by Ben Perks
Week 7 of the college football season sees No. 1 Georgia host the only other undefeated team in the South Eastern Conference – No. 11 Kentucky. Also, No. 12 Oklahoma State head to the DKR Texas Memorial Stadium to take on No. 25 Texas. Get insights and odds for top NCAAF matchups this week.
Undefeated Georgia has put in some genuinely dominant performances to outscore all opponents 239-33 this season. Last week, the Bulldogs picked up a big 24-point win over the No. 18 Auburn Tigers (34-10). Quarterback Stetson Bennett performed efficiently under center, completing 14 of 22 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns, and running back Zamir White also picked up two touchdowns on the ground. What’s more, Georgia’s defense worked well to keep Auburn’s quarterback Bo Nix out of the endzone and allowed just 318 yards of total offense.
The No. 11 Kentucky Wildcats lengthened their undefeated streak by beating the LSU Tigers 42-21 to make it 6-0. Wildcats’ quarterback Will Levis was excellent in this game, completing 14 of 17 passes for 145 yards and three touchdown passes and rushing for 75 more yards and two more touchdowns. Also, Kentucky’s running back duo performed solidly on the ground, Chris Rodriguez Jr. rushing for 147 yards and a touchdown and Kavosiey Smoke rushing for 104 yards.
Surprisingly, the Wildcats have not received the respect you usually see a 6-0 SEC football team receive. Ok, Kentucky’s list of wins might not be as impressive as others, but it does include a solid victory over Florida. A win for Kentucky here would surely make opposition fans and pundits take them seriously. Therefore, although the Bulldogs are the online sportsbook favorites, Kentucky could keep it close.
Texas is still alive in the Big 12 title hunt despite losing against Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry. Yet another loss to Oklahoma State this weekend could take Texas out of the running. After the loss, The Longhorns only dropped from No. 21 to No. 25 in the AP Top 25, but it will face another tough team in the undefeated Oklahoma State Cowboys in Week 7.
The Cowboys are coming off two consecutive wins over Top 25 teams – they defeated No. 25 Kansas State in Week 4 and No. 21 Baylor in Week 5. As both these wins were at home, this on-the-road game will be more challenging. Oklahoma will have to keep running back Bijan Robinson at bay to stand any chance of pulling off an upset.
The Tide is in unfamiliar territory after suffering a rare regular-season loss in Week 6. Oddsmakers have now changed Alabama’s futures odds for winning the NCAAF Championship to +240. However, sportsbooks still see the Tide as heavy favorites to win against Mississippi State. Stats that might encourage betting decisions is that this Mississippi State team beat the same Texas A&M team that defeated Alabama 26-22 last week. Also, the defeat took place in the same city as this Week 7 matchup: College Station, Texas.
This game isn’t as close as it would be if Knights’ quarterback Dillon Gabriel weren’t injured. Although the loss of the star player has hurt UCF, the Knights still pose more of a threat than the other teams remaining on Cincinnati’s schedule. We’ve witnessed the Bearcats thrive being the underdog in the last two years, but how will they respond to being a highly-ranked team in the national spotlight? Interestingly, no Group of Five team has featured in the top four of the AP Top 25 Poll this early in a season during the College Football Playoff era.
This is an exciting college football matchup because both NC State and Boston College are chasing Wake Forest – the ACC’s only undefeated team – in the division while trying to hold off a late charge from Clemson. As Boston College has already lost to Clemson, another loss here would more or less eliminate it from contention. As for NC State, a victory helps the Wolfpack keep up with the Demon Deacons. From a conference title perspective, this is a huge game.
Other Games Worth Watching in NCAAF Week 7
- Friday: California at No. 9 Oregon
- Friday: No. 24 San Diego State at San Jose State
- Purdue at No. 2 Iowa
- TCU at No. 4 Oklahoma
- No. 10 Michigan State at Indiana
- No. 13 Ole Miss at Tennessee
- Auburn at No. 17 Arkansas
- No. 18 Arizona State at Utah
- No. 19 BYU at Baylor
- No. 20 Florida at LSU
- No. 21 Texas A&M at Missouri
View: the latest odds for NCAAF matchups.
Ben is a sports journalist & part-time trader with a passion for finding +EV bets. Ben lives in Madrid, Spain where he enjoys the live poker scene, and sunshine where he covers UFC, MLB, NHL, NBA, as well as tennis betting.
