New Mexico vs. Wyoming: College Football Week 5 Odds & Picks (2023)

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: New Mexico vs. Wyoming.

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Top College Football Odds & Picks: New Mexico vs. Wyoming

New Mexico @ Wyoming

This is 100% the eye test for me. I've seen Wyoming play two games so far this season, and they've been very impressive. I watched Wyoming take down Texas Tech in Week 1 of the season, where they showed that the offense was much improved over the 2022 season. I also watched Wyoming play Texas, and they were really good until the fourth quarter, when Texas wore them down and scored three TDs late.

New Mexico has been terrible on defense, ranking below 100 in PPG allowed, 95th in passing YPG and rushing YPG allowed. FCS Tennessee Tech couldn't do much against the Lobos in Week 2 and only had 280 total yards and just under 100 rushing. But the FBS teams New Mexico has played have averaged just under 170 rushing yards against them. Wyoming will pile up yards with transfer RB Harrison Waylee, who went over 100 in his first two games with the Cowboys.  

New Mexico isn't as bad on offense as on defense, but Wyoming is a strong defensive team. Unlike the Texas game, where they kept them in check until the fourth quarter, the Texas Tech game was the opposite. They got beat early in the first and held Tech to only 10 points until OT. Last week was a bit of a disaster against App State. Still, even though the Mountaineers had the ball for over 40 minutes, Wyoming held them to four FG attempts, and the only TD App State scored was on defense.  

Wyoming will control the clock, and they play a slow, boring pace at 111th in plays per game. Wyoming is playing at home in the elevation, too. There aren't many things pointing New Mexico's way. Give me the Cowboys big in this one!

Bet: Wyoming -14 (-110)

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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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