Written By Vegas Matty
Thanksgiving Week is finally upon us, with college football bettors ready to feast on opening lines for some of the biggest matchups of the season, led by the annual Iron Bowl rivalry game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers this Saturday. The Crimson Tide can clinch a spot in the SEC Championship Game opposite the Georgia Bulldogs if they can top the Tigers after opening as 4.5-point road favorites at BetOnline.AG. Auburn also controls its own destiny and can move into the title game with an upset of Alabama.
The Tigers have won four in a row since falling to the LSU Tigers, and they can definitely have a solid case for making the four-team College Football Playoff field by winning out despite their two losses. Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide hope to remain undefeated following their toughest test of the year.
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Other Week 13 college football games of note:
- The Ohio State Buckeyes are another two-loss team looking to make the CFP, but they will need to knock off the Michigan Wolverines first on Saturday. The Buckeyes opened as 10-point road chalk and have won 12 of the past 13 meetings with the Wolverines, riding a 7-3 run against the spread in the series as well. Ohio State has already locked up a spot in the Big Ten title game and will meet the unbeaten Wisconsin Badgers in Indianapolis on December 2.
- The Badgers opened as 16-point road faves at BetOnline.AG for a visit to the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday in their regular-season finale. Wisconsin is already up to -17 in early action after defeating Michigan 24-10 last Saturday and covering their third straight game. The question is, will the Badgers be looking past the Golden Gophers in the battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe? Wisconsin has won 13 straight in the series but is just 3-6-1 ATS in the past 10.
- The Oklahoma Sooners are another school on the move upwards after opening as 21-point home favorites against the West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday. The Sooners are -23 now and have already earned the top seed in the Big 12 Championship Game. Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield will look to pad his Heisman numbers while playing a West Virginia team coming off a 28-14 home loss to the Texas Longhorns last week. Keep tabs on WVU starting QB Will Grier who wasn’t able to finish the game this past weekend with a gruesome finger injury.
Earlier in the week on Thursday, the NFL will serve up three solid Thanksgiving matchups to kick off Week 12. The best game might very well be the first one, with the Detroit Lions hosting the Minnesota Vikings in a key NFC North clash. The Lions still have a shot at the division title thanks to a 14-7 road victory against the Vikings back in Week 4 and a current three-game winning streak.
However, Minnesota has not lost since then and rides a six-game winning streak into Detroit after beating the Los Angeles Rams convincingly on Sunday. The Vikings own a two-game lead over the Lions but would lose a tiebreaker if they fall here and tie for first in the NFC North with their opponent at the end of the regular season. Detroit opened (PK) with a total of 44.5 for the holiday tradition.
Here are the other two Thanksgiving games bettors have to look forward to…
- The Los Angeles Chargers visit the Dallas Cowboys off a rout of the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. The Chargers ended a two-game skid and improved to 4-2 in their last six while the Cowboys enter their annual Turkey day game off a short week and an emotional divisional game. Dallas is listed as 2.5 point favorite.
- The New York Giants will attempt to build on their second victory of the season when they visit the defensively-challenged Washington Redskins in the nightcap. The Giants stunned the Kansas City Chiefs as double-digit home underdogs on Sunday with a 9-6 overtime win, and the Redskins blew a 15-point lead in a 34-31 OT loss to the New Orleans Saints on the road. Washington has given up 33 points or more in losing four of its last five, the exception being a surprising 17-14 road win over the Seattle Seahawks three weeks ago. Washington will also have week 17 revenge on their mind as the Giants kept them from the postseason ago. Redskins are listed as a 7 point home favorite with a total of 44.5.
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Week 13 College Football Opening Lines:
Akron -15 vs. Kent State
Eastern Michigan -15 vs. Bowling Green
Miami Ohio -21 @ Ball State
Mississippi State -14 vs. Ole Miss
TCU -23½ vs. Baylor
Toledo -11½ vs. Western Michigan
Virginia Tech -8 @ Virginia
Northern Illinois -4 @ Central Michigan
Ohio -6 @ Buffalo
Missouri -14 @ Arkansas
San Diego State -18 vs. New Mexico
Houston -6 vs. Navy
Miami Florida -14 @ Pittsburgh
Iowa -4½ @ Nebraska
Troy -24 vs. Texas State
Central Florida -9½ vs. South Florida
Western Kentucky -3½ @ Florida International
Texas -12 vs. Texas Tech
UCLA -7 vs. California
Cincinnati U -3½ vs. Connecticut
Boston College @ Syracuse (N/A Eric Dungey)
Michigan State -13½ @ Rutgers
Purdue -2½ vs. Indiana
Ohio State -11½ @ Michigan
N.C. State -15½ vs. North Carolina
Wake Forest -11 vs. Duke
Appalachian State -6½ @ Georgia State
Tennessee U -1 vs. Vanderbilt
Kansas State -2½ vs. Iowa State
Louisville -10 @ Kentucky
Georgia -13 @ Georgia Tech
Penn State -18 @ Maryland
Northwestern -14½ @ Illinois
North Texas -13½ @ Rice
Florida Atlantic -22 @ Charlotte
Utah @ Air Force (N/A)
Marshall -4½ vs. Southern Mississippi
UNLV -1 @ Nevada
Washington -9½ vs. Washington State
Wyoming @ San Jose State (N/A Josh Allen)
Utah -9½ vs. Colorado
Arkansas State -9 @ UL Monroe
Middle Tennessee State -12 vs. Old Dominion
Wisconsin -18 @ Minnesota
Notre Dame -1½ @ Stanford
Clemson -15½ @ South Carolina
LSU -11½ vs. Texas A&M
Boise State -7 @ Fresno State
SMU -7½ vs. Tulane
Oklahoma State -40 vs. Kansas
Arizona U -1 @ Arizona State
Oklahoma -22 vs. West Virginia
Oregon -21½ vs. Oregon State
Idaho @ New Mexico State (N/A)
UL Lafayette -6 vs. Georgia Southern
Temple @ Tulsa (N/A)
Louisiana Tech -1½ vs. Texas San Antonio
Memphis -25 vs. East Carolina
UAB -18½ vs. UTEP
Alabama -4½ @ Auburn
Florida State -3½ @ Florida
BYU -4 @ Hawaii
Week 12 NFL Opening Lines:
Detroit PK vs. Minnesota
Dallas -4 vs. Los Angeles Chargers
Washington -7 vs. New York Giants
Cincinnati -7½ vs. Cleveland
Philadelphia -11 vs. Chicago
New England -16 vs. Miami
Kansas City -9½ vs. Buffalo
Atlanta -8½ vs. Tampa Bay
Carolina -5 @ New York Jets
Tennessee -3½ @ Indianapolis
Seattle -6½ @ San Francisco
Los Angeles Rams -2½ vs. New Orleans
Jacksonville -3½ @ Arizona
Oakland -4½ vs. Denver
Pittsburgh -14½ vs. Green Bay
Baltimore -7 vs. Houston
