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College Football Picks Against The Spread Afternoon November 21

By Mike Marteny

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50 of the FBS vs. FBS games this weekend happen on Saturday. 18 of them make up the afternoon slate of games. Want the picks for these games? You can find that anywhere. Do you want them picked against the spread? Then you have come to the right place!

In case you don’t know what I do here, I pick every college football game of the season. Against the spread. Trust me, it’s not as easy as it sounds! I take the average of the odds from all of the Vegas casinos. I then round to the nearest half. There will be no ties here. Ties are for the other football (soccer).

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I had one of the best weeks in my five years of doing this last week. I now sit at 303-286 on the season and at +57 on the points scale. I am just trying to not lose all the ground that I gained last week. If I pick at 50% the rest of the season, I would finish at almost 52% on the season, Since my goal was 55, I need to pick at about a 58% clip. So this week my goal is to get 35 of the 58 games.

In case you missed how the point scale works, here is a brief rundown:

5. A lock. I am comfortable making a sizable wager on this game.

4. Very confident. Not quite a lock, but I am comfortable making a decent sized wager on it.

3. Middle of the road. Good enough that I would make a small wager on it.

2. Could go either way. So much so that I wouldn’t bet on it.

1. Stay away from these.

Take note that any games that involve 1-AA teams will NOT be picked. There simply is not enough information to get an accurate spread.

Here are my college football picks against the spread afternoon November 21:

Nevada at Utah State(-14.5)(2): Utah State is far from a model of consistency, but Nevada is even worse. The smart money is still on the Aggies, so I will follow that.

Old Dominion at Southern Mississippi(-21.5)(2): This is a big line that is slowly getting bigger. I liked it better at 18 where it opened. I don’t trust the Monarchs, so give me the Eagles, but I am no longer very confident in the pick.

Louisiana Tech(-24.5) at UTEP(3): If you have read me at all this year, you know that I believe in the Bulldog offense against anyone in the Sun Belt. Give me La Tech.

(19)Houston(-10.5) at Connecticut(2): With Greg Ward still questionable, this is going to be a very difficult game for the Cougars. It wouldn’t have been easy even with Ward at full strength. I have a feeling that Ward suits up, and will play if Houston needs him. They likely will. UConn has a solid defense, and Ward’s greatest asset is his ability to run. If he can’t do that, this gets messy. Give me UConn.

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Buffalo at Akron(-3.5)(2): The Zips have been good to me the last two weeks. Give me Akron.

(15)LSU at (22)Mississippi(-6.5)(3): Can you imagine Ole Miss taking down both LSU and Bama and not winning the SEC West? That’s what is about to happen. LSU cannot throw the ball to save their souls. Give me Ole Miss.

Wake Forest at (1)Clemson(-29.5)(4): I would say this is too many even with a healthy Wayne Gallman. Without him, this looks like some easy money. The only team to beat the Deacons by that much this year is North Carolina. Give me Wake.

Duke at Virginia(-1.5)(3): I kinda think Duke isn’t as bad as this line looks. I expect Thomas Sirk to be on a short leash. If he fades at all, Parker Boehme will come in. Duke straight up.

Arizona at Arizona State(-6.5)(4): Arizona’s defense has been dreadful most of the season. They shut down an average Utah offense last week. The Sun Devils are well above average. Sun Devils by ten or so.

(24)USC at (23)Oregon(-4.5)(5): Too low. Have you seen the Ducks’ offense the past few games? Have you watched USC’s defense against good offenses? They gave up 41 to Stanford, 41 to Notre Dame, 24 to an average Utah offense, and 30 to Arizona. The Ducks are going to have a field day. Oregon by ten.

UCLA at (13)Utah(-1.5)(3): The Bruins, for whatever reason, have played much better away from home this year. They have to face a nasty Utah defense on the road, but the Utes are going to be without star running back and general workhorse Devontae Booker. As much as I like the Utah defense, they just aren’t going to win this without Booker. They don’t have anyone else reliable enough to pick up the slack. Give me the Bruins.

(20)Northwestern at (25)Wisconsin(-10.5)(3): Wow, that’s a lot of points to give a team with a mediocre offense against a good defense. Melvin Gordon isn’t coming out of that tunnel anytime soon. Wisconsin wins, but they don’t cover. Give me Northwestern.

(9)Michigan State at (3)Ohio State(-13.5)(4): This line is slowly creeping upward. The spread tells you all that you need to know about how far apart these teams are despite being within six spots in the polls. See why we don’t need a bigger playoff? Ohio State will prove it. Give me the Buckeyes.

Louisville at Pittsburgh(-1.5)(4): Pitt is a solid, well coached team. I like their playmakers much more than I do Louisville’s. Give me Pitt.

Idaho at Auburn(-33.5)(2): This Auburn team is not the same as the one that almost lost to Jacksonville State in September. That and Jacksonville State is likely better than Idaho. I will go with the Tigers to make this an ugly workout at home. Give me Auburn.

New Mexico State at Louisiana-Lafayette(-16.5)(3): Yeah, right. I don’t care how bad New Mexico State is. Lafayette isn’t that much better. Give me the Aggies.

Colorado State(-2.5) at New Mexico(3): This is a bit shocking to me. The Lobos took down Boise, but are still a home dog to Colorado State? I will give the Lobos some respect. Lobos straight up!

Washington(-15.5) at Oregon State(3): Let’s see……this is an average at best offense on the road trying to cover a spread of more than two touchdowns. I don’t think so. Give me Oregon State.

Next: College FanDuel Picks For November 21

Stay tuned for the rest of the picks against the spread! They will be up sometime tonight. By the way, I consider “tonight” sometime before I go to bed.