2010 College Football Lines Week 14: Conference championship games in the SEC, ACC and BIG 12 will take center stage in Week 14 of the 2010 College Football season. While most schools have wrapped up their schedules, there are still several good games on the horizon for the week beginning Thursday (8 PM ET, ESPN) when No. 23 Arizona hosts Arizona State.
Bragging rights will be on the line the for this annual rivalry game between the Wildcats and Sun Devils. BetUS.com and most offshore sportsbooks list the Wildcats as 5 1/2-chalk favorites versus ASU.
There will be a college football double-header on ESPN2 Friday night beginning with the MAC Championship Game from Ford Field in Detroit, when the Miami-Ohio Redhawks and Northern Illinois Huskies go head to head (7 PM). Then at 10:15 pm, BIG TEN member Illinois (6-5) travels to play the Fresno State Bulldogs of the WAC, who finished their regular season schedule with a 7-4 record. Northern Illinois is chalked a 17-point favorite versus Miami in the early game while Fresno State is getting 5-points as a home underdog.
For No. 1 Auburn, more than just a conference championship is on the line when they play No. 19 South Carolina in the SEC Championship Game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Saturday (4 PM ET, CBS). The Tigers, winners of the SEC West, and East champs South Carolina will vie for the SEC Championship. If Auburn wins they will be assured of a place in the BCS Championship Game on Jan 10, 2011, probably against No. 2 Oregon. An Auburn loss would put South Carolina in a BCS Bowl, most likely the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4. Auburn is listed as a 4 1/2 chalk favorite by several offshore sportsbooks.
No. 15 Virginia Tech and 21 Florida State, winners of the ACC Coastal and Atlantic Divisions, will battle for the ACC Championship in Charlotte, N.C., with kickoff set for 7:45 PM ET (ESPN). The winner gets the ACC's automatic BCS bid, projected to be the Orange Bowl in Miami. Virginia Tech is favored by -4 in this one.
BIG 12 North winner No. 13 Nebraska will battle with South representative 9 Oklahoma in the BIG 12 Championship Game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington Texas. The winner of this game gets the BIG 12 automatic BCS bid. The Sooners are lined at most sportsbooks as 3 1/2-chalk favorites.
A champion has yet to be decided in the BIG EAST as Pittsburgh, Connecticut and West Virginia are knotted atop the standings with 4-2 league marks. All three of the leaders will be in action with Noon kickoffs Saturday, so it will be interesting to see how things shake out there.
No. 23 West Virginia host's Rutgers (ESPN2), Connecticut travels to Tampa for a game with USF (ESPN) and Pitt travels to play Cincinnati. Oddsmakers list West Virginia the favorite by -20 versus Rutgers, Connecticut is a road fav at USF, and Pitt is a +2 road dog to Cincinnati.
Pac-10 play will continue on Saturday with three rivalry games beginning with the "Civil War Game" between No. 2 Oregon and Oregon State (3:30 pm, ABC), Washington at Washington State and USC at UCLA. The Ducks are favored by -16 vs. the Beavers, Washington is a 6-chalk road favorite versus WSU and USC is giving -6 1/2 as favorite versus UCLA.
Conference USA will crown a champion on Saturday (Noon, ESPN, to be determined by the outcome of their championship game between SMU and Central Florida. The Golden Knights get the home field and the -9 favored chalk in this one.
