College Football Best Bets & Picks for Saturday Afternoon
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
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  | 2:30 p.m. | |
  | 2:30 p.m. | |
  | 3:30 p.m. | |
  | 4 p.m. | |
  | 4 p.m. | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our NCAAF Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | ||
After a great noon slate, it's only natural to turn your attention to the afternoon college football slate.
That's where we come in.
Our college football writers put together five best bets for Saturday afternoon's college football games, including picks for Tulsa vs. UAB, Maine vs. Oklahoma, Oregon vs. Michigan, Navy vs. Rice and Coastal Carolina vs. Troy.
Continue reading for our five Week 10 college football picks for Saturday afternoon — and be sure to check out our best bets for Saturday's noon and evening kickoff windows as well.
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Tulsa vs. UAB Best Bet
Tulsa’s Kevin Wilson is in his eighth year as an FBS head coach. He remains in search of his first bowl win.
For programs like Tulsa, minor bowl games are a lifeline, providing extra practice time, exposure and selling the idea that it's a competitive G5 team.
Last week, its bowl hopes were hanging on by a thread. Down 42-17 to UTSA, the Golden Hurricane pulled Kirk Francis and went to Cooper Legas out of the bullpen. The result of that quarterback swap may have saved its season.
Legas finished with 333 yards through the air and five touchdowns. He orchestrated the largest comeback in college football this season, edging out the Roadrunners, 46-45. The win also positions them to make a run at bowl eligibility.
At 3-5, Tulsa draws UAB, East Carolina, USF and FAU to close the season. A 3-1 finish isn’t out of the realm of possibility. As for UAB? The season and the Trent Dilfer era are over.
The Blazers have lost six straight games by double digits. Their starting quarterback has been ruled out for this game, which means they’ll need to rely on their defense to keep things close.
The issue with that strategy is that the UAB defense is among the worst in the country. Pick a metric, and UAB is in the bottom 15% of college football. It can’t tackle (109th), stay with receivers in coverage (104th) or generate negative plays (131st in Havoc).
With a big-play threat like Kamdyn Benjamin coming off a career game (7/125/3), Tulsa is going to pile up yards and points in the Magic City.
I would play this down to a true pick'em at +100 because the Blazers have quit and Tulsa has demonstrated with Legas at the controls that it can victimize a leaky defense.
Pick: Tulsa ML +125 (Play to +100)
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Maine vs. Oklahoma Best Bet
By Joshua Nunn
Oklahoma has had a frustrating season in its first SEC campaign. The offense has sputtered while battling inconsistent quarterback play and injury. The Sooners do get a reprieve this week, however, lining up against middling FCS Maine.
The Maine defense has been exposed this year against two of the better offensive teams it's faced in Montana State and Monmouth. In those two games, the Black Bears surrendered 526 and 632 yards, respectively, as well as a combined 92 points.
Oklahoma will have a significant talent edge in the trenches, both in size and speed against Maine. The run game should have a monster day here, and the pass rush will be too much for the Black Bears' offensive line to hold up against.
Maine has allowed a ton of Havoc this season, as quarterback Carter Peevy has been sacked 23 times and the run game is averaging just 3.4 yards per carry.
I struggle to see Maine possessing the ball and sustaining drives enough to score points. Plus, the undersized defensive line should wear down pretty quickly in this game going up against Power 4 competition.
Oklahoma is a proud program that's still fighting for bowl eligibility — a streak it's kept alive since 1998. The Sooners haven’t had much to cheer about recently and could really use a feel-good win here.
Pick: Oklahoma -34.5 (Play to -37)
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Oregon vs. Michigan Best Bet
The first few games of the season were a bit disconcerting for Oregon fans, but the Ducks have fully hit their stride in recent weeks.
After holding on to beat one of the nation’s best teams in Ohio State, Oregon has avoided any sort of emotional letdown in throttling Purdue and Illinois in the ensuing weeks.
The Ducks continue to have one of the best offenses in the country, capable of getting it done both through the air and on the ground.
Dillon Gabriel needs just four touchdowns to break former Houston quarterback Case Keenum’s NCAA record of 177 career touchdowns, and while it may be a stretch to accomplish this week, it’s not because this is not the juggernaut Michigan defense that we’ve come accustomed to.
