As College Football fans, some of whom have watched thousands of games this year, the weekend we have all been waiting for has finally arrived. Forget Christmas, Friday night through Saturday is the best time of the year and the slate this year will surely be the gift that keeps on giving. No Alabama in the SEC championship? No Clemson in the playoff? There has been an abundance of yearlong drama and excitement and the conference championship matchups are juicy. If you are a sports bettor, it doesn’t get much better than wall to wall action starting Friday night. Let’s dive in –

October 15th gave us an instant classic out west, between two high powered offenses with electric Quarterbacks. That night, Utah snuck away with a 1-point win over the Trojans of Southern Cal in front of their raucous home crowd under the foggy night sky in Salt Lake. Cam Rising would not be denied on the game winning 2-point conversion, as the balls on Kyle Wittingham proved large enough to hand Lincoln Riley his only L since leaving Norman for LA. Since then, Riley and his Heisman frontrunning QB, Caleb Williams, have rebounded with 6 straight wins, including one ‘on the road’ over their crosstown rival. With only a minor slip up in Eugene, Utah finds themselves in this ballgame for the second consecutive year, with a trip to the Rose Bowl on the line. On the other side, 4th ranked USC enters the game with their eyes on the College Football Playoff. You could not have asked for a better football game between these two the first time around. SC took control early, jumping out to a 14–0 lead, and went on to hold 14 point leads on two other occasions. A huge touchdown before the half which coincided with the sky turning from dusk to nightfall completely flipped momentum. The crowd came alive like a bunch of werewolves, and the Utes got themselves back in it. After a USC TD with 6 minutes to play, Cameron Rising drove his team down the field and capped off a drive with a QB run for six with under a minute to play. After Wittingham dropped his nuts on the table, Rising delivered once again pounding his way over the goal line to secure a 1 point W. It was the kind of game that would have been seen on ESPN Classic for years had the channel not ceased to exist. Why should we expect anything different this time around?

As crazy as it sounds, Utah has been the better program for the better part of this decade, but Lincoln Riley and his band of ex-Sooners has re-established USC as the cream of the crop out West. With only a couple years before some non-sensible conference re-alignment will put an end to this rivalry and others just like it, the Trojans surely want to depart for the Midwest with a bang.

With a short 2.5 spread, it is clear Vegas is expecting another barnburner. While that is something I can certainly get behind, I am backing Williams to do enough to get his revenge and get his side the Final 4. The atmosphere during the first matchup was a massive advantage for Utah. This Utes team is different at home, especially in big time matchups, and especially under the crazy Utah night sky. Without that to their benefit, USC is the better team with more talent across the field. Cam Rising is absolutely no slouch, but Caleb is playing at a different level. He also has the benefit of throwing to Jordan Addison among other top tier weapons, while Utah is dealing with a number of injuries, including to their top Tight End. Although the Pac 12 tends to pee down their leg whenever a playoff spot awaits them, I think this is the year they earn a spot. The nation deserves to see Caleb Williams on the biggest stage, and Lincoln Riley knows what it takes to get it done here. Losing the first matchup may bode well for USC, as it ensures they won’t even consider looking past Utah and gives them the added boost of a revenge factor. I jumped on this line at -2.5, and would take it again at 3, while hesitating to bet it if the number goes any higher.

The Pick: USC -2.5 (Bet to -3)

Before USC fans even get to kick their hangovers, we get another whale of a game to enjoy with our mimosas. In yet another rematch between a team with playoff hopes, and a highly ranked team looking to play spoiler while secure their own New Years Bowl bid, Undefeated TCU clashes with the ghost of Bill Snyder and the Kansas State Wildcats. In one of the more improbable seasons in recent memory, the Horned Frogs find themselves without a single loss heading into the big 12 title game. It wasn’t easy, but this team has found ways to win all year long. Well, that first win against Colorado was easy, but the rest of them took some fortunate bounces and a couple of knockout blows to opposing QBs. Nonetheless, going 11–0 in a high-powered conference is nothing to scoff at, and Sonny Dykes deserves endless credit for what he has accomplished in his first year in Fort Worth. Also deserving of much of the credit is Quarterback Max Duggan, who wasn’t even the starter at the beginning of the year. That quickly changed, and Duggan has led this team admirably, potentially leading himself right into New York as a Heisman finalist in the process. With help from an elite Wide Receiver group, this electrifying offense has everything they could hope for right in front of them.

Standing in their way is a team that was poised to beat them the first time around, until KSU got not one but two QBs taken out with injury. Prior to that, it was all KSU, jumping out to a 28–17 lead before halftime, only to get shutout in the second half with a third stringer at the helm. It was tough to watch such a collapse, but KSU knows for a fact they can hang with this team when healthy, which will be the case come Saturday.

We hear the term team of destiny a lot in sports, and while it’s always a crock of BS, this TCU squad has something special brewing. Even more impressive than anything else they have accomplished thus far, this team is 10–2 against the spread, a gamblers dream. Personally, I have ridden this team all year long, as they have been continuously disrespected by the bookmakers. +7 against Texas in primetime was a gimmie, as were the numerous small numbers they laid throughout the year. Despite their 0 losses and 83% cover rate, It seems like Vegas still isn’t convinced. While the line might implore you to take the other side, those that have done that this season against TCU have been burned consistently. I am going back to the well. Too much firepower on offense, and a confident team that deserves a spot in the CFP. Give me the Horned Frogs.

