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Missouri vs. Vanderbilt: College Football Week 5 Odds & Picks (2023)

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Gear up for another awesome weekend of college football action with BettingPros! We’ll have you covered with all of our top picks for the week along with our projected spreads and totals to help guide your college football bets. Below are our top picks and predictions for the Week 5 college football game: Missouri vs. Vanderbilt.

Top College Football Odds & Picks: Missouri vs. Vanderbilt

#23 Missouri @ Vanderbilt

Missouri got me a couple of weeks ago. They upset Kansas State on a walk-off 61-yard FG. Missouri beat Memphis last week and finds themselves ranked at #23! Vanderbilt just got handled by Kentucky at home and is 0-4 against the spread this season. I may have been wrong on Missouri last week, but I was right about picking on Vandy last week. I'll let Missouri win my money back this go-around.

The injury report isn't great for either team this week. Missouri has starting QB Brady Cook and star WR Luther Burden listed as questionable. Cook was listed as questionable last week, and Burden is expected to be good enough to go. Aria Gerson of the Tennessean said that Vanderbilt HC Clark Lea 'didn't sound optimistic' that starting QB AJ Swann will be able to play, but he hasn't been ruled out yet. Ken Seals is the backup, and while he has experience, Swann leads the country in PFF’s 'Big time throw' stat and is in the top 15 in BTT%. Meanwhile, Seals was tied for the most Turnover Worthy Plays (another PFF stat) in 2020, was benched in 2021 and didn't play in 2022.  

With Vanderbilt most likely down their only advantage on offense in Swann, I think Missouri will roll right over them. I'll acknowledge that this is a classic look-ahead spot for Missouri, with LSU coming next week. However, I feel like it won't matter. We likely see backup Missouri QB Sam Horn in this game at some point, but he was a top-10 QB recruit in 2022. I think he'll be able to move the ball if called upon. Give me the Tigers big against a Vandy team that hasn't covered once this season!

Bet: Missouri -13.5 (-110)

Best Ways to Bet College Football for Beginners

Game Total

Bettors new to the hobby can be confused by spreads, but game totals are simple. Every football game has a total posted for the combined final score between the two teams. Bettors have the option to choose the OVER or UNDER, generally at -110 odds (risk: $110; win: $100). So if the total is 42 and you take the OVER, you need 43 points to win the bet. If you put a bet down on the over to win $100 and it goes over, you get back the money you initially risked, plus $100. If it stayed under, you would have lost your $110 and that's it. If by chance the game ended with 42 total points, it's called a push; when a game pushes, you get the money you risked back but nothing more.

ie: California vs. Illinois, Over 42 or Under 42

tip: Over bets can be a really fun social event with your buddies. Have everyone throw in a few bucks, then take the over together. Instead of getting pumped when one side scores, everyone is pumped for ANY score, all game.

Moneyline

The moneyline is the easiest way to test your college football knowledge: who will win the game? That's it. The moneyline doesn't use favorites or underdogs, it's totally straight up. That said, the risk-reward can be challenging because they're weighted. Instead of every game being around -110, like game totals and spreads, moneylines vary depending on the matchup.

For our example, California was favored by seven points over Illinois, meaning oddsmakers think the Golden Bears are a touchdown better than the Fighting Illini. If you took Cal on the moneyline, points don't matter, they just need to win the game. But because it's safer to take them straight-up without points, you'll have to risk more when you make the bet - remember, they're seven points better than Illinois in the eyes of the oddsmakers. In this case, Cal is -280 on the moneyline, so if you want to win $100, you have to risk $280. On the flip side, moneyline bets can be valuable when taking the underdog because it's a riskier bet - they're seven points worse than their opponent. In this case, Illinois is the underdog - +220 on the moneyline. You'd win $220 on a $100 bet if you picked Illinois on the moneyline and they pulled off the upset.

ie: California (ML -280) vs. Illinois (ML +220)

tip: Check their history against one another. Keep an eye on the injury report and the weather.

Player Props

Player props are some of the most exhilarating bets you can place during a college football game, but they're also easy to understand. For major conferences, you'll have a wide array of options to choose from. Quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, and sometimes tight ends will have props to choose from. It's simple, fun and easy to follow, and odds on player props don't vary as much as moneylines. Generally, prop bets are in the -110 range like generic spread and total bets.

ie: How many passing yards will Brandon Peters have against California?  Over 250 or Under 250 

tip: Check how players have performed in the situation they're going to be in. Use split stats on any reliable site to see their numbers at home, on a neutral-site, in December, etc.


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