against the Hoosiers this season, Iowa, which lost by five points last week to Indiana. Subsequently, the number beside the Hoosiers’ name has increased from #20 to start the season to #7.

Like the Buckeyes, the Ducks have mostly beaten up on patsies this year, outside of #3 Penn State last week. The Hoosiers have shown to be no one’s patsies this year.

After plugging all the numbers into my system, the line that spit out of the machine is Indiana -4. So I’ll gladly take the Hoosiers as a road dog at Oregon this Saturday.

Best Bet: Indiana +7.5 (-115)

College Football Overall Record: 5-4 (56%)
Profit (based on $100/bet): $70.67
Return on Investment: 8%