School Soccer Picks: Huge bets from ACC to Mountain West
There is so much to decide before this week’s Thanksgiving college football festival.
Let’s get that sorted out, conference by conference.
Atlantic Coast Conference: No. 20 Pitt is involved in the Conference Championship Game and meets No. 21 Wake Forest, No. 24 North Carolina State or Clemson. Wake is in with a win. NC State wins the Atlantic Division with one win and one wake loss. If both lose, Clemson reaches the ACC championship for the seventh consecutive year.
American Athletic Conference: No. 4 Cincinnati meets No. 19 Houston. Where the game will be played will depend on whether the Bearcats win in East Carolina on Friday.
Big Ten: Michigan-Ohio State Winner Takes the East. Wisconsin takes the West with a win, and Iowa takes it when the Badgers lose and the Hawkeyes win. If both lose, it opens the door for Minnesota and also makes Purdue’s result relevant, even though the Boilermakers can’t win the division.
Big 12: Oklahoma State is in. If Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State, next week’s conference title game will be a rematch. If Oklahoma State wins and Baylor wins, it’s Cowboys-Bears.
Conference USA: No. 15 UTSA won a division and will face the winner of the Western Kentucky-Marshall game.
Mid-American Conference: Northern Illinois will play Saturday’s winner in Miami, Ohio, in Kent State.
Mountain West: Lots of options, but the biggest game is Boise State, in San Diego State, which starts at 9 a.m. PST on Black Friday. The Aztecs host the conference title game with a win. Even with a win, Boise State needs help consolidating its division as the Air Force has a tiebreaker.
Pac-12: Utah won the south. Oregon wins the North by defeating Oregon State, but loss sends either the Beavers or Washington State into the conference title game for the first time.
Southeastern Conference: Georgia vs. Alabama is fixed, but both of them have some rivalries to deal with first.
Sun Belt: As above for Appalachian State and No. 23 Louisiana-Lafayette.
The picks, with lines from FanDuel Sportsbook.
THURSDAY
No. 8 Mississippi (plus 1 1/2) in the state of Mississippi
The last time the Egg Bowl was on Thanksgiving night, both coaches were fired within a month and a half … OLE MISS 31-28.
FRIDAY
# 4 Cincinnati (minus 14 1/2) in East Carolina
CFP is really in the grip of the bearcats … EAST CAROLINA 27-24, UPSET SPECIAL.
Colorado (plus 23 1/2) ranks 16th in Utah
Utes has won the last four games with an average of 23 points … UTAH 42-14.
No. 17 Iowa (minus 1 1/2) in Nebraska
Hawkeyes have beaten the Huskers in six straight but the last three were beaten by 12 points … NEBRASKA 23-22.
Boise State (minus 2 1/2) at # 22 San Diego State
Broncos won four straight wins to get back into the conference race … SAN DIEGO STATE 20-17.
North Carolina (plus 6 1/2) at No. 24 North Carolina State
Tar heels try to play spoilers and save an otherwise disappointing season … NORTH CAROLINA 34-28.
Missouri (plus 14 1/2) ranked 25th in Arkansas
Is that a rivalry? Razorbacks have won the last five and six of seven since the Tigers joined the SEC … ARKANSAS 35-24.
SATURDAY
No. 1 Georgia (minus 35 1/2) at Georgia Tech
Since the Yellowjackets beat the Bulldogs in Kirby Smart’s first season as a coach, Georgia has won three straight wins averaging 33 points … GEORGIA 45-7.
No. 2 Ohio State (minus 9 1/2) to No. 6 Michigan
Jim Harbaugh is 0-5 as the Michigan coach against the Buckeyes. Is this the year he breaks through? … OHIO STATE 38-31.
No. 3 Alabama (minus 19 1/2) near Auburn
Tide has lost three of his last four trips to Jordan Hare Stadium, but the Tigers have a three-game losing streak that stole a lot of the juice from the Iron Bowl … ALABAMA 31-14.
No. 5 Notre Dame (minus 19 1/2) in Stanford
Cardinal (3-8) tries to avoid the worst season since 2006 … NOTRE DAME 35-13.
No. 10 Oklahoma (plus 4 1/2) at No. 7 Oklahoma State
Sooners have dominated the Bedlam and turned 14-2 since Mike Gundy coached the Cowboys … OKLAHOMA 28-27.
Texas Tech (plus 14 1/2) ranked 9th Baylor
Will the Bears be back in the market for a head coach? Dave Aranda attracts interest from everywhere … BAYLOR 35-17.
Oregon State (plus 7 1/2) ranks 11th Oregon
Ducks are 2-2 against the Beavers under Mario Cristobal … OREGON 31-24.
Penn State (minus 1 1/2) ranked 12th in Michigan State
Nittany Lions cannot run the ball but may not have to run it against the Spartan’s leaking secondary … PENN STATE 27-24.
No. 13 BYU (minus 6 1/2) in Southern California
Trojans don’t seem to be fighting much for this lost season … BYU 42-31.
No. 14 Texas A&M (minus 6 1/2) at LSU
Could be Ed Orgeron’s last game as coach of the Tigers unless they go into a bowl … TEXAS A&M 27-17.
No. 15 UTSA (minus 10 1/2) in North Texas
Roadrunners try to stay undefeated … UTSA 28-14.
No. 18 Wisconsin (minus 6 1/2) in Minnesota
The most played rivalry in great college football with 130 encounters … WISCONSIN 23-17.
No. 19 Houston (minus 32 1/2) at UConn
Former AAC rival, which sounds strange … HOUSTON 42-14.
No. 20 Pittsburgh (minus 13 1/2) in Syracuse
Orange has lost two times in a row and still has one win behind the bowl eligibility … PITTSBURGH 28-20.
No. 21 Wake Forest (minus 4 1/2) at Boston College
With QB Phil Jurkovec back for BC, the Eagles have a chance to spoilers … BOSTON COLLEGE 35-31.
Louisiana-Monroe (plus 21 1/2) at No. 23 Louisiana-Lafayette
Ragin ‘Cajuns won the rivalry game last season with 50 points … LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 42-17.
TWITTER INQUIRIES
Clemson (minus 11 1/2) in South Carolina – @ treys842
Tigers have won six in a row at the Palmetto Bowl, the last four from blowouts … CLEMSON 28-14.
Western Kentucky (plus 1 1/2) at Marshall— @philip_runyon
With just one average game, Hilltoppers QB Bailey Zappe was able to get 5,000 yard passes and 50 TD passes … WESTERN KENTUCKY 35-31.
Rutgers (plus 1 1/2) in Maryland – @EppingerKevin
The winner will be bowl-eligible … RUTGERS 27-23.
Florida State (plus 2 1/2) in Florida – @SteveWildzN
Another game where the winner becomes bowl-eligible; that’s far from the Bowden vs. Spurrier days … FLORIDA STATE 24-21.
Washington State (minus 1 1/2) near Washington – @ bwolf4
If the Cougars can break a seven-game losing streak at the Apple Cup, interim coach Jake Dickert could win the gig long-term … WASHINGTON STATE 20-17.
UMass (plus 6 1/2) in the state of New Mexico – @ dacon1508
Two wins between the Minutemen and Aggies … NEW MEXICO STATE 24-20.
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Last week: 21-4 even; 13-12 against the spread.
Season: 176-77 straight; 138-115 against the spread.
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Follow Ralph D. Russo on https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen on http://www.appodcasts.com
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More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25. Sign up for AP’s college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25
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