College Football Championship Week Best Bets Friday: Predictions, Player Props & ATS Picks

College football’s Championship Week action kicks off with three games on Friday, all of which are played in one of the team’s home stadiums.

• Western Kentucky and Jacksonville State meet for the second consecutive week in the CUSA Championship
• Boise State looks for its second win of the season against UNLV to earn a College Football Playoff berth
• Army hosts Tulane in its first ever AAC Championship Game appearance 

My college football best bets as part of our Championship Week Predictions involve a play on a Heisman Trophy candidate, as well as our best ATS prediction on a matchup between two familiar opponents.

Best college football picks for Friday

College football odds subject to change. Track the college football scores for the latest line movement and matchup info.

• Ashton Jeanty first touchdown scorer () vs. UNLV  ⭐⭐
• Darian Mensah Under 184.5 passing yards (-114 via FanDuel) vs. Army  ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Western Kentucky +3.5 () vs. Jacksonville State  ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Tulane-Army Under 45.5 () ⭐⭐⭐

Friday's college football odds & schedule

(Odds via )

• Western Kentucky (+3.5) vs. Jacksonville State (-3.5), 7 p.m. ET
• UNLV (+4) vs. Boise State (-4), 8 p.m. ET
• Tulane (-4.5) vs. Army (+4.5), 8 p.m. ET

College football props for Friday

College football picks made Friday; odds subject to change. Our NEW college football player prop odds tool can help you find the best odds on any market across legal sportsbooks in your area!

Ashton Jeanty first touchdown scorer ⭐⭐

Best odds: +200 via FanDuel | Implied probability: 33.33%

Jeanty, a Heisman Trophy odds contender, scored at least one rushing touchdown in all but one game this year, and had multiple touchdowns in eight of 12. Thus, it is no surprise that his anytime touchdown totals are some of the most expensive props weekly.

I am not investing in Jeanty’s anytime touchdown odds that go as high as -2000 at Caesars. But from a pure value standpoint, his +200 odds to score the first touchdown of the game are appealing, especially since he has as low as -270 odds to score a first-half touchdown.

Jeanty has scored the first touchdown of the game in five of 12 games, and has been his team’s first touchdown scorer six total times. 

Even more amazing is that Jeanty has scored a touchdown of 60-plus yards four times on his first score of the game, which demonstrates his home-run ability.

A $10 winning wager would net $20 in profits.

Darian Mensah Under 184.5 passing yards ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Best odds: -114 via FanDuel | Implied probability: 53.27%

Tulane’s Mensah leads the AAC in both completion percentage (65.6%) and yards per attempt (9.6). And despite coming off a 317-yard performance against Memphis (his highest passing total in the last seven games), this matchup will be much different.

Mensah threw the ball just 14 times for 138 yards in a 35-0 win over another service academy in Navy two games ago.

Tulane has tried to establish a strong running game all season, as running back Makhi Hughes leads the conference in carries. 

Several factors point to a low-volume passing attack from the Green Wave.

Army leads the conference with 16 interceptions, it has the best time of possession average per game in the country, and the weather will be much colder (a high of 23 degrees is forecasted for West Point on Friday night) than the team from New Orleans is used to. 

The best price and number for this wager are found at FanDuel. Some of our other best sports betting apps have an O/U as low as 180.5, while the Under of 184.5 at BetMGM is juiced slightly more to -115.

College football game predictions for Friday

Western Kentucky +3.5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Best odds: -105 via Caesars | Implied probability: 51.22%

Western Kentucky has the momentum of last week’s 19-17 home win over Jacksonville State that clinched its spot in the Conference USA Championship. And with the Gamecocks dealing with an injury to their starting quarterback, I am backing the Hilltoppers. 

Jacksonville State starting quarterback Tyler Huff has been declared a game-time decision after leaving last week’s game with an ankle injury. 

Gamecocks head coach Rich Rodriguez said, “He's going to be limited all week. He's probably going to be up to a game time thing, how we feel if he can be effective. Certainly Tyler, running the ball is a big part of his game and a big part of our offense.”

Rodriguez was referring to Huff’s 1,176 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns this season. If Huff is ruled out, backup quarterback Logan Smothers has only attempted 19 passes this year. And even if Huff is under center, he likely will not be asked to run much.

Check out our other college football upset picks for this weekend as part of our college football predictions.

Tulane-Army Under 45.5 ⭐⭐⭐

Best odds: -108 via DraftKings | Implied probability: 51.92%

Tulane averaged an AAC-best 39.1 points per game, but was held to just 23.3 points per game in its three losses, all to teams ranked 31st or better in SP+.

Memphis held Tulane to just 3.2 yards per carry last week while possessing the ball for nearly 40 minutes. That issue should rear its ugly head again when facing an Army team that averages nearly 36 minutes per game in time of possession (the best in the country).

Memphis also converted 10-of-16 third downs last week, while Army ranks in the top-five in the country in third-down conversion rate. 

Instead of backing Army on the point spread, the Under is the better play. The Black Knights rank eighth in the country in scoring defense (15.1 points per game allowed), while Tulane shut out its only service academy opponent this year (a 35-0 win over Navy). 

All of our sites with the best sportsbook promos are in unison with the total of 45.5 points, but DraftKings is the only one offering better than the standard -110 juice to back the Under.

College football betting odds pages

Here are our best college football betting sites:

• Caesars Promo Code: SBRBONUSDYW | Read our Caesars Review
• BetMGM Bonus Code: SBRBONUS | Read our BetMGM Review
• bet365 Bonus Code: SBRBONUS | Read our bet365 Review
• FanDuel Promo Code | Read our FanDuel Review
• DraftKings Promo Code | Read our DraftKings Review

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