NCAAF Best Bets: College Football Playoff Odds and Predictions

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00:00Welcome back to Newswire here on Sports Grid.

00:02What a fun weekend it was in college football.

00:04We've got a huge game coming up this week in the SEC.

00:08Let's bring in Bill Bender from Sporting News.

00:09Bill, you know, it was interesting,

00:10college football's day slate was about as poor as any

00:15that I can remember this season.

00:16You had the Red River Rivalry, which was not one,

00:18and then a bunch of junk, honestly, during the day.

00:21And then we got to the night, and my gosh,

00:24was this the most insane Saturday night

00:26between Ohio State and Oregon?

00:29LSU in their game, I believe it was against Mississippi,

00:33the Gators against Tennessee going to overtime.

00:35There were so many, Penn State-USC later in the day

00:39as well, I mean, I didn't know which way to go.

00:42I was like flipping, oh, should I go here,

00:43should I go there?

00:44And then some of the games were running over,

00:45I couldn't find the games.

00:46I mean, it was a fantastic weekend of college football,

00:49but all really within the same like two-hour window.

00:53Yeah, I had three TVs on too, and even baseball on.

00:56So I was all over the place and trying to figure out

00:58the remote controls, but once it got to that night window,

01:01you're absolutely right, and something to keep in mind.

01:04You know, with these top five games,

01:06we've seen it with Alabama-Georgia,

01:07we've seen it with Ohio State-Oregon,

01:09could see it with Texas-Georgia this week.

01:11Watch the overs, these are high-scoring games.

01:14We can talk about how much we love a team's defense,

01:16but these teams are getting up and down on each other.

01:19Yeah, they are, and again, the end to that

01:22Ohio State-Oregon game is all that's being talked about,

01:25and probably fair enough for good reason.

01:27First, of course, with Oregon putting 12 men on the field,

01:30I mean, the competition committee's gonna have to look at this

01:33because every other team is gonna try and do shenanigans

01:35like this at the end of the game.

01:37And then, boy, you know, I don't know what to say

01:40about the end of the game as well,

01:42just not having awareness there with the amount of time

01:44that was left there on the clock.

01:45But let's give credit to Oregon for winning,

01:47but also understanding that if, I don't know

01:51if Ohio State's kicker's any good, Bill,

01:52you'd have to tell me, but they probably would've had a shot

01:55for a 50-yard field goal to win the game.

01:57A couple things here, and I think the perception is

02:00they're gonna run it back in December.

02:01You can see that in the betting odds,

02:03reflected that Oregon and Ohio State

02:05are basically co-favored to win the Big Ten now.

02:07It was a great win for Oregon,

02:09but they leave 10 points on the board, in my opinion.

02:12Missed extra points, botched nap,

02:14you know, went for two and didn't get it.

02:16Had a player get ejected for spitting on another player.

02:19It was absurd.

02:20And then on Ohio State's side, you mentioned,

02:22you know, I've lived in Columbus my whole life.

02:24I know how it goes when they lose a game.

02:26We look at, we treat it like the Zapruder film.

02:28Was there a second left?

02:30Was this, this could've happened?

02:31They mismanaged it.

02:32I think it comes down to, Will Howard will learn from it.

02:35They need to trust their kicker in late game situations.

02:38You saw that with Georgia a couple years ago,

02:40and both teams will learn from it.

02:41But I do feel like they'll play again in December.

02:45Oregon, for sure.

02:46Ohio State's path's a little more complicated

02:48because they gotta go through Penn State on the road.

02:51Yeah, yeah.

02:52And I would also say, Bill, that, I mean,

02:54I don't know that it's as formidable as I thought.

02:56And you know, there's a lot of light out there

02:57for that game, I understand.

02:59Happy Valley's tough to play.

03:00But I gotta tell you, of all the teams near the top, Bill,

03:03I'm least impressed with Penn State.

03:04It seems like they're down to the wire

03:06in so many of these games.

03:07And you know what happens in college football like this.

03:10Eventually they get bit in the fourth quarter.

03:12I think they're fortunate to be where they are.

