With QB J.T. Barrett coming off a poor game, the Ohio State Buckeyes head north to visit the fired-up Wisconsin Badgers as part of Week 7 of the college football schedule.
The Buckeyes are a 10-point betting favorite against the host Badgers at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The Buckeyes are 7-1 straight-up and against the spread in their last eight games against the Badgers, including an infamous 59-0 blowout in the 2014 Big Ten title game that Wisconsin surely remembers.
Ohio State’s potent rushing attack is up against a Badgers D that allows only 90 yards per game on the ground. Barrett also had only 93 yards aerially last week, and star WR Noah Brown will have a tough assignment against Badgers CB Sojourn Shelton. Wisconsin QB Alex Hornibrook has played capably, but coach Paul Chryst wants more out of RB Corey Clement and his ground game.
The Alabama Crimson Tide are favored by 13 points against Tennessee. Alabama and MLB Shaun Dion Hamilton excel at stopping the run and producing defensive touchdowns, but have allowed 30-plus points two conference games in a row. Tennessee and senior QB Josh Dobbs, despite a negative turnover margin that raises some red flags, is a resilient team.
The Mississippi Rebels are favored by 7.5 points against the Arkansas Razorbacks, in spite of being 2-5 SU and 1-6 in their last seven road games vs. Arkansas. With its spread offense, Mississippi might be ill-suited to running the ball, but senior QB Chad Kelly can be lethal. Razorbacks QB Austin Allen will be trying to shake off any ill effects from taking a lot of hits last week against Alabama, when he passed for 400 yards.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are set as 3-point betting favorites against the Stanford Cardinal. Stanford has yet to score more than 27 points, and star RB Christian McCaffrey had only 84 rushing yards during their back-to-back losses. The Irish, who lost to Stanford in 2015 on a last-play field goal, are 9-3 SU in their last 12 games after losing the previous game in a matchup. DeShone Kizer and the Irish have far more scoring punch than Stanford.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers are favored by 3.5 points on the road against the Indiana Hoosiers after scratching WR Jordan Westerkamp (back) and TE Cethan Carter (elbow), QB Tommy Armstrong’s two favorite targets. Indiana QB Richard Lagow has helped engineer an upset of Michigan State and a moral victory against Ohio State.
The West Virginia Mountaineers are favored by one point against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. The Red Raiders behind QB Patrick Mahomes are second in FBS in scoring (55.2 PPG) and offense (649.8 YPG), and are especially potent on home turf. With 13 senior starters, including QB Skyler Howard and three of the five defensive backs, West Virginia might be capable of luring Tech into a manageable scoring battle.
As well, the Louisville Cardinals and Heisman Trophy favorite Lamar Jackson are favored by 35.5 points against the Duke Blue Devils in a Friday game. The undefeated Clemson Tigers are favored by 17.5 points against the North Carolina State Wolfpack. And the Utah Utes are a nine-point favorite against the Oregon State Beavers.