Week 7 college football best bets and predictions
The college football season is in full gear and VSiN is pumping out more content for it than ever. All of our college football stories and resources are available at our Week 7 CFB Bet Hub, where you’ll also get best bets from all of my incredibly talented colleagues. But you’ll have to keep reading this one to get my college football best bets every week. Last week, I went a perfect 6-0 in this best bets column. This week, I’m hoping for some more winners, but I only have three plays for this slate. But I might add some more picks later on. If I do, they’ll be thrown in at the bottom of this story, so definitely make sure to come back and look for more Week 7 college football best bets throughout the day on Saturday, October 14.
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Texas A&M Aggies at Tennessee Volunteers
Texas A&M is coming off a rough loss to Alabama last week, but I don’t think any less of the Aggies because of it. This is still a team that I trust defensively, as Texas A&M is only allowing 19.8 points per game on the season. And that number is somewhat skewed because the team gave up 48 points in a loss to Miami in Week 2. Outside of that performance, the Aggies have been tough on opposing offenses — especially in the ground game. With that in mind, I think Jimbo Fisher’s defense can slow down this Tennessee offense, which is nowhere near as good as it was last year.
It’s pretty clear that the Volunteers are really missing Hendon Hooker, who was stellar at the quarterback position last year. Things simply haven’t looked the same with Joe Milton III under center. Even in last week’s win over South Carolina, Milton threw for just 239 yards with a touchdowns and two interceptions. Overall, I don’t think he has proven that he what it takes to win games for this Tennessee offense through the air, and Texas A&M is surely going to make him try here. The Aggies are going to do everything in their power to take running backs Jaylen Wright, Jabari Small and Dylan Sampson out of this one. That will mean that Texas A&M will be vulnerable over the top, and I’m not too concerned about that.
I also still believe in quarterback Max Johnson and this Texas A&M offense, and I think the Aggies will be able to move the ball on this Volunteers defense. With that in mind, I love catching 3.5 in a game like this. And I genuinely believe Texas A&M should win this game outright. But I’d take the points just in case this one is tight late. And you should feel good knowing that the Vols are just 6-8 against the spread when playing teams with winning records under Josh Heupel.
Bet: Texas A&M +3.5 (-109)
Louisville Cardinals at Pittsburgh Panthers
Louisville is coming off a highly emotional win over Notre Dame, with the Cardinals improving to 6-0 and now sitting at 14th in the AP Top 25. However, I’m a big believer in letdown spots and this feels like a big one. After one of the biggest home wins in program history, will Louisville be able to get up for a road game against a 1-4 Pittsburgh team? Consider me skeptical. And even if the Cardinals do win outright, I like getting more than a touchdown with the Panthers.
There’s no denying that Pittsburgh has been miserable this season, but the team had a bye week to work on some things and get healthy. And since Pat Narduzzi became the head coach of the Panthers, Pittsburgh is 10-7 straight-up and 11-6 ATS when coming off a bye week. The Panthers will also have a very new look coming out of the bye, as the team is benching quarterback Phil Jurkovec and turning to Christian Veilleux. Veilleux is a former four-star recruit that transferred from Penn State and had offers from Clemson, Michigan and Tennessee. So, he’s a talented kid and just might be able to get the Panthers passing game going.
As for the defense, I trust Narduzzi to figure it out and give Louisville a little trouble. For as fast as the Cardinals are on the outside, they’re still a team with a mediocre quarterback in Jack Plummer. And Plummer does struggle on the road, where his TD-INT ratio is just 5-4. I expect Pittsburgh to dial up the pressure to try and make him uncomfortable in the pocket, as the only way he’s going to pick the Panthers apart is if he is sitting there with time to throw.
All in all, I think we’ll see a much better version of Pittsburgh this week. That might not result in a win but playing a competitive game against a good team would be a start.
Bet: Pittsburgh +8 (-109 – Play to +7.5)
USC Trojans at Notre Dame Fighting Irish
USC is coming off a triple overtime win over Arizona, but that was a game that was supposed to be easy for the Trojans. However, the reality is that nothing is going to come easy for USC with this defense. The Trojans were supposed to be a lot better on that side of the ball this year, as they brought in some high-profile recruits and transfers. But USC just can’t seem to string together stops. And that is going to catch up to the Trojans very soon. Truth be told, I think it’ll be this week.
After having to face Ohio State, Duke and Louisville over the last three weeks, a meeting with this soft Trojans secondary is just what the doctor ordered for Sam Hartman. He should have a lot of success throwing on this defense, and I also think running back Audric Estime will have a big day on the ground. That said, Notre Dame should be able to put up a good amount of points in this game. And I trust the Fighting Irish’s defense to get enough stops for that to be enough here.
It goes without saying that Caleb Williams is a tremendous player, and it’s scary to bet against a player with his ability to make plays. But Notre Dame has the 15th-best scoring defense in the country, and Marcus Freeman is one of the best defensive minds in football. He is going to take pride in finding a way to slow the Trojans down, and I think his defense will show up here — especially with this being a home game.
It’s also hard to ignore that USC is 1-2 SU and ATS in games with lines of +3 to -3 under Lincoln Riley. And generally speaking, it does feel like his teams sometimes disappoint in big games.
Bet: Notre Dame -2 (-108 – Play to -2.5)
2023 Record: 31-23-1 (+5.17 units)
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