The College Football Playoff outlook changed a bit over the weekend with No. 5 LSU, No. 7 Oklahoma and No. 8 Auburn all losing. A big winner from all that was Notre Dame, which has moved up to No. 5 in both polls after a big win at Virginia Tech on Saturday.
Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
The Irish should be favored in the rest of their regular-season games and take on another ACC team this Saturday with Pittsburgh visiting South Bend. It’s the Irish’s second-to-last true home game as they have a couple of neutral-site ones upcoming in addition to trips to Northwestern and USC. Notre Dame is -21 against Pittsburgh, which has covered 10 of its past 12 road games against teams with a winning record.
No. 2 Georgia hasn’t been tested yet this year but figures to be at No. 13 LSU, which can’t afford another loss and hope to make the SEC title game – not with Alabama still on the schedule. The Bulldogs are 7-point favorites even though the Tigers have won six straight at home by an average margin of more than three touchdowns.
The top Pac-12 game in Week 7 is No. 7 Washington at No. 17 Oregon. If the Huskies win that, they should take the Pac-12 North Division as their remaining schedule is very friendly. Washington is a 3-point favorite but has won just once in its past eight trips (1-6-1 ATS) to Eugene.
It’s a potential Big Ten Championship Game preview when No. 15 Wisconsin visits No. 12 Michigan. Both schools already have a non-conference loss, so a College Football Playoff spot almost surely is unavailable to the loser. The Wolverines are 7.5-point favorites but have covered just once in the past 11 in this series.
Could be a bit of a trap game for No. 9 Texas as the Longhorns host Baylor off UT’s huge win over Oklahoma in the Red River Showdown. Now the Longhorns control their destiny to reach the Big 12 Championship Game. The Horns are in the top 10 of the AP poll for the first time since September 19, 2010, when they reached No. 7. They are -14.5 against the Bears, who have covered four of their past five at Texas.
