College Football Week 13 Odds & Picks: Best Early Bets (2024)
We’ve got a fantastic slate of games for Week 13 of the college football season. With only two more weeks of the regular season, every game counts a little more.
The most-watched game of the slate will easily be Indiana vs. Ohio State. This game has huge implications for the Big Ten Championship and the College Football Playoff (CFP) picture. Therefore, I’ve added an early best bet for this game along with one other.
Let’s get right to it.
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College Football Top Early Week Picks (Week 13)
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
Indiana Hoosiers vs. Ohio State Buckeyes
If Indiana were Michigan, the Hoosiers would be No. 1 in the nation right now. They’re undefeated despite not playing much competition. However, winning in the Big Ten is never easy, regardless of competition.
The Hoosiers will have a healthy Kurtis Rourke under center. Rourke has thrown for 21 touchdowns and just four interceptions this season. You can argue he’s had a better year than Ohio State’s Will Howard. After all, Ohio State has started many games slowly this season. They’ve found themselves trailing or tied after one and then have just destroyed in the second half.
Against Indiana, if Ohio State falls early, it might not be able to rally back with a gigantic win in the second half. Indiana has scored 43 points per game and has allowed just 13.80 points. The Hoosiers beat Nebraska 56-7 in the game before Ohio State beat Nebraska 21-17.
The Buckeyes played Northwestern and Purdue in their last two. Before that game, Ohio State only beat Penn State and Nebraska by one score and fell to Oregon on the road by one point in a disastrous finish.
The Buckeyes are slightly overrated. They’re good enough to win the Big Ten and even beat Indiana. But a 12-point favorite is too much.
Grab Indiana at +12 via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Pick: Indiana +12 (-110)
Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
This is a bit of an under-the-radar game. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights have rallied for two consecutive wins. Those two wins came against Minnesota at home and Maryland on the road. The Scarlet Knights are easily playing their best heading into this showdown against Illinois.
Athan Kaliakmanis was the first quarterback to reach 2,000 passing yards in a season since 2015 for Rutgers. Meanwhile, the offense scored 26+ points in back-to-back games in Big Ten play. That has everything to do with how much the Rutgers offense has grown throughout the season.
Dymere Miller has 50 catches for 645 yards and four touchdowns. Kyle Monangai has rushed for more than 1,000 yards during the season. He’s also got 12 touchdowns.
Rutgers has the edge on the ground. After all, Illinois has only gained 142 yards rushing this season. Beyond that, Rutgers has averaged just three yards less throwing the football per game.
On the other hand, the defense was banged up all season long. Yet, it was healthy enough over the last two weeks, holding their last two opponents to below 20 points. At home, with the crowd packing in for the final home game of the season, I’ll take Rutgers to get the job done.
If Rutgers beats Illinois and adds a win against Michigan State, you may see the Scarlet Knights in the Citrus Bowl. Isn’t that something?
Pick: Rutgers (-125)