College Football, Week 12 and NFL, Week 11 — This Weekend’s Best Bets

Fade or follow, you make the call.  HoustonPress.com handicapper releases his selections this week off a 1-4-1 drubbing last week.  He’s 54.7% on the season.  Check out games like Notre Dame vs Syracuse from Yankee Stadium, the Bears and Vikings, the Seahawks and Panthers clash, the battle of LA in USC vs UCLA, plus more.

It’s time to start winning again this weekend. Hideous. Embarrassing. Forgettable. There are a hundred adjectives that I can drop on you to describe my handicapping performance last weekend, a wretched 1-4-1 ATS performance, in which my one win (thank you, Colts!) was by a half a point, and […]

Syracuse +10 over Notre Dame (at Yankee Stadium)
The only matchup of ranked teams this weekend takes place in a baseball stadium, with the undefeated third-ranked Fighting Irish taking on surprising Syracuse, ranked 12th in the latest CFB Playoff rankings. The nation seems to be waiting for Notre Dame to lose, and for good reason — Brian Kelly’s teams have been bad (9-12) in November, and really bad (4-11) against Power Five schools in November, over the last five seasons. This Irish team feels a little different, with two SU and ATS wins so far at Northwestern and home against Florida State in November, but a 10-point spread is a lot. QB Ian Book is back for the Irish after a week off to protect banged up ribs, but his health has to be a bit of a question mark, especially with an injury like that in cold weather. If nothing else, this game is ripe for a backdoor cover by a capable Syracuse offense in the fourth quarter.

BEARS -2.5 over Vikings
This game has been flexed into prime time on Sunday evening, and should be a lot of fun. (NOTE TO SELF: Bet against the Bears NEXT week, as they play the early game on Thanksgiving on the road, which means they basically have like 20 minutes of rest between this Sunday’s game and their next game.) This handicap for me comes down to a lack of trust of Kirk Cousins in big spots. I backed the Vikings against the Saints a few weeks ago, and was done in by Cousins’ subpar football IQ. I won’t let that happen again. I think Cousins is always going to be a .500 who throws for 5,000 meaningless yards every season. I’ll take another home favorite of less than a field goal. (FUN FACT: The last time the Bears played a Sunday night game at home? 2012, against the Houston Texans!)

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