Here Are 3 College Football Teams to Fade the Rest of the Season
By Ben Heisler
We've had a bananas college football season so far in 2021.
Every team other than Georgia, Cincinnati and UTSA has ended up with at least one loss, and really only one of them is being given a true opportunity to compete in the upcoming college football playoff in the Bulldogs.
We've also seen so many odds ride the roller coaster all season, particularly with teams like Oklahoma who finally regressed after hanging on for so many weeks without a loss on their record.
Meanwhile, every team in college football has at least one win to their name this year. And speaking of wins, we have found something in common between the University of Kansas football team (following their upset win over Texas last Saturday), and the (once) mighty Clemson Tigers' program.
With just a few weeks left to go in this year's college football regular season, here are three teams I'd recommend either betting against, or just staying away from completely down the stretch when you go to place your bets.
All odds are courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook:
Kansas Jayhawks
- OVERALL RECORD: 2-8
- ATS RECORD: 2-8
With a stunning victory over the Texas Longhorns in Week 11, the public will no longer view the Jayhawks as a doormat team the remaining two games of the season. In fact, they may even lean on them as a trendy upset pick.
While they only have two wins this season, the only win in which they covered was last week vs. Texas. Kansas lost but got an ATS victory against a sleep-walking Oklahoma team in a 35-23 home loss back on October 23rd, but the Sooners have also been a disappointing team ATS this season at 4-6-0.
The Jayhawks return to being massive road underdogs at +21.5 at TCU at WynnBET, but considering KU has the second-worst margin of victory in all of college football, you'll want to take this week off while the public looks for another big upset.
UNLV
- OVERALL RECORD: 2-8-0
- ATS RECORD: 7-3-0
Not that all of you were betting heavy on the Green Falcons on a week-in-week-out basis, but if you have you may have cleaned up nicely. Despite their win-loss record of 3-8-0, they've been a dream for bettors, covering at a 70% clip.
Other than Bowling Green (who you can put in this same category as well), no team has a worse margin of victory (MOV) with an above .500 record against the spread. UNLV has been on the wrong side of the equation with a MOV of -10.3 this year. That's remarkable.
The Rebels have key matchups with San Diego State (-11) and Air Force to close the season. After hovering around 10.5, the line for UNLV has continued to shift towards the Aztecs' direction at WynnBET. San Diego State will treat this game seriously as they fight for the top spot in the Mountain West conference title game.
Clemson
- OVERALL RECORD: 7-3-0
- ATS RECORD: 2-8-0
What's something the Kansas Jayhawks and Clemson Tigers football teams share in common?
That they're both 2-8-0 against the spread in 2021!
It seems laughable to think that Clemson is in the midst of the most disappointing 7-3 season of all-time, but sure enough that's where they are considering their top 3 preseason ranking. Their weekly lines always end up being reflective of what their talent is, rather than what they've actually been.
Every matchup, other than blowout wins vs cupcake programs like South Carolina State and Connecticut, have been one possession games; minus the loss to Pitt in late October.
The Tigers aren't going to wake up in their 11th game with all of their lingering issues solved. If anything, with nothing big left to play for, it wouldn't be a surprise to see them just fall flat. No Justyn Ross this week doesn't make life easier as well.
Both of my colleagues Reed Wallach and Peter Dewey expect the Tigers to fall at home this week to Wake Forest as 4.5-point favorites.