College football Week 13 predictions, odds: Three picks, best bets for Saturday’s slate
Sports are cruel, and box scores lie.
Those are facts of life, and two that you need to get comfortable with if you’re going to make a go of it as a handicapper.
You can do all the right things but, at the end of the day, wins and losses will largely come down to luck.
No team in college football knows that better than Arkansas. One look at their 2-8 record and you’d assume that this is one of the worst teams in the Power 4. The Razorbacks are the dregs of the SEC.
The standings may tell you that, but when you peel back the layers, you’ll see that this season has been especially cruel to the fine folks in Fayetteville.
Arkansas is 0-6 in games decided by one possession, and the Razorbacks have lost by three or less to Texas A&M, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Memphis, and LSU.
A six-point defeat to Ole Miss was also a heartbreaker.
It sounds nuts to say about a 2-8 team that hasn’t won an SEC game yet this season, but you could look someone in the eye and say that Arkansas is a top-40 team. In fact, that’s what SP+, one of the most respected power rankings in college football, suggests.
Maybe the Razorbacks are tapped out on 2025, but the same could be said of Texas, which had its season ended by Georgia in Week 12.
Arch Manning and the Longhorns continue to be dismal with the ball, and they’ll need to find a way to keep up with a high-upside Arkansas attack that has played much better than its record.
Woo Pig Sooie is in a good spot to pull the upset Saturday.
The Pick: Arkansas +8.5 (FanDuel)
Betting on College Football?
UAB +21.5 (-112) over South Florida
This is just a brutal hangover spot for South Florida.
The Bulls have been yo-yoing in and out of the Top 25 all season, but it seems like a once-promising season is now going to be nothing more than a footnote in the 2025 yearbook.
South Florida looked like a sure thing to head to the AAC Championship and had a real shot to make the College Football Playoff, but a loss to Navy in Week 12 ended all that.
The Bulls will now need to get up for a trip to UAB.
The Blazers have lost three in a row, but they should stand a chance of keeping this one respectable against a team that will be licking its wounds.
Coastal Carolina +23.5 (+100) over SOUTH CAROLINA
There’s not much that can be said to defend South Carolina this season. The Gamecocks should have been a player in the SEC with LaNorris Sellers at quarterback, but it just went sour on them.
Head coach Shane Beamer remains confident that he can turn them around, predicting they’ll be in the Playoff in 2026, but a loss to Coastal Carolina would likely end his tenure in Columbia.
It wouldn’t shock me.
The Gamecocks are in a tough hangover spot after squandering a 27-point lead at halftime against undefeated Texas A&M last week, and the Chanticleers are no shrinking violets.
Coastal has scored 40-plus points four games in a row, and should be able to find paydirt often enough to give the Gamecocks a scare Saturday.
LAST WEEK: 2-1. SDSU (W), Mississippi State (L), Arkansas (W).
SEASON: 24-12
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
