College Football Picks Week 12: Top 5 Best Bet and Parlays
A Pittsburgh Panthers helmet is placed on the bench during the college football game. (Photo by Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire)
November 14th, 2024
The 2024 college football regular season is winding down, and YouBet will look to turn a profit with five games in Week 12. All lines courtesy of BetMGM; times listed as Eastern.
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Clemson at Pittsburgh (12 p.m.): Clemson
Their last matchup came in 2021, with Pitt handing Clemson a 10-point loss, and Dabo Sweeney is 32-14 ATS in a revenge setting. The Tigers are 10-0 ATS last six games as a double-digit road favorite, and Pitt appears to have already peaked after opening 7-0, getting blown out by SMU and sustaining an ugly 24-19 home loss to Virginia last week.
Clemson rebounded stylishly off a loss to Louisville two weeks ago, scoring 24 unanswered second-half points and stifling Virginia Tech on the road (the Hokies' only offensive touchdown was a meaningless score in the final minutes), and we want no part of a Pitt offense that has committed four turnovers and converted only nine of 29 third-down attempts over the last two weeks (Pitt is 110th nationally in third-down conversion percentage).
Missouri at South Carolina (4:15 p.m.): South Carolina -12.5
The 6-3 Gamecocks still have an outside shot to make the 12-team College Football Playoff if they win out, and we’re all-in on Raheim Sanders and a suddenly electric offense. South Carolina has featured one of the nation’s best defenses all season, led by defensive ends Kyle Kennard and Dylan Stewart, and Sanders has added a dynamic since returning from an ankle injury, rushing for 126 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries and catching two passes for 52 yards and a touchdown in a rout of Vanderbilt last week.
The Gamecocks are finding their best form presently, outscoring SEC leader Texas A&M 24-0 in the second half of a blowout win two weeks ago, and Missouri’s offense has been anemic all season. The Tigers clawed back from a 23-16 deficit with two minutes remaining against punchless Oklahoma last week, but they were held to only 278 total yards. Look for South Carolina to keep them in check in another comfortable win.
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Nebraska at USC (6 p.m.): USC
Big Ten teams traveling to the Pacific time zone are 2-5 ATS this season, and Nebraska’s offense is a mess, scoring 20 points or less in four consecutive games. And while they’ve tried to shake things up by hiring Dana Holgorsen as offensive coordinator this week, the Cornhuskers have questions at quarterback, with Dylan Raiola being knocked out of last week’s loss at UCLA (Nebraska trailed 27-7 midway through the third quarter).
Regardless of whether Raiola or the backup take snaps, USC is a strong play. The Trojans struggle on the road but are 4-1 in home/neutral site locations, the only loss being a 33-30 overtime setback to Penn St. (sixth in CFB rankings). They’ve averaged more than 36 points in three Big Ten home tests, and the Trojans will produce too much offense for Nebraska.
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Cincinnati at Iowa State (8 p.m.): Cincinnati
Cincinnati won four of five before a respectable loss at Colorado, trailing by one score through the fourth quarter. And while the Bearcats could not withstand a mistake-plagued performance against West Virginia last week, they displayed fortitude rallying from a 17-point second-half deficit to lose by one score. The 5-4 Bearcats are still trying, while Iowa State appears to be coming apart at the seams.
After opening 7-0, Iowa State fell behind 10-0 as a 13.5-point home favorite against Texas Tech, ultimately falling 23-22, and the Cyclones stunk it up as a road favorite last week, trailing Kansas 38-13 midway through the third quarter as they were outplayed in every area. In its current state of disarray, Iowa State’s defense is a strong play against after surrendering 898 combined yards the last two games, and Cincinnati may have enough offense (averaging more than 27 points in road games) to win straight up.
Kansas at BYU (10:15 p.m.): Kansas
We like the hot team in this matchup. After losing their beloved offensive coordinator to Penn St., Kansas sustained a massive hangover, losing five consecutive games after the opener, but the Jayhawks began to significantly turn things around with a gutsy 29-27 loss to Kansas State two games ago. And they kept progressing off a bye week in Week 11, winning easily as a home underdog to 7-1 Iowa State.
After piling up 192 rushing yards on Kansas State, the Jayhawks rushed for 237 yards last week, with Jalon Daniels making a positive impact with his arm and legs, and it’s easy to appreciate their late-season momentum.
BYU has looked vulnerable surviving two of their last three games, scoring with less than a minute to dramatically pull out a come-from-behind win in the final seconds at Oklahoma State and benefiting from a pair of controversial late penalties to overcome a double-digit second-half deficit in the final seconds against underachieving Utah last week. The Cougars have won four one-score games to remain unbeaten, but they aren’t performing at the same level from earlier this season and we like surging Kansas.
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