NCAA Football Betting Predictions: Week 12 Opening Line Report and Picks

by Jason Radowitz - 11/16/2020

Things have been interesting in college football. Plenty of teams with higher expectations are not performing, specifically in Power 5 conferences, and the talk about firing head coaches has begun.

Jim Harbaugh has coached Michigan to a 1-3 record this season. He’s currently on the hot seat. But that hasn’t even been the biggest storyline of the Big Ten this season. Penn State is currently 0-4 behind James Franklin.

Penn State will take on Iowa at home and are actual underdogs. Meanwhile, Michigan is about a seven-point favorite against Rutgers.

How times have changed.

Many media outlets are calling for Michigan to make their move on firing Harbaugh for his team’s 1-3 start to the season. It’s been a weird season and with COVID protocols, and preparing for the season was the most difficult. But the reality is, every team had to overcome these obstacles, and a loss to Michigan State earlier this year now looks to be inexcusable.

In these types of situations, you feel for the coach and the team. But again, Harbaugh and the Wolverines haven’t even looked remotely confident in each game. That will fall on the coach’s shoulder. A loss to Rutgers, even on the road, would be embarrassing for a program that recruits four- and five-star players every year.

Penn State has the same issue. James Franklin was supposed to turn things around at Penn State and help them get by Ohio State and compete for a title. Well, Ohio State defeated Nebraska handedly. Meanwhile, Penn State just went 0-4 after losing to Nebraska.

That’s embarrassing.

Both Penn State and Michigan are re-thinking their quarterbacks going into Saturday’s games. Maybe that’s been the real problem for each team. But there’s no excuse. It’s the coach’s decision to make the right calls on the depth chart, and neither of these “premier” coaches were able to get the job done.

The first casualty in Power 5 went to South Carolina, as they parted with Will Muschamp. Muschamp gets $13 million after parting ways, so you can’t feel too bad for him. But Muschamp is one of the nice guys in the business. South Carolina allowed 708 yards on defense against Ole Miss and are now 2-5 on the season.

When Muschamp took over, South Carolina was in three straight bowl games. However, they’ve gone 6-13 in his last two seasons, and South Carolina had enough.

It’s critical for these schools to dig deep and know if it’s COVID or if it’s the coach. I love cutting these coaches some slack. Preparation isn’t the same, and some coaches are better that way while some aren’t.

Missouri vs South Carolina (+5.5, 57.5): South Carolina struggled on defense against Ole Miss, but that was expected last week. Missouri is coming off a loss against South Carolina, which was on Halloween, October 31. The Tigers added a new coach this season in Eliah Drinkwitz. He had his signature win against LSU earlier this season and also found a way to beat Kentucky, holding the Wildcats to just 10 points before losing to Florida. Missouri’s defense has looked a whole lot better as of late. But nobody really knows what to expect. South Carolina isn’t a premier offensive team but has run the ball well this season. Drinkwitz is an offensive mind, and South Carolina has now allowed 48 or more points in their last three games. Pick: Missouri

Iowa vs Penn State (+2.5, 48.5): Iowa’s defense is serious. They’ve held Minnesota and Michigan State to just seven points each. However, the offense hasn’t looked incredible. Spencer Petras is not a great quarterback for Iowa, but the Hawkeyes have been able to run the ball really effectively. We’re unsure the direction Penn State will go at quarterback. However, if it’s Sean Clifford, Iowa should have no problem getting stops. Pick: Iowa

Michigan vs Rutgers (+7.5, TBD): Rutgers took a bad loss to Illinois. And even though they were winning most of the way, the Scarlet Knights were not impressive. However, Michigan hasn’t shown much of anything this season behind Joe Milton. Some believed Milton would be a Heisman contender. Now he might be the second string for Michigan. Rutgers will be prepared behind new coach Greg Schiano and have upset Michigan in the past. This is going to be much closer than the spread suggests. That’s all I’m saying. Pick: Rutgers

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NCAA Football Betting Predictions: Week 12 Opening Line Report and Picks

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