College football best bets, locks, picks, underdogs and favorites

Fresno State beat Hawaii and Northwestern stayed under team total. Tennessee and Syracuse couldn't keep up as underdogs this past weekend. This column gives out four picks per week: the game of the week, a favorite, an underdog and a wild card.

No. 11 Mississippi is a favorite against No. 9 Alabama. The Crimson Tide has two losses before the Iron Bowl for the first time since 2010. Alabama has been flagged 78 times this season. Mississippi's defense has sacked opposing quarterbacks on 8 percent of their drop-backs. The Rebels’ running backs are averaging at least 5.8 yards per carry. LSU harassed Alabama quarterback Bryce Young all game. It's the fifth time this year that Alabama's wide receivers have dropped 21 passes. They have played in seven of the eight College Football Playoffs.

Illinois lost to Michigan State last weekend. The team is no longer ranked highly in the polls. Purdue is a team that is ranked 129th in total offense. Illinois is No. 21 in terms of rushing yards per game. They are No 2 in yards allowed per play. Their defense is also ranked No 1. Purdue's quarterback Aidan O'Connell is coming off his worst game of the season.

New Mexico has lost five straight games and is 2-7. Air Force has won only twice this season. The Lobos and the Falcons have similar offenses. New Mexico is better on defense than Air force. Airforce managed only 13 points and 4.9 yards per play in the past weekend.

New Mexico has lost five games in a row. The team has led at halftime three times during that time. It has had the ball late in the fourth quarter in all three of those games, but has not won. This time, the team was trailing Utah State 20-10 late, and it lost 27-11.

The New Mexico Lobos lost to Utah State 27-10 this weekend. On Oct. 8, Wyoming won 27 to 14. The week before at UNLV, NewMexico led 17-9 at halftime but lost 31-20.

No. 12 UCLA is a big favorite against Arizona. Arizona's offense is very poor. Jacob Cowing is injured. UCLA's defense is set up to stop Arizona, which is bad. The game is being played before the rivalry game with USC. The Bruins are looking forward to the game. They are also looking ahead to next weekend's game against USC, too.