2024 College Football Week 12 predictions, best bets by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
"Bear Bets" are real wagers that Chris "The Bear" Fallica is actually making.
College football Week 12 is here!
Just like last year, we are going to do weekly picks posts and have a gambling show.
As always, I look forward to sharing my best football bets and gambling nuggets (Bear Bytes) with you all throughout the season.
So, if you are looking to throw a few bucks down on the big games, I've got you covered.
Let's have some fun and, hopefully, make some money.
Here are my favorite wagers for Week 12.
Record:
Last Week: 6-2
Season: 35-30-2
(All times ET)
FRIDAY, NOV. 15
UCLA @ Washington (9 p.m., FOX and FOX Sports app)
Washington is a much different team at home, as the Huskies have beaten middling teams like Michigan and USC, while struggling on the road against the tougher teams on their schedule. UCLA has been great defensively recently and turned around its season after a brutal opening stretch of games. But with an opportunity to get bowl-eligible at home and Will Rogers good to go at QB, I’ll lay the short number.
PICK: Washington (-3.5) to win by more than 3.5 points
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SATURDAY, NOV. 16
No. 23 Missouri @ No. 21 South Carolina (4:15 p.m., SEC Network)
The best unit on the field by far will be the South Carolina defense, and going against a Missouri offense that will likely start Drew Pyne, it's gonna be hard for the Tigers to score here. South Carolina has a shot at winning out and posting a 10-3 season, which would be a remarkable feat by Shane Beamer’s team.
PICK: Missouri Under 15.5 points scored
No. 13 Boise State @ San Jose State (7 p.m., CBSSN)
I don’t expect this to be an easy game for Boise State. Each of the Broncos' conference road games has been tricky, as the game in Hawaii was a one-score game into the fourth quarter and the game at UNLV was a coin flip. The San Jose State rush defense is quite capable of slowing down Boise State, which didn’t look great last week against Nevada. And we know the Spartans offense — with playmakers like WR Nick Nash — can score. Also, SJSU put up 52 in a near-upset of Washington State.
PICK: San Jose State (+14) to lose by fewer than 14 points, or win outright
No. 1 Oregon @ Wisconsin (7:30 p.m., NBC)
Oregon has been rolling since the win over Ohio State, but the Ducks haven’t had an idle week since Sept. 21. I'm sure the Ducks are thinking that they just want to get out of Wisconsin unscathed and get to the idle week before the Washington game on Nov. 30. I don’t think Wisconsin is very good. The Badgers have lost by at least two touchdowns at home twice this season to top 10 teams. But off of a blowout loss at Iowa and then a bye week, if the Badgers have any fight left, they’ll show it this week.
PICK: Wisconsin (+14) to lose by fewer than 14 points, or win outright
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No. 7 Tennessee @ No. 11 Georgia (7:30 p.m., ABC)
No matter who is at quarterback for Tennessee, I don’t expect the Vols to be able to exploit the Georgia defense the way Ole Miss did last week. Same is true on the other side of the ball. I don’t expect Kirby Smart and Mike Bobo to get crazy with the offensive game plan, given Carson Beck's recent interception troubles. Getting to 30 points will be difficult for both teams here, and it might even be a chore for both to reach 20.
PICK: Under 48.5 points scored by both teams combined
Kansas @ No. 6 BYU (10:15 p.m., ESPN)
Much like last week against Iowa State, I think the Jayhawks have a great chance to pull the upset here. Jalon Daniels has played his best ball of the year over the last month of the season, and I think KU should be able to run the ball on a BYU defense that has had issues stopping the run. Heck, even a depleted Utah offense had success last week. The Cougars are 4-0 in games decided by a touchdown or less; KU is 0-5. These teams are much more closely aligned than the overall W-L record indicates. Like we said last week, KU will have a big say in who will win the Big 12. And after this week's game, the Jayhawks have Colorado on the schedule next.
PICK: Kansas (+3) to lose by fewer than 3 points, or win outright
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UNDERDOGS TO PLAY ON THE MONEYLINE:
Old Dominion +130
Pitt +300
Kansas +130
Michigan State +135
Chris "The Bear" Fallica has covered sports for nearly three decades. While college football has been his focus, he also enjoys the NFL, Soccer, Golf, Tennis, MLB, NHL and Horse Racing, with an "occasional" wager on such events. Chris recently won the inaugural Circa Football Invitational and finished in the Top 10 of the Golden Nugget Football Contest. He’s a multiple-time qualifier for the NHC Handicapping Championship. Remember, "The less you bet, the more you lose when you win!" Follow him on Twitter @chrisfallica.
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