College Football Week 12 Odds: Predicting Top Bets Against the Spread

The new entrants into the Big 12 Conference have had a brutal 2023 college football season.

The Cincinnati Bearcats suffered the most of the arrivals into the conference. They are 1-6 in league play and things could get worse on the road against the West Virginia Mountaineers in Week 12.

West Virginia put together a solid season after its opening-week defeat to the Penn State Nittany Lions. It has a chance to finish the campaign with eight wins and land in a respectable bowl game.

Reaching seven wins is the minimum expectation with Cincinnati coming to Morgantown on Saturday, and the seven-point spread attached to the matchup makes the Mountaineers one of the easier teams to bet on against the spread.

The Indiana Hoosiers have not exactly been a must-bet team this season. but they have shown improvement in the last two weeks and have a chance to cover versus a team worse than them in the Big Ten.

Cincinnati at West Virginia (-7)

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MORGANTOWN, WV - NOVEMBER 04: West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Garrett Greene (6) throws a pass during the first quarter of the college football game between the BYU Cougars and the West Virginia Mountaineers on November 4, 2023, at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, WV. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+

A bet on West Virginia in Week 12 may strictly be a fade of Cincinnati.

The Bearcats have a single Big 12 win over fellow new arrival, the Houston Cougars, and they allowed over 20 points in all of their league defeats.

Cincinnati struggled mightily in its road defeats to the Oklahoma State Cowboys and BYU Cougars, who combined to put up 80 points on the Bearcats defense.

West Virginia has two double-digit wins and a loss on a Hail Mary to the three other Big 12 newcomers in 2023.

The victories over the UCF Knights and BYU are more indicative of the talent gap between West Virginia and the bottom part of the conference.

Garrett Greene and the Mountaineers will also use Saturday as an opportunity to take out some frustration after it lost 59-20 to the Oklahoma Sooners.

A return home against the weakest team in the Big 12 should produce plenty of offensive fireworks for the Mountaineers.

Michigan State at Indiana (-4.5)

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CHAMPAIGN, IL - NOVEMBER 11: Indiana DB Jordan Shaw (23) during a college football game between the Indiana Hoosiers and Illinois Fighting Illini on November 11, 2023 at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, IN. (Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Saturday, Noon ET, BTN

Indiana played some respectable football over the last three weeks.

The Hoosiers came up just short in an overtime shootout against the Illinois Fighting Illini last week.

That result extended a the stretch of decent football that began with the close road loss to the Penn State Nittany Lions. Indiana upset the Wisconsin Badgers in Week 10.

Indiana posted 93 points in that stretch. The Michigan State Spartans scored 84 points in all of their Big Ten contests.

Michigan State is limping toward the finish line with two games left and it is coming off a 38-3 walloping at the hands of the Ohio State Buckeyes.

There is little positivity around the Spartans program right now, while Indiana is making the best of its situation with three straight solid performances.

Indiana played the better football of late and it should come away with a home win of more than a touchdown on Saturday.

Central Michigan at Ohio (-10)

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BOCA RATON, FL - SEPTEMBER 09: DOhio Bobcats cornerback Tank Pearson (12) celebrates his interception in the third quarter during the game between the Ohio Bobcats and the FAU Owls on Saturday, September 9, 2023 at FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, Fla. (Photo by Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPNU

The Ohio Bobcats are in need of a victory on Wednesday to keep up their MAC Championship Game hopes.

Ohio is one game back of the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks. It needs a win over the Central Michigan Chippewas and a Miami loss on Wednesday to enter the final week of the regular season level on conference record.

The Bobcats face a Central Michigan side that has struggled away from home in conference play.

The Chippewas suffered two double-digit defeats and a seven-point loss on their conference travels.

Ohio has been the more consistent team during its MAC schedule, and its defense will be the key to pulling away with a double-digit win and cover.

The Bobcats allowed 104 points in conference play, which is tied for the second-best total in the MAC. Central Michigan owns a -25 point differential in the MAC.

Ohio can create the two-possession gap it needs to cover the spread with a handful of stops. It allowed one team, Miami (Ohio), to put up more than 20 points on its defense at home.

The Bobcats have the better defense and more motivation to win on Wednesday and that should push them past CMU by double digits.

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