College Football Against the Spread Picks for Week 13: Which Rivalry Games Provide Best Value?

Thanksgiving is one of the most unique weeks of the college football season, with rivalry games galore, especially non-conference affairs. Read on for our best ATS bets for Week 13's college football action.

The four teams that wind up in the College Football Playoff likely will not have done so without a sweat. No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Michigan, and No. 4 TCU won by a combined 16 points last week, and the latter two needed late field goals to avoid upsets.

We have identified three rivalry games as our best bets that provide great value, especially since they are more under-the-radar games, with just one of the six teams involved having a realistic chance to play for a national title.

Below, we offer our top ATS bets for Week 13 in college football (odds via BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, and FanDuel Sportsbook; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

Top Against the Spread Bets for Week 13

• California +9.5 vs. UCLA (-110 via BetMGM)
• Washington State +2.5 vs. Washington (-110 via FanDuel)
• South Carolina +14.5 vs. Clemson (-110 via Caesars)

Week 13 Against the Spread Predictions

California +9.5 (-110) ★★★★

UCLA's season was on the line at home last week against USC, needing a win to have any chance at a conference championship and Rose Bowl berth. Unfortunately, those hopes vanished when it suffered its third conference loss, and Chip Kelly will have an arduous task of getting his guys up for this game after a devastating loss.

Worse, quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson was bothered by a hand injury throughout the loss to USC. Even though he accounted for 384 total yards and six touchdowns, the injury likely played a part in his season-high four turnovers.

Though California's offense is not nearly as explosive as USC's, it has to be licking its chops after seeing the Bruins surrender 648 total yards to the Trojans. In addition, UCLA has been vulnerable to the big play, allowing four completions of at least 35 yards in the last two weeks.

California is 2-1 ATS in its three games against current top 25 teams, with its only non-cover coming in a 42-24 loss to Oregon as a 17.5-point underdog.

The underdog is 5-1 in the last six meetings in the UCLA-Cal rivalry, and the Bruins have covered in just one of their previous six road meetings. We expect the Golden Bears to hang tough with a dejected UCLA squad.

Check out our top sites for Maryland sports betting.

Washington State +2.5 (-110) ★★★★

Washington State's last two victories may only appear as 11- and 10-point wins, but the Cougars led Arizona State 28-6 at the end of three quarters and were up 31-6 entering the fourth against Arizona before taking their foot off the gas. Washington State is playing its best football following a midseason three-game losing streak and is much better than its 4-4 conference record indicates.

Though Washington has covered eight of its last 10 trips to Pullman, not many of those Huskies teams faced a defense as good as this year's Cougars team. The only two teams to score more than 24 points on Washington State are USC and Oregon, two of the top-four scoring teams in the country.

The Cougars entered last week ranked 24th in passing down success rate and 14th in rush play explosiveness allowed, which will come in handy to slow down the explosive Michael Penix Jr.

South Carolina +14.5 (-110) ★★★★

Clemson has won the last seven games in this rivalry, with a plus-182 point differential. But with the way Gamecocks quarterback Spencer Rattler is playing, this year's matchup should be much more competitive.

Rattler's inconsistency entering the Tennessee game (198 passing yards per game, nine touchdowns to eight interceptions) was a big part of South Carolina's struggles. However, he exploded for 438 yards and six touchdowns against the Volunteers, and as a result, the Gamecocks' 63 points were the most by an unranked team against a top-five opponent in almost 100 years, according to Brad Crawford.

Last week, South Carolina's early aggressiveness paid off, as Rattler went 6-for-10 for 165 yards and two touchdowns on passes of 10-plus air yards in the first half. The Gamecocks averaged 30.7 points per contest over their first three road games before their six-point clunker at Florida, but look for a similar aggressive philosophy in this season finale as they enter with nothing to lose.

Where to Bet on College Football ATS Picks

Here are our top-rated sportsbooks:

FanDuel Sportsbook
Caesars Sportsbook
DraftKings Sportsbook
PointsBet
BetMGM

College football top ATS bets from 11/06/2022 at 6:06 a.m. ET.