03:15Well, just the same, to come back from 20 to six

03:18on the road at USC, and we talked about that

03:20Pac-12 cross-country trend

03:22with the old Pac-12 schools last week.

03:25They were able to go out and get the win.

03:27I think Tyler Warren is a guy to watch this tight end.

03:29He reminds me of Mark Bavaro.

03:31I get that that's a dated reference,

03:33but you remember the Giants tight end

03:35that dragged the defenders forever?

03:36That's this guy.

03:37He's unguardable.

03:38And Drew Aller played through the mistakes.

03:41So, it sets up November 2nd,

03:43provided Penn State takes care of their business.

03:46They'll get Ohio State at home.

03:47They haven't beat the Buckeyes since 2016,

03:50a game that they won on a legendary

03:52blocked field goal by Grant Haley.

03:54And that will be that moment, Craig,

03:56where we really find out,

03:57is Penn State playoff worthy,

04:00national championship worthy, those kinds of things.

04:03But I'll give them a little bit of credit.

04:05In the past, they lose that game at USC.

04:07They did come back and got it done.

04:10Yeah, and even with two losses at this point,

04:12you would think they'd be in the back end of the top 12,

04:14almost no matter what happens with those big wins.

04:16Meanwhile, USC, boy, have they had some tough luck.

04:20Three losses by 13 points in the conference.

04:22They're not gonna make the playoff now, I don't think,

04:24but we'll look back at the end of the season, Bill.

04:26And maybe it's a good reminder for next year

04:28that USC should have had a little bit of better luck.

04:30They shouldn't have lost all these games.

04:32Well, they're gonna need to recruit differently up front.

04:35That's what it tells me.

04:35When you average over five yards per carry on defense

04:38against Michigan and Minnesota and Wisconsin,

04:40they did a little bit better against the run this week,

04:43but weren't able to close the game out.

04:45I don't think it means Lincoln Riley's on the hot seat.

04:48I realize that he's five and eight in his last 13 games.

04:51I've seen that stat circulate around this morning,

04:53but there is a lot to learn for the Trojans and UCLA.

04:57I mentioned that cross-country trend.

04:59Again, those are the only schools that have lost at home

05:03with a Big Ten school coming to their house.

05:05So a lot to learn, a lot to adjust to

05:07as they learn in their new conference.

05:09And for Lincoln Riley, they're close,

05:12but they're not quite there.

05:14Meanwhile, LSU stays alive in their pursuit

05:17of the college football playoff.

05:18Again, a game that went right down to the wire.

05:21They're plus 165 right now

05:23to make the college football playoff.

05:25Mississippi on the outside looking in,

05:27they're about two to one.

05:29I mean, Bill, Tennessee,

05:30I watched that game against the Gators.

05:33The Gators should have won that game.

05:34I mean, that was as ugly mistake performance game

05:37as I can ever recall.

05:39The only thing I will say that's positive about Tennessee

05:41here, and then we can get it to LSU and Ole Miss,

05:43is that Tennessee hasn't had these blips yet this season.

05:45Every team's gonna have one.

05:47I'm sure the volunteers are hoping

05:48that that was the only one.

05:50We'll learn all we need to know about them this weekend

05:52against Alabama.

05:53I mean, are they a true playoff contender?

05:55Will they trust Nico Iamaliava

05:58to throw the ball down the field?

06:00Or will they play one hand behind their back?

06:02I mean, Alabama has flaws too.

06:04This was supposed to be a top five showdown.

06:06Now it's not an elimination game,

06:08but it's a game between two one loss teams

06:11who aren't perfect at all.

06:12Alabama got lucky, quite frankly, against South Carolina.

06:15That makes that game that much more interesting.

06:18Yeah, no, they did, and I think that that game this week,

06:20you know, certainly Georgia taking on Texas.

06:23When we have Bill, we'll have you on later in the week.

06:24We'll preview all the games.

06:26Thanks again for coming on Newswire.

06:28That was a lot of fun, and, yes, a lot to get into.

06:30I appreciate it.

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