Yahoo Sports Friday CFB conference title game betting guide
Pam Maldonado has you covered for the mid-week conference title game tilts in the Pac-12 and C-USA. Will Utah route Oregon yet again? Can the Roadrunners bounce back?
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Video Transcript
PAMELA MALDONADO: Welcome to the yahoo! sportsbook Daily. It is Tuesday, November 30th. My gosh, where has the time gone? It is going by so fast. The season, it's almost coming to a close. And it starts this week with the conference championships in college football. I am your betting guide, Pam Maldonado, bringing you an early look at some of the college football conference championship games for week 14 of the college football season.
Looking to the Pac 12 championship game on Friday, the Oregon Ducks will face the Utah Utes as 3 point underdogs at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. What I like, the under on 59 and 1/2. We just saw this match-up two weeks ago, Utah rolled at home 38 to 7. But now this game is on a neutral field. This could be more competitive. Both are top 12 in rushing yards, both top 35 against the run.
The Ducks rushed for only 63 yards and 2.7 yards per carry. The Ducks season average is 216 rushing yards per game. And 5 and 1/2 yards per carry. Utah could definitely be less dominant here on defense playing in Vegas instead of playing at home. I think we see more rushing success from both squads. And a competitive closer match-up. Give me the under 59 and 1/2 on two rushing teams.
Moving over to the big state of Texas, the 8 and 4 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, a 1 and 1/2 point favorite to the 11 and 1 UTSA Road Runners. A home game for UTSA as this game is being played at the Alamodome in San Antonio for the Conference USA title game. What I like, the over on 71 and 1/2.
Western Kentucky's quarterback, Bailey Zappe, how about we start talking about him for the Heisman? Nearly 5,000 passing yards, 70% completion, 52 touchdowns, and just nine interceptions. Zappe leads the FBS in passing yards and passing touchdowns. And is seventh in QBR rating behind Georgia's Stetson Bennett, Alabama's Bryce Young, and Ohio State's CJ Stroud. The first match-up that we saw between these two teams, we saw 98 point scored with UTSA winning 52 to 46. And I don't see a reason why we don't see the same type of firework display again in a dome with two potent offenses.
Western Kentucky is first in passing yards, UTSA's defense is 83rd against the pass. Zappe and company has scored 42 points or more in six of its last seven games, including last week's 53 to 21 route over Marshall, a team that is top 20 against the pass. UTSA just gave up 45 to North Texas. I do like Western Kentucky in this spot. But I also like the over in a correlated play, give me some fireworks. Give me the over on 71 and 1/2.
Those are two conference championships that we have for Friday. To recap my predictions, Oregon versus Utah for the Pac 12 title in Las Vegas, Nevada, under 59 and 1/2. Western Kentucky versus UTSA for the Conference USA title in San Antonio, Texas, over 71 and 1/2.
You can follow me on Twitter over @pamelam35. You can follow all of our content over at the Yahoo Sportsbook. Create a BetMGM account and place your first bet risk free bet up to $1,000. If you're a bet loses, you get your bet amount up to 1,000 added back to your account in free bets. Must be 21 or older in Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming only. Go to BetMGM.com/Yahoo to get started or use promo code Yahoo when making your first deposit.
Nick Bromberg will be back tomorrow to host the next episode on the Yahoo Sportsbook Daily providing some more college football action of the conference championship games. But until then, good bye and good luck with your bets.
