Well, that sucked. This past weekend’s CFB predictions were certainly not kind to me as I endured my worst slate of the season thus far. 

At this point in the campaign anyways, it’s good to kind of hit the reset button and act as if you’re starting from scratch, which is what I’ll use last Saturday as – a reset. We’re still up nearly 5 units on the year, which is still in the green, but that’s not up to my personal standards. 

 

 

 

The college football season now starts to be featured more during the week with an abundance of games taking place from Tuesday-Friday nearly every week from here on out. More football means more CFB best bets!

CFB Picks, Predictions & Best Bets: 10/15-10/18

I’ll now start providing some CFB predictions for the midweek games in this article that will come out every Monday, in addition to the usual Saturday CFB best bets and Saturday CFB DFS picks that come out on Thursdays.

For this first midweek edition of CFB best bets, I have a Western Kentucky vs. Sam Houston prediction, Oklahoma State vs. BYU prediction and a few other CFB picks at the end. Let’s get after it and set ourselves up nicely for the big weekend slate!

  • Season Record: 33-27-1
  • Units W/L: +4.8 Units

*All CFB best bets to be placed at 1 Unit unless otherwise specified. Be sure to follow me on X/Twitter @stevenw_hall!

 

 

 

Western Kentucky vs. Sam Houston Prediction: Wednesday, October 16th

I’m not too keen on any of the Tuesday matchups, so I’l be starting out my CFB best bets with a game on Wednesday. It shapes up to be a good one too, as the 4-2 WKU Hilltoppers visit the 5-1 Sam Houston Bearkats.

Both teams share the top spot in Conference USA (along with some other foes), so it goes without saying how important this one is for both sides. These squads are fairly evenly matched, so rather than a spread pick, I’m focused on the game total. Western Kentucky sports a top 30 ranked passing offense while Sam Houston is 11th in the nation in rushing per game.

Conversely, the Hilltoppers struggle to stop the run (161.7 yards allowed per game, 89th in NCAA) and the Bearkats secondary, and defense overall, has shown inconsistencies (23.8 points allowed per game, 70th).

While they may be one-dimensional, they both do those one things extremely well, and those aspects also match up well in this contest. Just looking at the units overall, not necessarily focusing on strengths, both offenses are a lot more productive than the defenses. 

WKU has amassed at least 31 points in 3 of their last 5 games, while Sam Houston has hit that same mark in 4 straight. It seems too simple, but the bottom line is that both of these offenses are rolling right now and the defenses leave a bit more to be desired.

 

 

 

Oklahoma State vs. BYU Prediction: Friday, October 18th

Rounding out these midweek CFB best bets will be the game taking place in Provo, UT as the OSU Cowboys visit the BYU Cougars. 

I’ll get to Oklahoma State in a minute, but who the heck saw this coming from BYU before the season began? They’ve quietly been the epitome of dominant, going 6-0 ATS and riding a 6-game winning streak to be ranked 13th overall now to start 2024. 

QB Jake Retzlaff is a baller, and he’s got some dynamic weapons on the outside, too. Really, though, this Cougars team is built on defense. They enter this week ranking 24th in total yards allowed per game (308.7) and 15th in points allowed (16.3). Baylor has been the only team thus far to put up more than 19 points against this unit. 

On the other side, I can say the same thing, but not in a positive light: who the heck saw this coming from OSU before the season began? They’ve completely freefallen out of both Big 12 Championship and CFP contention after a disastrous 0-3 start to conference play. 

Ollie Gordon II has looked like a shell of himself, but the real issue here is their defense. There aren’t enough words to truly describe how bad they’ve been, so I’ll just list some per-game numbers to put things in perspective. 

They’re surrendering 493.5 total yards (130th in CFB), 258.5 passing yards (110th) and 235 rushing yards (130th) to the tune of 27.2 points allowed (89th). Absolutely putrid. Especially with this game being played at BYU, I just don’t see how this one stays all that close.

 

 

 

Best CFB Prop Bets & Other Picks This Week: October 2024