Written By Vegas Matty
With the formerly top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs falling from the ranks of the unbeaten after a 40-17 loss to the Auburn Tigers, the undefeated Miami Hurricanes and Wisconsin Badgers are both poised to continue their charge toward the college football playoff.
Wisconsin opened 9.5-point home chalk at BetOnline.AG against Michigan Wolverines who are riding a three-game winning streak of their own (2-1 against the spread). This is the biggest test of the year for the Badgers, until a likely Big Ten Championship Game matchup with the east champion Buckeyes.
In South Beach, Miami opened 17-point favorites over the Virginia Cavaliers after thumping Notre Dame 41-8 as a home underdog to stay perfect last week. This is a dangerous spot for the Hurricanes after adeptly navigating through each of the last two weeks with a birth in the ACC championship game already clinched. Miami won the ACC Coastal Division for the first time in school history — and will meet the defending national champion Clemson Tigers for the ACC title with a playoff birth possibly on the line in early December
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Other Week 12 college football games of note:
- Georgia has already been bet down after opening 24-point home favorites against the Kentucky Wildcats, with early action pushing the price down to -22. The Bulldogs still have a shot at making the College Football Playoff field but need to win out. Georgia has already secured their passage to the SEC title game in Atlanta and will most likely meet the winner of the Alabama-Auburn in two weeks.
- The Oklahoma Sooners have cleared their toughest hurdles in the Big 12 and put themselves in position to grab one of the four spots in the CFP field. The Sooners opened 34.5-point road favorites against the Kansas Jayhawks, and have already ticked up slightly to -35.
- Ohio State and Auburn try to continue stating their case as the best two-loss team in the country versus weak competition at home this week. The Buckeyes opened 38-point favorites against the Illinois Fighting Illini with the Tigers listed as 36.5-point chalk versus the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks. The playoff committee will have very difficult decisions to make if both Ohio State and Auburn win out as two-loss power 5 conference champions.
In the NFL, three of the league’s worst teams (Indianapolis Colts, New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers) will complete the last round of byes in Week 11. Three of the best games on the weekend schedule happen late on Sunday and/or in prime time. The New England Patriots will not be playing at night for the second week in a row, but they will be staying out West after visiting the Denver Broncos on Sunday Night Football. The defending Super Bowl champion Patriots will visit the Oakland Raiders off their bye in Mexico City, playing their second consecutive AFC West opponent.
New England is staying in Colorado following the Denver game and hopes to duplicate the success from 2014 when the team had a similar stay in California between road games and went on to win the Super Bowl. However, this matchup is much bigger for Oakland in terms of staying in the playoff race and technically serves as one of their eight home games. The Raiders beat the Houston Texans 27-20 in Mexico City last year. New England is listed as a 5.5-point favorite for the neutral field clash.
Here are two more intriguing Week 11 NFL games that will take place in prime time:
- The defending NFC East champion Dallas Cowboys host the division-leading Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday Night Football 3-point home underdogs. The Eagles are coming off their bye, and Andy Reid disciple Doug Pederson lost in this situation with his team a year ago. Reid is well-known for his success after a bye week, going 11-1 SU (9-3 ATS) during the regular season between 2001 and 2012. Dallas needs to shore up their pass protection after Dak Prescott was under duress right from the start in their loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
- The aforementioned Atlanta Falcons will visit the Seattle Seahawks to close out Week 11 on Monday Night Football. The Seahawks suffered a lot of injuries in their victory against the Arizona Cardinals in the Week 10 Thursday Night Football matchup and will benefit from extra time to recover even though All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman was lost for the rest of the season with a torn Achilles. Seattle is listed as a modest 3 point home favorite for the affair.
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Week 12 College Football Opening Lines:
Ohio @ Akron (N/A)
Central Michigan -17 @ Kent State
Toledo -17 @ Bowling Green
Miami Ohio -3 vs. Eastern Michigan
Northern Illinois -10 vs. Western Michigan
Buffalo -17½ @ Ball State
South Florida -23 vs. Tulsa
Middle Tennessee State -3 @ Western Kentucky
New Mexico -1.5 vs. UNLV
Indiana -11 vs. Rutgers
Georgia -21 vs. Kentucky
Cincinnati U -3 @ East Carolina
Georgia Tech -6 @ Duke
Virginia Tech -16½ vs. Pittsburgh U
Central Florida -14 @ Temple
Wake Forest -1 vs. N.C. State
Louisville -13½ vs. Syracuse
Maryland @ Michigan State (N/A)
West Virginia -3 vs. Texas
Oklahoma -35 @ Kansas
Fresno State @ Wyoming (N/A)
Boise State -17 vs. Air Force
Utah State -10½ vs. Hawaii
Old Dominion -8½ vs. Rice
Southern Mississippi -17½ vs. Charlotte
BYU -3½ vs. Massachusetts
Louisiana Tech -16½ @ UTEP
South Alabama -5½ @ Georgia Southern
TCU -7 @ Texas Tech
Iowa -9 vs. Purdue
Arizona @ Oregon (N/A)
Ohio State -38½ vs. Illinois
Florida -11 @ UAB
Arizona State -6½ @ Oregon State
Memphis -11 vs. SMU
Miami Florida -18 vs. Virginia
Iowa State -9½ @ Baylor
Mississippi State -12½ @ Arkansas
Missouri -7½ @ Vanderbilt
Washington -17½ vs. Utah
Auburn -35½ vs. UL Monroe
Oklahoma State -17½ vs. Kansas State
Colorado State -32 vs. San Jose State
Penn State -23.5 vs. Nebraska
LSU -15 @ Tennessee U
Notre Dame -17½ vs. Navy
Houston -9½ @ Tulane
New Mexico State -4 @ UL Lafayette
Coastal Carolina @ Idaho (N/A)
North Texas -2½ vs. Army
Arkansas State -25 vs. Texas State
Florida Atlantic -14 vs. Florida International
Connecticut @ Boston College (N/A)
Marshall -1 @ Texas San Antonio
Mississippi -2 vs. Texas A&M
Wisconsin -7½ vs. Michigan
USC -15½ vs. UCLA
Stanford -17 vs. California
San Diego State -14½ vs. Nevada
Mercer @ Alabama (N/A)
Delaware State @ Florida State (N/A)
Citadel @ Clemson (N/A)
Western Carolina @ North Carolina (N/A)
Wofford @ South Carolina (N/A)
Week 11 NFL Opening Lines:
Pittsburgh -7 vs. Tennessee
Detroit -3 @ Chicago
Kansas City -11 @ New York Giants
Miami -2½ vs. Tampa Bay
Baltimore -2 @ Green Bay
Minnesota -2½ vs. Los Angeles Rams
Arizona -2½ @ Houston
Jacksonville -7½ @ Cleveland
New Orleans -7½ vs. Washington
Los Angeles Chargers -4½ vs. Buffalo
Denver -2½ vs. Cincinnati
New England -5 vs. Oakland (Mexico City)
Philadelphia -3 @ Dallas
Seattle -3 vs. Atlanta
