Written by Robby Kalland at CBSSports.com
Five days after talking about style points and what that means for gamblers, the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 teams in the playoff rankings all lost as chaos reigned supreme in Week 11.
Week 12 doesn’t look much better on paper, but after last week when two top teams lost as 20-plus point favorites, we have to expect some form of excitement and craziness a week ahead of rivalry week.
Here is a look at the lines and odds for the biggest games of the week:
Lines you need to know
No. 8 Oklahoma (-3) at No. 10 West Virginia: The Sooners have quietly snuck back into the top 10 and, while they need more chaos to take place ahead of them, they still have a legitimate road to the College FootballPlayoff. West Virginia might still have a chance too, but it likely needs a convincing win on Saturday to impress the committee. The Big 12, which appeared dead in the water a month ago, has to rest its playoff hopes on one of these two teams, with the other getting eliminated from the conversation Saturday.
No. 2 Ohio State (-22.5) at Michigan State:The Spartans just crushed Rutgers — as has most everyone — but reality is about to hit them square in the mouth in the form of a red-hot Ohio State team. The Buckeyes are thumping everyone, and what was once expected to be a game with significant title ramifications is now a tuneup for Ohio State going into the Michigan game.
No. 21 Florida (+14) at No. 16 LSU: The Gators need a win to clinch the SEC East but are two-touchdown underdogs to an LSU team that rebounded from its Alabama loss with a beatdown of Arkansas. That same Arkansas team handled the Gators with ease, but matchups make games and the Gators’ defense against the LSU rushing attack is going to be the key in whether this stays inside that number.
Lines that may surprise you
No. 5 Clemson (-21.5) at Wake Forest: Wake was leading at Louisville for much of the game before the Cardinals went crazy in the fourth quarter to run away with the victory. The Demon Deacons play really good defense and the way the Tigers are playing — coming off the loss to Pitt — it’s a bit surprising that this is over three touchdowns. There’s certainly potential for an angry bounce-back performance by Clemson, but Wake plays teams extremely tough and over three touchdowns is a lot of points on the road.
Arkansas (+2) at Mississippi State: I know Mississippi State has shown improvement recently and beat Texas A&M, but this seems like a bit of an over-correction on the part of the oddsmakers. Arkansas has struggled with good teams, but has hammered average to below-average opponents. Mississippi State — even with Nick Fitzgerald — falls into the latter and I’m a bit stunned to see the Bulldogs as favorites in this spot.
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