College Football Saturday September 11 Best Bets

After an opening week that had a number of high-profile conference and non-conference matchups, the slate is a bit thinner for Week 2, but it’s highlighted by a pair of games between Pac-12 and Big Ten teams. The Mid-American Conference again has a number of teams that will take on foes from the Power Five leagues, with all of them looking to pull an improbable upset.

(12) Oregon Ducks (1-0) @ (3) Ohio State Buckeyes (1-0) (-14.5) (o/u 63.5)

Both teams came away with victories in Week 1, but neither game was easy for the winners. Oregon was forced to make a fourth-quarter comeback to defeat Fresno State 31 – 24, and Ohio State finally subdued a stubborn Minnesota team 45 – 31 by taking advantage of big plays, with three touchdowns of 55 yards or more.

Prediction: Ohio State 38 Oregon 27

Washington Huskies (0-1) @ Michigan Wolverines (1-0) (-7.0) (o/u 48.5)

The Huskies were ambushed by FCS Montana last week, losing 13 – 7 after taking an early 7 – 0 lead in the first five minutes of the game. Michigan overwhelmed MAC member Western Michigan 47 – 14 with a dominating ground game that the Huskies will have to respect as they head east to the Big House to take on a Big Ten foe.

Prediction: Michigan 28 Washington 18

Miami (OH) (0-1) @ Minnesota (0-1) (-18.5) (o/u 53.5)

Miami was dominated by eighth-ranked Cincinnati 49 – 14 in Week 1, unable to pull a big upset of the team that is favored to crash the Power Five College Football Playoff party at the end of the season. Minnesota fought valiantly against Ohio State but gave up too many big plays to the Buckeyes.

Prediction: Minnesota 37 Miami (OH) 17

Toledo (1-0) @ (8) Notre Dame (1-0) (-17.0) (o/u 55.5)

Toledo was impressive against FCS Norfolk State, winning 49 – 10 and piling up 441 yards in total offense. It took overtime for Notre Dame to subdue Florida State on the road as their defense gave up 264 rushing yards to the Seminoles, so don’t discount the Rockets’ chances of being able to give the Irish a tough challenge in the home opener for Notre Dame.

Prediction: Notre Dame 38 Toledo 24

(10) Iowa (1-0) @ (9) Iowa State (1-0) (-4.5) (o/u 46)

Despite recent improvements in the Iowa State program, Iowa has won the last five meetings between the schools and nine of the last 12. After going 9 – 3 last year and winning the Big 12 regular-season title, expectations were high for Iowa State in 2021, but they struggled to defeat FCS Northern Iowa 16 -10 in their opener, while Iowa easily took down 17th ranked Indiana by the score of 34 – 6.

Prediction: Iowa 30 Iowa State 27

Ball State (1-0) @ (11) Penn State (1-0) (-22.5) (o/u 58)

With some other high-profile games taking place in Week 1, Penn State’s 16 – 10 win over Wisconsin on the road at Camp Randall was lost in the shuffle. They can’t overlook Ball State, winners over Western Illinois 31 – 21 and a favorite to contend for the MAC West title.

Prediction: Penn State 27 Ball State 16