The Pick: TCU -2.5

With all the power 5 hoopla going around, and the battle for the top 4 spots in the country, the game I am looking forward to the most is going down in New Orleans, with #18 ranked Tulane playing host to #22 UCF for the second time in 4 weeks. While I might be on an island with that take, you can’t tell me this isn’t going to be an exciting game, and it is not just the Tulane alumnus in me speaking. For the first time in school history, the Green Wave find themselves in their conference championship game, and will put themselves in position to play in a major bowl game with a W. To spice things up even further, Head Coach Willie Fritz was rumored to have reached an agreement for a mediocre HC job with Georgia Tech, only to turn them down and commit to continuing to build this program Uptown. If one of the biggest games in school history wasn’t enough to fire up the troops, that news and subsequent announcement from the AD will have the Wave buzzing in whatever stylish helmets they roll up in Saturday afternoon. With that said, this situation isn’t too dissimilar from the first time around when UCF went into Yulman stadium just after Tulane reached its highest ranking in school history, and jumped out to a huge first quarter lead to send the student section back to The Boot disappointed. It was the biggest game Tulane has had in decades, and Gus Malzahn and his team had no issue coming in and stomping on their parade. In that one, QB Jon Rhys Plumlee ran all over the Green Wave D, which had been dominant to that point in the year, to the tune of 178 yards and 2 TDs. Unstoppable through 3 quarters, the Golden Knights staved off a last ditch effort from Tulane to take over the top spot in a highly underrated American Athletic Conference. With hopes of hosting this game, the self-proclaimed National Champs of 2017 fumbled the bag vs Navy, while Tulane handled business against Tulsa and went into a tough Nippert Stadium on Black Friday and took down the big bad Bearcats, sending Luke Fickell to Madison in the process.

The Green Wave will have revenge on their minds, and a home field advantage they aren’t accustomed to playing with. Save for the awful start, the Wave moved the ball well and had a chance to tie things up late in the first matchup. They have momentum on their side, and a Coach and AD that just committed to growing this program beyond any previous expectations. This game would be the perfect launching point for that, with a win likely putting them in a New Years Day Bowl game. Tulane flipped their record on its head from 2–10 last year, and on top of that also went 10–2 against the number. An incredible season down in NOLA, and I am banking on it to continue with a massive win for the program against a good UCF team.

The Pick: Tulane -3

In somewhat of a monumental development, Alabama will not be participating in their annual Saturday Afternoon slot at the SEC Championship. While Georgia v.s. Bama would have been the more intriguing matchup, it is LSU that punched their ticket to Atlanta on the back of a thrilling OT Win over the Tide in Death Valley a few weeks back. Even though Brian Kelly’s bunch puked away any shot at making the CFP after that thriller, they earned the right to be here in what seems to be turning into the Georgia Bulldog invitational. The Dawgs slept walked their way through the SEC gauntlet, with their only scare coming early on in Columbia, Missouri. We all knew his team would be here when the schedule came out without Alabama on it, and it was confirmed when they routed a trendy Tennessee team in Week 9. Any notion of a post National Championship letdown was quickly put to rest when Kirby Smart’s crew embarrassed Oregon in the season opener. That 49–3 beatdown commenced the cakewalk that has been this season, and LSU will look to play spoiler which may only serve to knock the Dawgs down a notch before the playoffs. The Tigers experienced a different fate in Week 1, when they lost their nationally televised opener in a nail biter vs Florida State. Many were ready to give up on Brian Kelly and his fake southern accent right then and there, but he was able to right the ship, and do what he always does; win a bunch of games, and then piss down his leg when his team is on the cusp of glory. Despite the flop against a bad A&M team, LSU has a great chance ahead of them Saturday afternoon, though they aren’t getting much respect from anyone, Vegas in particular. As many points as 18.5 is for a championship game, Georgia is simply head and shoulders above everyone else in the nation. They replaced their departed NFL players with more NFL players and brought in additional firepower around Stetson Bennett. While Jayden Daniels is electric in his own right, he is going to be running for his life all afternoon, with this mismatch in the trenches. The other major mismatch is on the outside, as I don’t see as much talent in the secondary that the folks in Baton Rouge are used to having. Bowers and company are a handful, and a team that couldn’t stop Texas A&M through the air has next to no shot at slowing this offensive attack. On the other side, LSU’s weapons surrounding their QB have not lived up to the hype. Boutte continues to disappoint, and Georgia’s secondary is elite. While I would love to pick the upset here, I don’t think Georgia is in any danger of losing this game or any games down the road. That said, I simply can’t lay 18.5 points in a title game. It is going to be tough to watch as Georgia will go up and down the field, but I am going to hold my nose and pray LSU can put a few in the end zone themselves. This line leaves too many backdoor opportunities on the table, and while I don’t think LSU ever really has a chance to pull the upset, I am going to back the Tigers on the number. Geaux Tigers.

