College Football Picks Week 7: Top 25 Odds, Box Score Predictions, Rankings, Schedule
October 7, 2024College Football Picks Week 7: Top 25 Odds, Box Score Predictions, Rankings, Schedule
Week 7 is the biggest weekend of the college football season to date.
The Ohio State Buckeyes' visit to Eugene to face the Oregon Ducks is the headliner on the Saturday slate.
Ohio State and Oregon sit at No. 2 and 3 in the AP Top 25 behind the Texas Longhorns. Saturday's winner will be declared the Big Ten title favorite.
Texas has an important game of its own against the Oklahoma Sooners.
The Longhorns are expected to cruise in the Red River Rivalry, but there's a small chance the Sooners come out on top.
Oklahoma needs to put everything into the game to pick up a huge win in an average season, and as we saw in Week 6, any result is possible in college football.
Week 7 Top 25 Schedule and Odds
Friday, October 11
No. 16 Utah (-4) at Arizona State (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Saturday, October 12
South Carolina at No. 7 Alabama (-22) (Noon ET, ABC)
No. 10 Clemson (-20.5) at Wake Forest (Noon ET, ESPN)
No. 21 Missouri (-27.5) at Massachusetts (Noon ET, ESPN2)
No. 1 Texas (-14) vs. No. 18 Oklahoma (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
No. 4 Penn State (-4.5) at USC (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS)
Stanford at No. 11 Notre Dame (-23) (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC)
California at No. 22 Pittsburgh (-4) (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Purdue at No. 23 Illinois (-19.5) (3:30 p.m. ET. BTN)
Arizona at No. 14 BYU (-3.5) (4 p.m. ET, Fox)
Mississippi State at No. 5 Georgia (-33.5) (4:15 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
Florida at No. 8 Tennessee (-15.5) (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)
No. 2 Ohio State (-4.5) at No. 3 Oregon (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC)
No. 9 Ole Miss (-3) at No. 13 LSU (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
No. 11 Iowa State (-3) at West Virginia (8 p.m. ET, Fox)
No. 18 Kansas State (-5.5) at Colorado (10:15 p.m. ET, ESPN)
No. 17 Boise State (-21.5) at Hawai'i (11 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network)
No. 2 Ohio State (-4.5) at No. 3 Oregon
Ohio State and Oregon have each looked impressive in every one of the 10 combined wins between the two Big Ten powers.
However, the Buckeyes have been slightly more impressive through five games because of their defense.
The Buckeyes held four of their five opponents to single-digit point totals. They have the best scoring defense in the FBS and they've given up the fewest yards per game.
J.T. Tuimoloau, Jack Sawyer and the OSU defense will be the difference-making unit on Saturday, and if they get to Dillon Gabriel early, the Ducks could be in for a rough night on home soil.
The Oregon quarterback showed some weaknesses with two interceptions in Friday's win over the Michigan State Spartans.
A quarterback can't make those type of errors, especially in the red zone, against the best defense in the country.
Ohio State's offense can pounce on an Oregon defense that allows 101.4 rushing yards per game. The one-two punch of Quinshon Judkins and Treveyon Henderson can wear down the Ducks defense and put the Buckeyes in charge of the time of possession battle.
An Ohio State would put it into the upper echelon of national title contenders, and there's a chance it could reach No. 1 no matter what Texas does in Dallas.
No. 1 Texas (-14) vs. No. 18 Oklahoma
Texas comes into the Cotton Bowl as a well-oiled machine, while Oklahoma had to put the pieces back together once already this season.
The Sooners switched quarterbacks after their loss to the Tennessee Volunteers, and while the change did result in a win over the Auburn Tigers two weeks ago, they struggled for stretches of that contest.
Simply put, Oklahoma hasn't put together a clean 60 minutes of football this season and that should excite Texas for what it can do to the Sooners on Saturday.
The Longhorns have not allowed more than 13 points in a single game and they've won every game by at least 19 points. They cruised in their first major test on the road at Michigan in Week 2.
Quinn Ewers is expected to be back on the field for the Longhorns, and while Arch Manning played well while he was sidelined, Ewers is the quarterback that will make the Longhorns one of the national title favorites.
A win would restore some order in the Red River Rivalry for Texas. Oklahoma is 5-1 in the last six meetings, but the one Texas win in 2022 was a 49-0 victory.
We could see a similar score come out of Dallas if Texas plays up to its highest potential.
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