Except for the University of Georgia, ironclad defense is tough to come by in college football (and the pros as well, as the NFL’s scoring through the first four weeks of the 2020 season is at an all-time high. Over-under point totals can be another exciting way to take part in sports betting on games, in addition to picking against the spread. Point totals are usually higher for college football matchups because offenses such as the Air Raid can make hay against defenses that don’t have the speed and strength of their NFL counterparts.
Let’s take a look at some of our top over-under picks for this Week 6 of the College Football season.
NCAA News:
Top O/U Picks for Week 6
Louisville (-4.5) at Georgia Tech (O/U 64)
Friday, October 9
7:00 pm ET
Georgia Tech focuses on a run-heavy offense, although they are not as one-dimensional as they have been in years past. They are permitting 33 points per game, with a somewhat porous defense, and on offense they have Jeff Sims at quarterback, with a 55.1 percent completion rate and an unsightly 3:8 TD:NT ratio. The Yellow Jackets are running for 221 yards per game, and Sims is the leading rusher through three games, with 187 yards and two scores. It is hard to argue that Georgia Tech would be able to hang with Louisville in a shootout, given that they do so much of their scoring on the ground.
Louisville has the same record as Georgia Tech right now (1-2) thanks to a defense that is also quite generous, also permitting 30 points per game. Their two losses have come against ranked opponents. Malik Cunningham has thrown for 757 yards, seven scores and five interceptions, and the ground game is led by Javian Hawkins, who has 313 yards and three touchdowns in three games. While Louisville might be able to crack the 40s, I’m not sure Georgia Tech can keep up their end of this total.
Take the under.
Texas (+2.5) vs Oklahoma (O/U 72) (12:00 pm ET)
Played in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl
Saturday, October 10
7:00 pm ET
This is a huge point total for the Red River Showdown, but this is also a series that tends to produce high-scoring games. Let’s look at the last five matchups:
2019 – Oklahoma 34, Texas 27 (61 points)
2018 – Oklahoma 39, Texas 27 (66) (Big 12 Championship)
2018 – Texas 48, Oklahoma 45 (93)
2017 – Oklahoma 29, Texas 24 (53)
2016 – Oklahoma 45, Texas 40 (85)
So in two of the last five years, the game has gone over this week’s point total of 72. So far in 2020, the Oklahoma Sooners have played three games:
Week 1: Oklahoma 48, Missouri State 0 (48)
Week 2: Kansas State 38, Oklahoma 35 (73)
Week 3: Iowa State 37, Oklahoma 30 (67)
Here is Texas’ slate so far:
Week 1: Texas 59, UT-El Paso 3 (62)
Week 2: Texas 63, Texas Tech 56 (119)
Week 3: TCU 33, Texas 31 (64)
Both Oklahoma and Texas can put up a ton of points, but the problem seems to be getting past that fifth touchdown for both teams. Given the hype of this annual rivalry, I expect the first quarter to feature mistakes on both sides and an unusually slow start to the scoring. So while the total might hit the 60s, take the under.
Temple (-3.5) at Navy (O/U 50.5)
Saturday, October 10
6:00 pm ET
Temple finally gets to play a football game this weekend, making their season debut against a Navy team that has scored a total of 37 points in three games, 27 of them in a win at Tulane. Their other games include a home rout at the hands of BYU and a road rout at Air Force. Navy plays a triple-option scheme, which means that the scoring will be methodical, if it happens. Temple has a decent running game and a stout defense — but we haven’t seen them since 2019. So I expect this to go like many season openers, in which the offense struggles. I’m going to take the under.
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