College Football Week 4 Saturday Picks, Predictions, and Odds

This is an enormous weekend for college football with several high-profile games. Many teams will open their conference slates with tough opponents including top ten teams like No. 4 Florida State, No. 7 Penn State, and No. 10 Oregon. That will lead to a bevy of action, and we will likely see more CFB betting this week than during any other week yet this season. That’s especially the case with the Colorado Buffaloes, as they will finally face a worthy opponent in the Oregon Ducks.

Hopefully, we can start clawing our way back into the black this week after a 1-2 week this past Saturday. While we were absolutely right with the Under in the South Carolina-Georgia game and had that put away by halftime, Nebraska showed that it still had some life left in it with an easy win over Northern Illinois and Vanderbilt blew a 17-0 lead against UNLV to lose outright as a short favorite per the football betting odds.

YTD Record: 4-8 ATS

College Football Week 3 Betting Odds at BetRivers Sportsbook and Caesars Sportsbook

While Deion Sanders is thriving at the University of Colorado, another former NFL player with little coaching experience is struggling mightily at UAB. Many pundits have been proven right by panning the school’s decision to hire Trent Dilfer this offseason as the Blazers have yet to win an FBS game. They were blown out by Georgia Southern and Louisiana, allowing 90 points to those two schools over the past two weeks, and now they must face a Georgia team that will be extremely motivated after a disappointing performance against South Carolina.

UAB ranks in the bottom ten nationally in total defense, surrendering 488.5 YPG. To make matters worse, their run defense is a bottom five unit that is allowing 6.6 YPC, and that is a scary stat considering how much Georgia likes to run the ball. The Bulldogs have a real chance to be covering this game by halftime even if they only throw the ball a handful of times, and this is a team that UAB won’t be able to move the ball against on offense.

Play: Georgia -41.5

It’s extremely rare to see Clemson as a home underdog per the college football betting odds. However, the Tigers have not looked good on offense this season and already have a loss to their name. They only scored seven points in their season opener against Duke, and they got off to a slow start against FCS Charleston Southern in their second game.

However, Clemson may finally be turning a corner with new offensive coordinator Garrett Riley. The Tigers moved the ball very well in the second half against Duke and blitzed Florida Atlantic out of the gate last weekend. Cade Klubnik is looking like a five-star recruit, and he has the potential to pick apart an FSU secondary that has not performed well in two of three games this season.

Meanwhile, FSU star quarterback Jordan Travis is banged up, and the Seminoles’ offensive line is clearly overrated despite its tremendous experience. That makes the Tigers an incredible value pick as a home dog.

Play: Clemson +2

We have seen a lot of FCS programs have immediate success in the FBS over the last few seasons. It’s clear that there is little or no difference between the FCS powers and the vast majority of the Group of Five teams, and James Madison is the most recent example of that being the case. The Dukes went 8-3 last season and 6-2 in Sun Belt play and obliterated Coastal Carolina by 40 points in their season finale.

They are off to a 3-0 start this season and will go on the road to face Utah State this week. The Dukes are on the road for the third straight week, so the travel may have an effect on them. However, they were able to beat Virginia and Troy the last two weeks and Utah State is less talented than either of those teams. Blake Anderson has struggled after a strong first season in Logan, and this program may be in a tailspin.

Play: James Madison -6.5