The Wolverines rank 12th in the Big Ten in scoring defense (21.5 points) and could be without stud cornerback Will Johnson against Oregon’s stable of talented receivers.
The offensive talent on Oregon isn’t all that dissimilar from Texas, a team that opened a 24-3 halftime lead on Michigan earlier this season.
And while Michigan’s defense has taken a step back, this problem is further compounded by the quarterback conundrum the Wolverines are in.
Michigan has rotated three different players at the position this season and looks like it will stick with Davis Warren going forward, but his 123-yard, one-touchdown performance last week doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that Michigan can keep pace with Oregon on a scoring front.
With the exception of the Ohio State game, Oregon has led every Big Ten team it’s faced by at least 18 points at the half.
I don’t think the Ducks will have any problem obliterating this full-game spread either, but just in case Dan Lanning has a potential 15-game season at the forefront of his mind and wants to rest his starters in the second half, I’ll stick to the first-half spread.
Pick: Oregon 1H -7.5 or Better
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Navy vs. Rice Best Bet
By Brett Pund
In a week where your coach was fired and your special teams' coach takes over, the last team you would want to face would be a Navy one running the Wing-T Option.
It is a lot of distraction when you need all of your focus, especially when the Midshipmen have been firing on all cylinders.
Yes, Rice has faced a triple-option attack this season, but the Owls were gashed for 37 points by Army. The Black Knights were up by 28 at halftime and eventually won by 23.
You have to go all the way back to a matchup against Army in 2019 when the Owls last played an option offense. So, you have an inexperienced coaching staff without its leader trying to prepare for an unknown offense, which just feels like a bad recipe.
As for the matchup, the one big thing you have to be able to do to stop Navy is defend the fullback dive. Unfortunately for them, the Owls are in the bottom 15 among non-Power 4 programs in both Stuff Rate and Power Success Rate allowed on defense.
This is also the same unit that is 81st nationally in Line Yards, which goes up against a Navy offense that's 33rd in the same metric.
Yes, I know that teams have had success or seen a bounce in that week after the coach is fired. But this feels like a harder situation preparing for Navy.
Pick: Navy -10.5 (Play to -12.5)
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Coastal Carolina vs. Troy Best Bet
I don't trust either of the offenses in this matchup.
Both Coastal Carolina and Troy rank outside of the top 80 in Success Rate with the Trojans ranking 118th and averaging just 20 points per game.
Starting quarterback Goose Crowder went down with a season-ending injury, and they have tried to find something in both Tucker Kilcrease and Matthew Caldwell. Neither has been the answer.
Kilcrease got the first opportunity but completed just 55% of his passes. Caldwell got the start last week, and while he threw for over 300 yards, he posted three interceptions. He now has four touchdowns and six interceptions on this season.
Not only does it have quarterback questions, but Troy hasn't been able to run the ball at all. It averages just 3.7 yards per carry and has two rushing touchdowns in the last four weeks.
Now, don’t get me wrong — the Trojans defense has been terrible too.
But I also have concerns about the Coastal Carolina offense. The Chanticleers have scored more than 28 points just once in their last five games. They just fired offensive coordinator Travis Trickett after their loss to Louisiana, and head coach Tim Beck is taking over play-calling duties.
I have never been a fan of Beck. His offenses at NC State lacked explosiveness and creativity and always seemed to underperform relative to their talent. In his three seasons as offensive coordinator, the Wolfpack ranked 74th, 58th and 105th in total offense.
Coastal Carolina has been inconsistent on offense all season. It ran the ball well against Louisiana but had not done much on the ground before that. It's been held under 200 yards passing in four of its seven games.
Quarterback Ethan Basko was benched in the last game in favor of Noah Kim, but Kim was terrible last year at Michigan State. He completed just 57% of his passes with six touchdowns and six interceptions before he was benched after five games.
Even if the Chanticleers can move the ball on this subpar Troy defense, they rank 110th in explosiveness so it should be slow and methodical and keep the clock running.
Finally, the most important part of this handicap: Both of these teams play at an extremely slow pace.
Coastal Carolina ranks 112th in pace this season, and Troy ranks 115th. I don’t think either of these offenses are any good, and they both play extremely slow. Take the under here.
Pick: Under 53.5 (Play to 51.1)
