I was dead right with the first leg of my college football parlay last week. Utah State had no problem dispatching BYU, pummeling the Cougars 45-20 on Friday night as a short underdog. However, the second leg of my parlay blew up in my face. The Hokies were a touchdown underdog on the college football betting line, but they got crushed by 22 points by a Notre Dame team that continues to impress.
That makes it four straight weeks of losing parlays for me. The individual plays have largely been fine, with only one game holding me back from a win in most weeks. That has kept me from getting discouraged, as I know how close I am to getting back in the black on the year.
Week 1: No Play
Week 2: +$267.68
Week 3: -$100
Week 4: -$100
Week 5: -$100
Week 6: -$100
College Football Parlay Betting Odds (Courtesy of BetDSI)
Louisville +14 at Boston College -120
San Jose State +15 vs. Army -110
Memphis ML vs. UCF +160
$100 to win $810
You might turn your nose up when you look at the first two legs of the parlay, and that’s fine. All I care about is getting the win. Everyone is down on Louisville after last week’s performance against Georgia Tech. The Cardinals suffered their worst defeat at home in over two decades, and they gave up over 500 rushing yards in the loss. Fans are calling for the head of Louisville defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder, and people aren’t too optimistic about the Cardinals’ chances against a Boston College offense that is known for pounding the ball on the ground.
Boston College’s cover on the CFB betting line in a 28-23 loss to North Carolina State last week was incredibly deceiving though. The Eagles were down 28-3 late in the third quarter, and didn’t do much on offense until the end of the game. They had just 12 first downs on the afternoon and were helped considerably by four NC State turnovers. Star running back AJ Dillon missed last week with an ankle injury, and he is questionable this week. Dillon is so important to this offense, that Boston College is on upset alert if he can’t go.
For the second leg, San Jose State isn’t as bad as you might think. The Spartans are 0-5, but they have kept it within two touchdowns in each of their last three games, and they nearly knocked off Hawai’i at home a couple weeks ago. They aren’t a good team by any stretch, but spoilers … Army isn’t much better.
Army has one of the worst defenses in the country. The Black Knights are 111th in the nation on defense according to S&P+, but people don’t think about the shortcomings of that unit because they nearly knocked off Oklahoma a few weeks ago. However, that game was more a product of an offense that held the ball for nearly three quarters of game time. Army’s triple option is great at grinding out wins and stalling games against stronger opponents, but not so good at covering two-touchdown spreads on the road.
Finally, I’m going to roll the dice a little bit with Memphis. The Tigers are a much better team than their 3-2 record, and they suffered one of the most frustrating losses of the season against Navy. They had a 97.8 percent win expectancy in that game, but a torrential rain storm frustrated their offense late.
UCF’s defense is nothing special, and Memphis can move the ball against them. This game has the highest total of any game in Week 7 per the college football betting odds, and it feels like a shootout where the last team with the ball will win. I’ll take my chances on Memphis in the coin flip.
