The regular season has ended for college football and this weekend brings on the conference championships.
Here are the best bets for some of the marquee matchups on 12/3
Kansas State vs. TCU on ABC 12pm EST
Kansas State is coming for revenge here. They had TCU on the ropes in the regular season where Kansas State was in the drivers seat if both Adrian Martinez and Will Howard didn’t get hurt for K-State. With K-State having a great running game through Deuce Vaughn and especially with Adrian Martinez pre-injury there is a different part of Kansas State that they’ve developed with Will Howard.
No reports ever really come out about Adrian Martinez and Will Howard keeps starting each week so I am led to believe Will is going to start this week. With Will at starting QB Kansas State is better at throwing the ball and they’ve put up plenty of points recently through the air and on the ground. Malik Knowles is a solid lengthy wide receiver that can get behind the defense. As long as Kansas State stays with the hot hand Will Howard and keeps it balanced with success then they will be able to score.
TCU has been a big surprise for college football. The amount of games they have come back from is impressive and they just don’t die. Max Duggan has shown incredible toughness all year and has shown some solid flashes of brilliance. I won’t lie I doubted him a couple times this year and to be fair he’s not that accurate but he finds ways to win so we have to respect it.
TCU’s defense has been the talk of the team for the past few weeks especially after the Texas game. They struggled a bit with Baylor running the ball and almost lost as well. They also dominated Iowa State which isn’t saying much but it shows the defense has been way more impressive than what they were prior to the Texas game. The offense stays dominant with their running back Kendre Miller who has been brilliant and may very well be getting drafted this year. Quentin Johnston has been so dominant when he’s on the field but he has been injured lately where he doesn’t play or plays a little and then gets hurt again. It looks like he will be playing Saturday which is huge for TCU.
The Bet: I love both offenses and this game being held at AT&T stadium in Arlington screams points. Therefore the over 62 is the best bet here.
LSU vs. Georgia on CBS 4pm EST
Reports have come in recently that Jayden Daniels will play for LSU after spraining his ankle against A&M. It is fair to say I have not been fan and am currently not a fan of Jayden Daniels. You just have to QB spy him every play he genuinely doesn’t want to throw the ball. Besides that I don’t know what else is interesting about this LSU team. The receivers are studs but they don’t have a QB. The running game is just Jayden Daniels when he’s supposed to be passing. The decent thing about them is their defense but they just gave up 38 points to the most inept college football offense in the country at A&M.
Georgia isn’t a powerhouse this year in college football either but they haven’t lost in a while. Their last loss was this game last year. Georgia starts out slow and usually finishes strong in the second half so far this year. Stetson Bennett hasn’t been good this year even though the Tennessee game has people fooled. While I do think he will suffice and make enough plays it is always going to be the defense that will carry this team. Georgia has been slept on this year because of the lack of domination but the defense has been slept on even more throughout college football. Although it isn’t historic like it was last year they are still so superior to other teams.
The Bet: Georgia playing in Atlanta against an offense that should have zero success against this defense. Georgia -17.5 OR go live and bet whatever Georgia’s second half spread will be as they play much better second half.
Purdue vs. Michigan on FOX 8pm EST
Purdue being in this game hurts as Illinois had plenty of chances to play in this game but had some terribly brutal losses but then almost beat Michigan somehow. Either way Purdue won the woeful Big Ten West which may be the worst division in college football and Michigan took the East. Purdue isn’t good at all but they aren’t called the “Spoilermakers” for no reason. These are the games they live for and under head coach Jeff Brohm they are 3-0 vs. top 3 teams in college football which is nuts. I’ve mentioned Aidan O’Connell before because he will play Northwestern one week and struggle and then play Illinois the next week and go crazy. It is very possible he goes crazy in this game for Purdue because for them to have a shot he needs to do so.
Michigan will be without Blake Corum as he requires knee surgery. Seemed pretty serious since he came out after about two plays against Ohio State showing that the knee simply was in bad shape. Donovan Edwards the other back for Michigan is still really good and maybe more versed as he is used more in the screen/ pass game. They have one of the best offensive lines in college football as well. He had a monster game against Ohio State even though he was banged up as well. JJ McCarthy makes zero sense as he hasn’t shown much spark at all until Ohio State because a week prior he could barely make a 10 yard throw against Illinois. Not sure what to expect from him but I would expect a lot of running and chewing clock like normal from Michigan.
The Bet: I am assuming less big plays for Michigan as long as Purdue can tackle well. Purdue can watch and adjust to what Ohio State did wrong and I believe Michigan will take their time and be in no rush on Saturday. Purdue +16.5.
Clemson vs. North Carolina on ABC 8pm EST
Not many people in the world of college football are fans of Clemson besides Clemson fans. I think Clemson is bad and it has a lot to do with D.J. Uiagalelei. He genuinely can’t throw and that’s the simple end to it. The offense is basically just Will Shipley their running back and just hope he can break one for them or just work their way down the field 5 yards at a time. But, and this is a big but here, they are playing UNC and UNC does their best not to play defense at all. Everything I said is correct about Clemson normally but now that they play UNC expect D.J. to look decent and Will Shipley to go off. This will probably look like the Wake Forest game earlier this year that had zero defense and was pretty fun to watch.
UNC has one of the best QB’s in all of college football named Drake Maye and that’s kind of it. They have struggled the past couple weeks. He specifically has struggled but he also does so much on his own. His receivers drop the ball all the time, he has to run all the time and he has to score basically every possession of the game because the defense never gets a stop. The kid is a freshman which has me wondering how long will he stay at UNC now with the transfer portal being so easy and with NIL deals. If this is his last game for UNC it should be a good one for him.
The Bet: I think UNC bounces back from some tough weeks and I think Clemson is bad and isn’t motivated anymore as their college football playoff hopes are done. UNC +7.5 and if you want to double up on it go with the over 63.5.
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