Piling On? Week 5 Slate Could Bury College Football Playoff Hopes

Welcome to The Slate, your home for college football picks at NESN.com. Here you can find our best bets to follow across (mostly) Saturdays in the fall. Let’s roll into Week 5, shall we?

The rollercoaster continued for us in Week 4, but luckily it was our smoothest portion of the ride yet.

We went 5-1 last weekend, taking advantage of a beautiful slate and ending up on the right side of history in all but one (Notre Dame and Ohio State hate fun!) of the games we picked. The Alabama comeback was real. Colorado’s brash reputation finally caught up to it. Oregon State and Iowa are exactly who we thought they were.

So, why not try to turn that respectable winning percentage into a perfect one?

We absolutely love three picks on the board, so we’re shortening the list this week. Here’s who we like, with all odds coming from DraftKings Sportsbook.

Utah @ Oregon State (-3.5)

This game is a trap, but it’s such an easily identifiable trap that we think it might not even be a trap. You know what we mean?

This game will be played in Corvallis, which is where Oregon State just lost a nail-biter to Washington State. The Beavers will play host to the Utes, who are undefeated despite having yet to see their starting quarterback take a snap. It’s just hard to understand why Utah is the underdog, especially if Cam Rising does make his first start of the season.

We’d normally stay away from this weird Friday night matchup, but this week is all about how teams can drop to two losses, and we think it’s only a matter of time for the Beavs.

The Pick: Utah +3.5

Florida @ Kentucky (-1.5)

We took Florida in Week 0 against Utah. That was a loser. We took Tennessee in Week 3 against Florida. That also was a loser. We’re not going to be scared away from betting the Gators, however.

It has been difficult to get a read on Florida this season, as it has looked pretty solid since its opening-week loss. There’s one team that is easy to bet, and that’s the Kentucky Wildcats. Mark Stoops’ boys are 4-0 but have taken those wins off some bad football teams. That likely has something to do with the fact that they’re gearing up for a hellacious SEC schedule.

The ‘Cats have emphasized physicality entering this matchup and Stoops wants all of Lexington liquored up by the time this college football game kicks off at noon ET. It’ll be a rowdy environment, in which we believe Kentucky will move to 5-0.

The Pick: Kentucky -1.5

Ole Miss vs. LSU (-2.5)
(Saturday, 6 p.m. ET on ESPN)

LSU and Ole Miss are kindred spirits in a way. They both enter this game at 3-1 and saw that lone loss come to preseason College Football Playoff favorites.

Now, they have to desperately avoid dropping their second game if they hope to have a puncher’s chance at the CFP. In the end, these SEC matchups usually come down to one last defensive stop and there’s no doubt LSU has the better unit.

It’s always tough betting on a road favorite, but we think the Tigers are primed to make a run to start SEC play.

The Pick: LSU -2.5

Season Record: 12-10-0