2018 NCAA Football Week 4 Odds, Overview & Picks

We had some surprises in Week 3 of the 2018 college football season, as BYU went to Wisconsin and shut down the Badgers, who had their eyes on a trip to the College Football Playoff until that loss to the unranked Cougars. They could still get in if they run the table in the Big Ten and win the conference, but that loss will be a stinker on their resume all season long. North Texas went to Arkansas and delivered a whipping to Chad Morris’ Razorbacks, and Texas finally snapped out of their funk and routed USC at home. Let’s take a look at some NCAA Football Week 4 betting picks for you to consider for the coming weekend. As always, home teams are in all caps.

2018 NCAA Football Week 4 Odds, Overview & Picks

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Friday, September 21

Washington State (+4) over USC (10:30pm ET, ESPN)

Mike Leach has his offense cranking at Washington State, as his teams have put up 131 points in their first three games of the season, routs of Wyoming, San Jose State and Eastern Washington. They enter Pac-12 play with a trip down to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to face USC, who started conference play by being shut down, 17-3, at Stanford, and then going to Texas to lose by 23 to a Longhorns team that struggled mightily to beat AAC foe Tulsa at home after losing at Maryland (who lost by 21 to Temple last week). So it’s safe to say that USC has a lot of issues to work out, and this is the sort of game that Mike Leach’s teams win year in and year out. It’s true that Washington State was up on Eastern Washington by just 11 points going into the fourth quarter, but then they put the hammer down to score 24 unanswered points and had a +4 turnover margin on the night. Gardner Minshew is the latest quarterback to shine in Leach’s system, and he went 45 for 57 for 470 yards and a pair of touchdowns. In the USC loss to texas, the Trojans led 14-3 early but then watched the Longhorns score 34 unanswered points. That’s not the kind of performance that will win against the Cougars. NCAA Football Week 4 Prediction: Washington State 34, USC 24

Saturday, September 22

Boston College (-6.5) over PURDUE (12:00pm ET, ESPN2)

The Purdue Boilermakers made a lot of noise last year with a resurgent offense, but all they have to show for it thus far this season is an 0-3 record. They took a 40-37 loss to Missouri last week, in a matchup of teams that can move the ball but don’t believe very much in defense. The Boilermakers were missing starting quarterback Elijah Sindelar, but David Blough filled in nicely, going 39 for 55 for 572 yards and three scores and an interception. Purdue is just 2-8 in their last 10 games at home against a team with a winning record on the road. And what about BC? They have beaten the spread in 11 of their last 13 games and in seven of their last nine games after a straight up victory. They committed two major gaffes on special teams in their Thursday game at Wake Forest last week, leading to two easy touchdowns for the Demon Deacons, but they were still able to come back for a seven-point win late. They are scoring 52.7 points per game, thanks to Anthony Brown, who is completing almost 70 percent of his passes and has a 9:0 TD:INT ratio on the year. NCAA Football Week 4 Prediction: BC 41, Purdue 30

Texas A&M (+26.5) over ALABAMA (3:30pm ET, CBS)

The Aggies hosted Clemson two weeks ago, and the Tigers barely made it out of College Station with their undefeated record, eking out a two-point win. Texas A&M delivered a 48-10 rout of Louisiana-Monroe last week, as Kellen Mond continued his excellent performance. He’s completed 63 percent of his passes and thrown for six touchdowns while running for three more. The Aggies average 596.3 yards of offense per game, fifth in the nation, and the defense ranks ninth in the nation as they permit just 79.7 yards on the ground per contest. Texas A&M visits an Alabama team coming off a 62-7 clobbering of Ole Miss a week ago. Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts form a devastating quarterback tandem, combining for 12 touchdown passes and just one interception. However, Alabama has only beaten Texas A&M by enough points to cover this spread once in the teams’ six meetings in SEC play, and three of the six games have come down to single digits. While I don’t see A&M pulling off another upset along the lines of Johnny Manziel’s Heisman season, I also don’t see Alabama covering this spread. NCAA Football Week 4 Prediction: Alabama 30, Texas A&M 13