College Football Best Bets Today: Matchups, Odds, Picks, Predictions for Week 7

From multiple contrarian favorites to a forecasted Conference USA shootout and a newly ranked Sun Belt team on upset alert, our Week 7 college football best bets menu is locked and loaded.

A fantastic college football Saturday is in store this week. There's a pair of matchups between AP Top 10 teams and meaningful conference games all across the country, making the Week 7 college football betting slate arguably one of the best we’ve seen so far.

Here are our best bets for Saturday’s college football schedule (Odds via Caesars, DraftKings, and FanDuel sportsbooks).

Saturday’s College Football Schedule and Odds

(Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook)

• Penn State vs. Michigan (-7)
• Kansas vs. Oklahoma (-9)
• Auburn vs. Ole Miss (-14.5)
• Minnesota (-6.5) vs. Illinois
• Buffalo (-17) vs. UMass
• California (-14.5) vs. Colorado
• Alabama (-7) vs. Tennessee
• Oklahoma State vs. TCU (-3.5)
• NC State vs. Syracuse (-3.5)
• Arkansas vs. BYU (pick’em)
• Texas State vs. Troy (-16.5)
• James Madison (-11.5) vs. Georgia Southern
• Louisiana Tech vs. North Texas (-6.5)
• LSU vs. Florida (-2.5)
• Utah State (-11.5) vs. Colorado State
• Clemson (-3.5) vs. Florida State
• Mississippi State (-4) vs. Kentucky
• Stanford vs. Notre Dame (-17)
• USC vs. Utah (-3.5)
• New Mexico (-6.5) vs. New Mexico State

Saturday’s College Football Best Bets

• Moneyline: Utah (-160 via Caesars)
• Spread: Alabama -7 (-105 via Caesars)
• Total: Louisiana Tech-North Texas Over 67.5 (-110 via DraftKings)
• Upset: Georgia Southern (+340 via FanDuel)
• Prop: Illinois Team Total Under 16.5 (-110 via DraftKings)
• Moneyline Parlay: Ole Miss (-700) + Buffalo (-850) + California (-675) + Troy (-800) + Utah State (-410) + Notre Dame (-800) + New Mexico (-245) = +225 (via DraftKings)

Top College Football Picks for Saturday

Moneyline: Utah (-160)

There are multiple underdogs getting widespread support during Week 7. One such team is undefeated USC. The Trojans travel to Salt Lake City for a prime-time showdown against Utah. 

Although the Utes are coming off their second loss of the season, the reigning Pac-12 champs are still power-rated as the best team in the conference. The betting public may not be buying Utah as a favorite in this spot, but that's not stopping us. After all, what’s better than a contrarian home favorite with the world betting against them?

Utah is by far the toughest opponent from a physicality standpoint that USC has encountered in 2022. Caleb Williams also hasn't faced a defensive secondary anything close to what the Utes boast. 

The Trojans dominated the turnover battle on the road against Oregon State and still needed a late touchdown to escape with a win. One week later, Utah owned the same Beavers team.

Kyle Whittingham’s squads have traditionally done well in October. Motivation will certainly be high after stumbling while visiting UCLA in Week 6. 

Spread: Alabama -7 (-105)

Much like USC, Tennessee is getting significant support from public bettors as a home underdog to mighty Alabama. There's clearly some recency bias involved in the public selection.

Everyone watched the Crimson Tide commit numerous mistakes in Week 6 and nearly throw away their game against Texas A&M. While Alabama was fortunate to escape, Tennessee went into Death Valley and steamrolled LSU earlier in the day. Therefore, the perception of these two teams could not be more opposite coming into Saturday’s showdown.

Perhaps the biggest issue with backing the Volunteers in this spot is the lack of value on a 7-point line. This was one of several marquee matchups that came with preseason odds posted. Alabama was priced as a two-touchdown favorite on the road over Tennessee seven weeks ago.

Of course, the Tide were also playing without Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Bryce Young in Week 6. While his return will certainly boost Alabama's offense, the Vols are likely to remain without Cedric Tillman, one of their best receivers. Alabama also possesses the speed and athleticism defensively to contain the rushing threat of Hendon Hooker.

Total: Louisiana Tech-North Texas Over 67.5 (-110)

After rising to as high as 75, the game total for Saturday’s Conference USA clash between Louisiana Tech and North Texas has come back down to a more fathomable 67.5. However, it wouldn't exactly be shocking if this game features 75-plus points.

