College Football Betting Odds Week 15: Picks Against the Spread for Top 25 Schedule
December 6, 2024College Football Betting Odds Week 15: Picks Against the Spread for Top 25 Schedule
The SMU Mustangs enter conference championship weekend in one of the most perilous spots in the College Football Playoff rankings.
They come into the ACC Championship Game at No. 8, but there is potential the Mustangs could drop out of the playoff entirely with a loss to the Clemson Tigers.
Clemson is currently ranked 17th, so it can only get in with the automatic bid as ACC conference champion.
If an upset occurs in Charlotte, the selection committee will likely have to choose between SMU and the Alabama Crimson Tide for the final at-large spot.
SMU can avoid its doomsday situation by just simply winning Saturday night's game, which is something many experts expect it to do given how the Mustangs and Clemson have performed in 2024.
Week 15 Schedule and Odds
Friday, December 6
C-USA Championship Game: Western Kentucky at Jacksonville State (-4.5) (7 p.m. ET, CBSSN)
Mountain West Championship Game: No. 20 UNLV vs. No. 10 Boise State (-4.5) (8 p.m. ET, Fox)
AAC Championship Game: Tulane (-5) at No. 24 Army (8 p.m. ET, ABC)
Saturday, December 7
Big 12 Championship Game: No. 16 Iowa State vs. No. 15 Arizona State (-1.5) (Noon ET, ABC)
MAC Championship Game: Miami (Ohio) (-2) vs. Ohio (Noon ET, ESPN)
SEC Championship Game: No. 5 Georgia vs. No. 2 Texas (-3) (4 p.m. ET, ABC)
Sun Belt Championship Game: Marshall at Louisiana (-5.5) (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Big Ten Championship Game: No. 3 Penn State vs. No. 1 Oregon (-3.5) (8 p.m. ET, CBS)
ACC Championship Game: No. 17 Clemson vs. No. 8 SMU (-2) (8 p.m. ET, ABC)
No. 17 Clemson vs. No. 8 SMU (-2)
SMU has everything to play for on Saturday night.
The Mustangs will likely either be the No. 3 seed as the ACC champion or out of the playoff entirely.
The CFB Playoff committee dropped the Miami Hurricanes six spots to No. 12 after they suffered their second loss of the season in Week 14. They are positioned behind three-loss Alabama.
The committee could deliver the exact same fate to SMU because of how much it values the SEC in comparison to the ACC.
SMU is the better football team than Clemson. The Tigers have struggled to meet the moment against their toughest opposition.
Clemson's offense did not show up in the opener against the Georgia Bulldogs, and the Tigers fell by three at home against the South Carolina Gamecocks last week.
SMU rolls into Charlotte with four straight double-digit wins, the concession of 13 points in the last two games and an offense that easily eclipsed the 30-point mark in every November game.
The Mustangs are the better team by every metric and should erase any potential playoff controversies with a win over Clemson.
No. 16 Iowa State vs. No. 15 Arizona State (-1.5)
The Big 12 Championship Game is a true playoff elimination game.
Either the Iowa State Cyclones or Arizona State Sun Devils will land the conference's automatic bid and either be the No. 4 or No. 12 seed depending on what happens in the Mountain West with the Boise State Broncos.
Arizona State is playing some of the best football in the country right now thanks to an incredible defense and workhorse running back Cam Skattebo.
The Sun Devils are on a five-game winning streak and held two of their last three opponents to 14 points or less.
That's an important detail to consider in the matchup with Iowa State since the Cyclones have only held one opponent under 20 points in the last six games.
Iowa State's defense was much better earlier in the season, but that unit could be its downfall on Saturday against Skattebo.
The Arizona State running back has gone over 140 rushing yards in four of his last six games and is coming off two straight three-touchdown performances.
Skattebo should be the difference-maker in the Big 12 Championship Game, and he might be a matchup nightmare for ASU's first-round playoff opponent.
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