College Football Odds Week 12: Early Locks and Best Bets on the Schedule
Week 12 has the potential to be a treacherous week for some of the College Football Playoff contenders.
The Oregon Ducks are in the prototypical look-ahead spot on Saturday against the Arizona State Sun Devils.
Arizona State made a name for itself as one of the peskiest underdogs in the FBS and its defense could pose a challenge to Bo Nix and the Ducks.
Oregon may have its eyes on the rivalry battle with the Oregon State Beavers next week, or a potential Pac-12 Championship Game matchup with the Washington Huskies.
Other ranked teams, like the Penn State Nittany Lions, are in desperate need of a bounce-back result.
The good news for Penn State is there are no more big games on the horizon so it can cruise to its normal 10-win spot among the second-tier teams in college football.
For the latest lines on these games, go to DraftKings.
Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, Fox
Arizona State put the Pac-12 on notice on October 21, when it almost earned a road victory against Washington.
The Sun Devils have since upset the Washington State Cougars and UCLA Bruins and they should relish the role of spoiler in the next two weeks against Oregon and the Arizona Wildcats.
Arizona State held five of its last six opponents under 30 points, and if that trend keeps up, Oregon could at least be in trouble of covering the 22.5-point spread. Oregon is only 3-2 against the spread in Pac-12 play as a double-digit favorite.
The Ducks experienced some struggles on the road this season with a three-point win over Washington and an eight-point triumph over the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
The difference between Saturday and those two games is that Arizona State's defense could cause some trouble and drag the contest down into the twenties.
Oregon may not be in trouble of losing outright, but the Sun Devils have the perfect defense to at least fluster the Ducks for a quarter or two.
Saturday, Noon ET, FS1
Penn State may be difficult to trust in Week 12.
The Nittany Lions are traditionally strong against the Big Ten's weaker teams, but they struggled against the Indiana Hoosiers in the week after their loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes.
James Franklin's team could be better off against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights because of its opponents' own struggles against the Big Ten's elite programs.
Rutgers managed just seven points against the Michigan Wolverines and were outplayed in the second half versus the Ohio State Buckeyes. Greg Schiano's team also just got shutout by the Iowa Hawkeyes on the road.
Rutgers could be undone by its shortcomings in the passing game. Gavin Wimsatt has not thrown for more than 200 yards all season.
Penn State can take away the rushing attack, like the other top Big Ten sides did against Rutgers, and that could allow Drew Allar to open up the contest through the air.
Allar produced his best passing performance of the season two weeks ago versus the Maryland Terrapins with 240 yards and four touchdowns.
The sophomore signal-caller has the potential to put up similar totals against Rutgers, and that would put the Scarlet Knights at a significant disadvantage.
Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, ACC Network
The Syracuse Orange have been awful away from home in ACC play.
Dino Babers' team lost by a combined score of 119-20 in three road battles with the North Carolina Tar Heels, Florida State Seminoles and Virginia Tech Hokies.
In fact, all five of Syracuse's defeats came by at least seven points or more, a good sign for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to cover the spread.
Georgia Tech has been hot-and-cold in ACC play, but when it has played well, it put up a high point total.
The Yellow Jackets eclipsed the 30-point mark in three of their four ACC victories behind Texas A&M transfer quarterback Haynes King.
Georgia Tech at least has the potential to put up big offensive totals, and frankly, Syracuse can't be trusted on the road to cover a small spread as an underdog.
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