Neither team's defense has been able to generate stops. North Texas ranks 118th out of 131 FBS teams in scoring defense. Opponents are averaging 38.2 points per game against the Mean Green.

Incredibly, Louisiana Tech’s defense has been even worse. The Bulldogs field one of the five worst scoring defenses in college football while giving up 42.3 points per game. 

Both teams also bring some solid offensive talent to the table. While North Texas is averaging nearly 30 points per game, Louisiana Tech is coming off its best offensive performance after beating UTEP 41-31.

Neither offense should struggle to move up and down the field in this matchup. 

Upset: Georgia Southern (+340)

James Madison cracked the AP Top 25 this week for the first time. The Dukes are in their first year of transitioning from the FCS to the FBS level. Few could have envisioned James Madison getting off to a 5-0 start. 

While that's been fun to watch, James Madison’s competition hasn’t exactly been strong. Aside from a comeback win over Appalachian State, the Dukes have beaten up on three lesser Group of 5 teams and an FCS opponent. Georgia Southern is arguably the second-best team on James Madison's schedule so far.

Little was expected of the Eagles coming into the 2022 campaign. With Clay Helton taking over as head coach, Georgia Southern embarked on the shift from a triple-option offense to a spread formation. Transfer quarterback Kyle Vantrease has fit right into Helton’s system. The Eagles already notched a massive upset win over Nebraska, and they're averaging north of 32 points per game.

Georgia Southern is capable of beating opposing defenses on the ground and through the air, which presents a wrinkle James Madison largely hasn’t needed to deal with in 2022. Additionally, a shiny new national ranking can often prove to be a curse for mid-major teams.

The Dukes have been the hunters all season. How will they handle becoming the hunted on Saturday?

Prop: Illinois team total Under 16.5 (-110)

Savvy bettors should immediately pause upon seeing that unranked Minnesota is laying nearly a touchdown on the road this week to a ranked Illinois team. With such a low game total, laying a touchdown is rather daunting. So let's instead focus on the Illinois team total.

With both squads relying heavily on the ground game, most are expecting a low-scoring affair. Minnesota’s Mohamed Ibrahim and Illinois’ Chase Brown are among the nation's top running backs.

For the Illini, the big concern coming into Saturday’s contest is how much of a passing attack they will have to complement their ground game. Starting quarterback Tommy DeVito was knocked out of the contest with an injury during Week 6 against Iowa. While he hasn't yet been ruled out of this week’s critical Big Ten West clash, DeVito isn't guaranteed to play.

If DeVito misses the game or is at less than 100%, the Illinois offense figures to struggle mightily against a Minnesota defense that comes in well-rested off a bye.

Moneyline Parlay: Ole Miss (-700) + Buffalo (-850) + California (-675) + Troy (-800) + Utah State (-410) + Notre Dame (-800) + New Mexico (-245) = +225 

We’re dialing up another seven-leg moneyline parlay this week. The Land of Enchantment is where the game with the closest point spread will be played, as New Mexico visits New Mexico State for the 2022 edition of the Rio Grande Rivalry.

The Lobos are laying just under a full touchdown, but they're easily the more talented side. After blowing leads against UNLV and Wyoming the last two weeks, New Mexico's rushing offense should fare better over a full four quarters against a less imposing defense.

Meanwhile, ninth-ranked Ole Miss shouldn't struggle to take care of business at home against Auburn and its dysfunctional offense. The Rebels love to run the ball, and the Tigers’ defense can’t stop the run. Speaking of running the ball, Buffalo will be doing a whole lot of that as a huge favorite against lowly UMass.

California nearly knocked off Notre Dame earlier in 2022, and the school shouldn't experience difficulty beating an awful Colorado team outright. The same can be said for Troy at home against Texas State. The Trojans quietly look like one of the top teams in what is a very strong Sun Belt Conference.

While Utah State is unlikely to defend its Mountain West title from 2021, backup quarterback Cooper Legas appears to be sparking the offense. It won’t take much offensive output to get past a Colorado State team that simply can't score. 

Finally, we’ll bank on Notre Dame utilizing its massive physicality advantage at the line of scrimmage to get past one of the worst Stanford teams in recent memory.

Where to Bet on College Football

Here are our top-rated sportsbooks:

FanDuel Sportsbook
Caesars Sportsbook
DraftKings Sportsbook
PointsBet
BetMGM

College football best bets made on 10/14/2022 at 1:33 p.m. ET