The Pick: LSU +18.5

The night slate doesn’t fire me up as much as the afternoon, but that doesn’t mean we can’t hand out a couple of winners. While the real Big 10 championship game took place last week in Columbus, Purdue will somehow get their shot against Michigan to win the conference. Frankly, the Boilermakers have no business playing football this weekend. Fortunately for Jeff Brohm, they don’t have to apologize for how sorry the West side of the conference was this year. With Wisconsin, Iowa, and of course Nebraska all down, Purdue sneaks in with 6 wins, over an Illinois team that folded like a beach chair down the stretch. Their prize is Jim Harbaugh and a Michigan team that is riding at an all-time high. Sure, it took him a couple of years, but Harbaugh has unquestionably returned this program to glory, and if last year’s CFP appearance wasn’t enough, the massacre over the heavily favored Buckeyes absolutely solidified it. With Purdue the last hurdle remaining, Michigan will get their chance to avenge last season’s debacle in the semi-final. Even though there is no shame in losing to UGA, it was a disappointment that they never stood a chance, and clearly overmatched on both sides of the ball. This time around, the Maze and Blue have to be feeling better, as they are getting some competent QB play from prized recruit JJ McCarthy, and have a two headed monster in the backfield that should be healthy come playoff time. This is also a team of grown men up front, never more evidenced than during last Saturday’s demolition of the then 2nd ranked Buckeyes. They are far better equipped to hang with Georgia this year, in a matchup that would likely take place on January 9th. As for the task at hand, they can’t overlook Purdue who has a good QB in Alex O’connell, and a coach who has knocked off top 5 teams 3 separate times in his career. Unfortunately for the folks in West Lafayette making the short drive to Indianapolis, they will be going home empty handed to await their opponent in the Meineke Car Care or Little Caesars Bowl because no one wants them anywhere near Pasadena. I think Michigan continues to be undervalued by the books, like last week when they had no business being more than a Touchdown underdog. Last year in this same spot, Michigan easily covered a large number against Iowa, and this matchup seems eerily similar. A lifeless Big 10 West team matching up with a rolling Michigan squad with their eyes set on contending for a National Title. The Wolverines will look at this game as one last tune up before the CFP, and Harbaugh won’t let them take their opponent lightly. The Wolverines are designed to cover big numbers, as they can continue to score while running the football and wearing you down over the course of a ball game. I am putting my money on Michigan to win by 3 TDs, and roll into the CFP for the second straight season.

The Pick: Michigan -16.5

Much like Bama, Clemson finds themselves in unfamiliar territory with a College Football playoff that will go on without them. Personally, I couldn’t be happier to be catching a break from the insufferable Dabo Sweeney in the weeks leading up to the big dance. Clemson was down this year, but still had a chance to make some noise if they could have handled business against their crosstown rival over Thanksgiving weekend. Alas, they were unable to stop Spencer Rattler and find themselves on the outside looking in for once. Led by Freshman phenom Drake Maye, UNC was cruising through conference play all year, until they hit a wall down the stretch, culminating with a collapse against lowly Georgia Tech, and then again versus their own in-state rival. What we are left with are two floundering teams from the Atlantic Coast matching up under the lights in Charlotte. Still love this matchup. Mack Brown’s relatively resurgent Tar Heels have athletes all over the field, and clearly have the upper hand at the Quarterback position. DJ I wont even attempt to spell his last name, has never reclaimed the magic from that one fateful Notre Dame game, and it is perhaps the stubbornness of Dabo Sweeney to not turn the keys over to his freshman QB that has Clemson in this position to begin with. While they haven’t gotten great QB play, they do maintain a top tier defense led by Jeremiah Trotter JR and a couple more NFL prospects on the interior of the D Line. This will make things extremely tough for the Tar Heel offense, and for Maye who has never in his life gone up against this stellar of a unit. While NC State proved stout up front last weekend, Clemson is on a different level, and will make things extremely tough on the 18-year-old. Even in the latest loss, Maye proved to be nails, converting on multiple 4th downs during a last-minute drive to force OT. If not for their choke artist kicker, this team would have their eyes on a New Years bowl game. Once again, I find Clemson to be overvalued by the books. They have the name brand to go with the 5-star recruits, but each time they have gone up against a formidable opponent this year, they have struggled. They snuck by Wake in 2 OTs, they eked one out against FSU, barely beat a decent Cuse team and got their shit pumped by Notre Dame. UNC to me plays at a comparable level to FSU and Wake Forest, both of whom had a great shot to win and more importantly got inside this +7.5-point spread. Drake Maye has a huge opportunity to show the country what he can do, and set himself up for Heisman candidacy in 2023. Mack Brown gets his guys up for big games, and I think the athletes this team has on offense can put a scare into the Tiger defense. With a chance to win the game outright, I am taking the points and the Tar Heels of North Carolina.

The Pick: UNC +7.5

I am not a financial advisor but putting $100 on a parlay with those picks would net you $4,200. Tough to beat those returns in this economy. As always, play responsibly and enjoy the games this weekend. They should be great. Roll Wave.