College football predictions: Penn State gets slight nod in showdown with Ohio State

Here are our staff picks for this week’s top college football games., which are listed in standard Vegas rotational order.

Last week’s and year-to-date standings are at the bottom.

As if getting owned by Ohio State wasn’t bad enough, the Wolverines also have failed to cover the game played the week before the Buckeyes game each of the last three years.

This will be the first time Texas A&M plays UGA as an SEC opponent and its first trip between the hedges since 1980, when then-freshman Herschel Walker had the first 100-yard game of his career. The Aggies have won four in a row, but they haven’t beaten anybody AND they go to No. 1 LSU next week. Yikes. Georgia has covered its last three, and is on a five-game run of unders.

Temple has won and covered each of the last four against the Bearcats.

Oregon has covered four of its last five and all three of its true road games this season. Please note that Arizona State won here in 2017 as a 14.5-point 'dog. The Ducks are sixth in the playoff rankings and need at least one of the unbeatens to fall. Alabama, which also has one loss, could get into the playoff ahead of Oregon (or Utah), which could win the Pac-12 conference and still get shut out.

The Sooners have won 19 in a row in November, but are 0-5-1 ATS in their last six November games. Oklahoma has covered four straight against TCU, though this will be the biggest spread. It rallied from a 25-point deficit vs. Baylor last week without injured star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. His status for this week is uncertain.

BC has found a little bit of an offensive pulse, which is why the over/under is so high. The Eagles’ last five have gone over.

Baylor still can get into the Big 12 title game with a win, but it’ll be interesting to see how the Bears respond to last week’s disappointing loss to Oklahoma. The last six meetings in this series have been under, with the average total a shade less than 45.

Have played each of the last four years with Navy covering — and the over hitting — each time. A little skeptical of Navy (7-2) after it got ammered at Notre Dame last week, 52-20. The Midshipmen trailed by 45-3 and looked a lot like the team that went 3-10 last year.

Penn State is playing a top-25 team for the fifth time in six weeks, which the AP says is the toughest stretch in school history. The Nittany Lions have covered only one of the previous four, but have covered three straight against the second-ranked Buckeyes. Ohio State has covered its last five at home and is 5-0 ATS this season when laying less than 20.

Check on the status of Boise State quarterback Hank Bachmeier, who missed last week’s game with a hip injury. The Broncos are 0-2-1 ATS in true road games this season.

Notes: Luke Reasoner did not pick in Week 1. ... Research using DonBest.com contributed to this article.