NCAA football betting: Week 5

The following article contains information that is not representative of the opinions of CommRadio. It solely expresses the opinions of Giustino Racchini.

One of the more anticipated weekends of the college football weekend is here.

Some of the premier games across the country have different bets that some may say are easy to pick, but others that may be difficult.

Here are a couple of bets that I feel will hit this weekend, to put some more money in your pockets.

Stanford Cardinal vs Clemson Tigers: Stanford +21.5

While the Clemson Tigers have played very well after their Week 1 loss to Georgia, I have a sneaky feeling that this game could be closer than people think.

Don’t sleep on the tree.

Stanford has played two quality opponents so far this season in TCU and Syracuse and won the latter of the two contests. They also kept the TCU game within seven points.

Ashton Daniels the quarterback and company I feel like keep this one closer than predicted even though I feel they likely lose.

Illinois Fighting Illini vs Penn State Nittany Lions: Illinois +18

Penn State fans look away from this one because Illinois is coming to play.

In year two of the Fighting Illini offense, Luke Altmyer is lighting it up with 10 touchdown passes through the first four weeks of the season.

While the offense is definitely going to have to be a key this weekend, the defensive efforts for Illinois stand out more in my opinion.

The defense of both Xavier and Miles Scott has been tremendous this season as Xavier has three interceptions and Miles has two through the first four weeks.

Bret Bielema has been in the Big Ten environment for many years and has had excellent seasons at Wisconsin in the past with quarterback play from players like Russell Wilson.

I think Penn State will win this battle on Saturday at Beaver Stadium mostly due to the crowd, but this one will be closer than the line is predicting.

Louisville Cardinals vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish: ND -7

In this matchup of ranked opponents, the Fighting Irish welcome one of the more surprising teams of the 2024 season so far.

Coach Jeff Brohm and company have seen a massive jump from sixth-year starting QB Tyler Shough so far this season.

Shough has eight passing touchdowns and no picks through the first three games of the season. This will be his biggest test so far in the early 2024 campaign.

The Fighting Irish’s secondary has only allowed two passing touchdowns from opposing quarterbacks this season. The secondary also has six interceptions on the year which reinforcers the defensive mindset of their head coach Marcus Freeman.

The game may be close at times, but Notre Dame should be able to pull away comfortably in this matchup.

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Giustino Racchini is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, you can email him at gar5448@psu.edu.