Hugh Freeze returns to the SEC, as the former Ole Miss coach has signed a deal to go to Auburn. He had left the conference under a dark cloud, as the Rebels ended up on probation in 2017, with sanctions that included a two-year bowl ban. Freeze received a citation for failure to monitor his assistant coaches and the Ole Miss boosters, but he did not get a show-cause penalty, which would have made it much harder to find another job. He also made several calls to an escort service, which led to his resignation, but that did not stop Liberty University, an evangelical Christian university, from hiring him. Liberty has done extremely well the last four years under Freeze, and his offensive creativity and his track record against Alabama (wins in both 2014 and 2015) no doubt motivated Auburn to overlook the other issues. This week, college football will feature its conference championship games, so take a look at our NCAA Football betting picks for several of the matchups.
NCAA News: SU Picks for Week 14
SEC Championship: LSU Tigers (+600) vs Georgia Bulldogs (-900)
This game had a lot more intrigue when LSU only had two losses, as they had also beaten Alabama and would have had an argument to become the first two-loss team ever in a College Football Playoff with a win over the Bulldogs. However, they lost to Texas A&M, a team that somehow found a way to break the 30-point barrier for the first time this season. However, the fact that Georgia will make the College Football Playoff no matter what happens in this conference title game makes this a little more interesting. It would not surprise me to see Georgia take things lightly and end up sweating a lot more in this game than we might have thought, and remember that the Bulldogs lost the SEC Championship last season before rebounding to win the national title. LSU got sloppy with the ball against Texas A&M, and I don’t see them doing this two weeks in a row. I think Georga wins straight up – but I also like LSU to cover here.
Big Ten Championship: Purdue Boilermakers (+550) vs Michigan Wolverines (-800)
With their win over Ohio State, Michigan is also likely to get a nod for the College Football Playoff no matter what happens against Purdue. The Boilermakers have an intangible factor on their side, as quarterback Aidan O’Connell led his team to victory at Indiana last week despite knowing about the passing of his older brother. O’Connell stepped away from the team to mourn with his family but is expected to return to face Michigan. Purdue has won three in a row and has a dynamic offense, having scored 28 or more points in eight games this season. Can they shock Michigan straight up? Probably not, but against the spread? I see Michigan putting on a clinic in the second half and getting the spread covered as well.
Pac-12 Championship: Utah Utes (+135) vs USC Trojans (-160)
Utah is the only team that has beaten USC this year. Utah also beat USC in 2021 down at the Coliseum, but that was before the arrival of Lincoln Riley. The Utes play opportunistic defense and have just enough offense to be dangerous. Given that USC doesn’t really play defense, the question will be whether Utah can get enough stops to stay with the Trojans. The Utes have scored more than 30 points in all but three games this season, and they could knock off USC again. Whether Lincoln Riley’s blase attitude toward defense ends up costing him in the Pac-12 Championship or in another national semifinal rout is open to debate, but I’m taking Utah straight up with the value here.
College Football Betting Odds
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