Week 4 College Football Predictions: Alabama on Upset Alert Again
The first three weeks of the college football season have been extremely exciting and action-packed, but Week 4 promises to be the most thrilling yet for fans. Today’s slate features a collection of highly-anticipated matchups, including a 3:30 PM ET showdown between #19 Colorado and #10 Oregon. #6 Ohio State and #9 Notre Dame will give the community another must-watch primetime matchup as well!
Below, we take a look at five best bets worth considering on your Saturday college football card!
Week 4 College Football Best Bets & Predictions
#6 Ohio State vs. #9 Notre Dame, Under 56
Entering play on Saturday, Kyle McCord and Sam Hartman have combined for a 19-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. However, neither quarterback has faced a defense nearly as tough as the one they will face tonight. McCord and Hartman have both struggled mightily in small sample sizes under pressure this season, which figures to limit the explosiveness of both passing attacks in this matchup. Ohio State and Notre Dame have both been extremely tough against opposing rushing attacks as well, making it unlikely that we see many large gains on the ground either. Factor in that both of these teams play at an extremely slow pace, and we have a strong recipe for an under.
#19 Colorado vs. #21 Oregon (-21)
As an ardent believer in the Deion Sanders movement, it is still difficult to imagine Colorado being competitive on the road in this spot against a far more talented Oregon team. Last weekend, Colorado barely managed to escape with a win at home against a subpar Colorado State team. This afternoon, Colorado will be without their most impactful player, Travis Hunter, who is a significant contributor on both sides of the ball. Oregon has not allowed a sack yet this season and should easily win at the line of scrimmage in this contest. Expect the Ducks to cruise to an easy victory in this one.
#15 Ole Miss (+7) vs. #13 Alabama
We have faded Alabama each of the last two weeks over at ScoresAndOdds, and both times it has resulted in sweat-free cash. This afternoon, the sportsbooks are once again giving Alabama too much respect against a competitive opponent, considering that the Crimson Tide still do not have any answer at the quarterback position. Ole Miss has scored at least 37 points in every single game under Jaxson Dart, which makes them very viable as underdogs on the spread and live as a straight-up dog in this matchup.
#20 Miami vs. Temple (+23.5)
Miami delivered a big win over Texas A&M two weeks ago, and the Hurricanes offense has scored at least 38 points in each of their three games this season. However, they have done all of that with the benefit of home field advantage. This afternoon, they will travel to play Temple, which has allowed no more than 36 points in a game this season. This will be Temple’s third home game in four weeks and their second consecutive home contest, meaning that they should have fresh legs and all of the other benefits that come with not having to travel. The Hurricanes have won 13 consecutive games against Temple in this head-to-head series but are only 7-6 ATS in that span. Expect this game to be relatively competitive on Saturday.
#3 Texas vs. Baylor (+17)
Texas delivered one of the biggest upsets of the college football season earlier this year when they went on the road to beat Alabama. However, the result was not exactly the mammoth upset that many people believed it to be, considering that Texas was the superior team on both sides of the ball. After beating the Crimson Tide, Texas is getting a few extra points of respect baked into their lines on a weekly basis, which makes it difficult to trust them as 17-point favorites on the road today. Baylor has scored 30 points or more in two of their three games this season and played Utah to a one-score game in Week 2. Do not be surprised if we see a tightly-contested affair in this spot.
