College Football Betting: Three Things To Know Heading Into Week 7 of the 2022 Season

Last week was…not fun. Yeah, let’s just say it like that so I don't go into some expletive laden tirade that will get my blood pressure rising above its already unhealthy level. As a gambler, you expect to have bad days every once in a while. You learn to live with it and move on because dwelling on a rough patch isn’t a fun or productive exercise. That said, every once in a while you have a slate that causes a little piece of you to die inside.

For me (as is probably clear by now) that was last weekend. It started with Memphis blowing a 13-point lead in the final two minutes of their game against Houston, and somehow got worse from there. Maybe it was watching Kirby Smart trot out his f***ing starters in the fourth quarter up 25 points just to cover the spread for some ungodly reason, or maybe it was watching Kansas State’s Malik Knowles get the ball punched out at the one-yard line on a would-be 70-yard touchdown only for KSU to fail to cover by a single point. But Saturday was…not fun. You can use your imagination on the words actually going through my head.

On that note...here's this week's three things to know before betting on what should be the most exciting Saturday of the year. 

1. Can Anyone Catch CJ Stroud?

As a personal matter, I don’t care much for season-end awards and bickering about who is going to win what. Futures aren’t my thing as a gambler, and I don’t really care to fight over who should win the Most Improved Player Award in the NBA or something silly like that. But, somehow, the Heisman transcends most other year-end awards and feels important enough to talk about.

Entering Week 7, the real question is whether anyone can stop CJ Stroud, who sits at around -140 right now, from lifting the trophy. The obvious answer is “yes.” Stroud has put up some ungodly numbers thus far, but he wasn't particularly impressive in the Buckeyes' best win of the year against Notre Dame (using the term “best” is generous but this is a prettiest-girl-in-rural-North Dakota situation) and he’s going to have to show up in big matchups with Penn State and Michigan. On top of that, the Heisman is hopelessly biased towards winning teams, so any slip by the Buckeyes would almost certainly kill his chances.

My gut tells me that OSU survives the gauntlet and Stroud wins the trophy, but the value is in a long shot right now. Bryce Young, anyone?

MORE: College Football Week 7 Predictions

2. Meaningless Musical Chairs

Every Sunday I see some headline on ESPN talking about the new order for the top of the rankings and who has jumped or fallen among the best teams. Honestly, I do not give one f**k anymore. So long as there’s a 0 at the end of their record, the answer is that it doesn’t really matter. Switching between who sits at #1 based on who blows out some helpless team by the most points is a total waste of time, and I’d rather they just stop annoying me with it.

Sure, there’s some value to recognizing who has been the most impressive or who the pundits/coaches feel is deserving. Especially when you sift through the rest of the undefeated teams outside the big three, it’s interesting to look at who holds confidence and who the voters expect to tumble. But, ultimately, most of these teams are going to lose before season’s end and the important rankings will be mostly settled on the field, not on some voting sheet. Come find me with the list when the conference championships are on the horizon.

MORE: Best Bets to win the 2022-23 National Championship

3. It's Time To Weed The Garden

You asked for big games and boy did you get them (I have no clue if you actually asked, stop fighting me and roll with it). This week features three massive matchups between undefeated programs: Michigan vs. Penn State, Alabama vs. Tennessee and Oklahoma State vs. TCU — all of which have fairly large implications for conference championships and the College Football Playoff (that may be a bit generous to the Big 12, but let’s roll with it).

Obviously, the SEC battle is the crucial one with Tennessee looking to knock off the tide in Knoxville (God, they don't pay me enough), but each team is dealing with some issues as far as personnel between Bryce Young’s injury and Jaylen McCullough getting arrested on felony assault charges Sunday evening. The other two battles should be fun to watch as well, but nothing really compares to college football in the south and I don’t trust any Big Ten team not named Ohio State in the national landscape. Either way, get ready for some dominos to fall and for a little more clarity come Sunday; just don’t show me a f***ing poll about it.