DraftKings has released spreads for 12 games on the Week 7 college football card.
Let’s start with the two Friday games, as the betting shop has Tulane installed as a three-point road favorite at Memphis. The other game will take place in Boulder, where Colorado is -15 vs. Stanford.
Willie Fritz’s team will take a three-game winning streak into the Liberty Bowl. The Green Wave has won 21-3 at So. Miss, 36-7 vs. Nicholls and 35-23 vs. UAB since taking its only loss at home to Ole Miss.
Of course, Tulane didn’t have its star quarterback Michael Pratt in the 37-20 setback to the Rebels, who pulled away in the fourth quarter and got a defensive touchdown in the final minute to create a misleading final score. Pratt didn’t play vs. Ole Miss or at So. Miss due to an injury sustained in a 37-17 season-opening home win over South Alabama.
He returned against Nicholls, completing 18-of-23 passes for 190 yards and two TDs with one interception. Pratt connected on 14-of-23 throws for 184 yards and two TDs without an interception in the win over the Blazers.
For the season, Pratt has completed 75.4 percent of his passes for 668 yards with an 8/1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He also has 112 rushing yards, one TD and a 4.3 yards-per-carry average.
For his career, Pratt has a 72/19 TD-INT ratio and 23 rushing TDs.
Memphis (4-1 straight up, 1-3-1 against the spread) and Tulane both have open dates in Week 6. The Tigers bounced back from their lone loss of the year – 34-27 vs. Missouri in St. Louis – to capture a 35-32 win over Boise St. as three-point home ‘chalk’ on Sept. 30.
Colorado will be looking to avoid a three-game losing streak when it plays at Arizona St. on Saturday as a four-point road favorite. The Buffaloes put a scare into USC last week when they rallied to cut the Trojans’ lead to 48-41 with less than two minutes remaining.
However, without any timeouts remaining, CU’s onside kick failed, and USC was able to run out the clock. Nevertheless, the Buffs covered the spread as 22-point home underdogs.
Stanford is on a four-game losing streak, but it has two weeks to prepare for its Friday visit to Folsom Field.
DraftKings has LSU installed as a 13.5-point home favorite vs. Auburn. The Tigers are in Columbia in Week 6 when they’ll take on Missouri as 5.5-point road ‘chalk.’ They’re 5-2 against the spread in seven games as home favorites during Brian Kelly’s tenure, while Auburn is 8-14-1 ATS in 23 games as a road underdog since 2014.
Auburn will be in a favorable spot at LSU after enjoying its open date this weekend following last Saturday’s gut-wrenching 27-20 home loss to Georgia. Hugh Freeze’s team hasn’t produced more than 94 passing yards in six consecutive games against Power-Five opponents. (We should point out that three of those games were from last year when Freeze was at Liberty, though.)
Speaking of Missouri, DraftKings has it as a three-point road underdog next Saturday at Kentucky. The Wildcats, who will put their unbeaten record on the line Saturday at Georgia, are 16-9 ATS in their last 25 games as home favorites.
Missouri is 5-6 ATS in 11 games as a road underdog during Eli Drinkwitz’s tenure. The Tigers have lost four in a row to the ‘Cats at Kroger Field in Lexington, and they also lost to UK 21-17 at home last year in a pick ’em affair.
In other Week 7 SEC action, Alabama is -18 vs. Arkansas, South Carolina is -1 vs. Florida and Tennessee is -4 vs. Texas A&M. The Volunteers have their open date in Week 6, so they get two weeks to prepare for the Aggies, who will fall into a vintage letdown scenario next week in Knoxville IF they can knock off Alabama in College Station on Saturday. DraftKings had the Vols at -5 yesterday, only to move the number by one point.
Arkansas takes a three-game losing streak to Oxford to face Ole Miss on Saturday. When Sam Pittman’s team gets on the plane for Tuscaloosa next week, it’ll be the fourth straight Friday that the Razorbacks have had to travel. The Hogs are 14-7-1 ATS in 22 games as underdogs during Pittman’s tenure.
I really wish I had a DraftKings account and could fire down on the Gamecocks at -1 vs. my Gators next weekend. Shane Beamer’s team has its open date this weekend so like Tennessee next week vs. A&M, South Carolina gets two weeks to prepare for Florida.
The Gamecocks will be looking for revenge after losing 38-6 at Florida last season. They’ll also be in bounce-back mode after losing 41-20 at Tennessee in Week 5. The Gators host Vanderbilt this weekend. I seriously doubt we’ll see a number less than three for South Carolina come Sunday afternoon.
There are two marquee games with major College Football Playoff implications in Week 7. Notre Dame is installed as a two-point home favorite vs. USC, while Washington is -3 (at a -115 price) vs. Oregon.
The Ducks will be in revenge mode after dropping a 37-34 decision to the Huskies at Autzen Stadium in Eugene last year. This will be Oregon’s first role as a road underdog since Dan Lanning took over for Mario Cristobal. Both of those Pac-12 schools get two weeks to prepare for each other.
Oregon is 5-0 both SU and ATS after beating both Colorado and Stanford by 42-6 scores in the past two weeks. The ‘under’ has cashed in four consecutive games for the Ducks.
Washington won its first four games by margins of 37, 33, 34 and 27 points. However, the Huskies were tested last week in a 31-24 non-covering win at Arizona as 20-point road ‘chalk.’
UW is 7-3 ATS in 10 games as a home favorite since Kalen DeBoer took over as head coach.
Other Week 7 lines via DraftKings include Oregon St. -4.5 vs. UCLA, North Carolina -1.5 vs. Miami and James Madison -3.5 vs. Ga. Southern.
The Beavers are in Berkeley this weekend before hosting UCLA next week. Jonathan Smith’s squad is 15-1 both SU and ATS in its last 16 home games. The lone outright defeat in this span was a 17-14 loss to USC as a 5.5-point home ‘dog.
UCLA is 10-8 ATS in 18 games as a road underdog during Chip Kelly’s six-year tenure with the Bruins, who host Washington St. tomorrow.
UNC got great news yesterday when the NCAA ruled that transfer WR Tez Watkins is immediately eligible. The NCAA made the decision based on new information provided by Mack Brown’s program. Watkins had 58 catches for 921 yards and 11 TDs for Kent St. in 2022.
Watkins is expected to be in uniform Saturday when the Tar Heels host Syracuse. They have three home games in a row and five of their next six are at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill.
Miami will try to remain unbeaten when it hosts Ga. Tech tomorrow. The Hurricanes have dropped four straight head-to-head meetings with UNC, including a 27-24 home loss last year and a 45-42 defeat at UNC in 2021.