College Football Parlay Picks for Week 5 (2021)
The college football season has officially steamed into the month of October. The first four (err…five) weeks of play have been filled with upsets, chaos, surprises, and plenty of lasting memories. With all ten Power 5 conferences set to ramp up their league play in the coming weeks, things only figure to intensify. It’s not hard to enjoy a fall Saturday of college football, but having some skin in the game only makes things that much more intense.
Of course, when it comes to our weekly college football parlays column, we’re trying to cash some tickets that pack a punch. We did just that last week and will look to ride the momentum into what is hopefully another winning Saturday! Read on for our two featured college football betting parlays for Week 5.
All odds taken from DraftKings Sportsbook
Check out all of our college football game previews and picks of the week >>
Week 4 College Football Parlays Recap
While we had a few major sweats courtesy of Buffalo and Louisiana Tech, both of our Week 4 featured college football parlays were ultimately winners. Our two-point spread picks of Arkansas and Air Force easily took care of business. All four moneyline favorites in both five-leg parlays managed to score victories and ensure that we cashed winning tickets at +219 and +224 odds. Let’s keep the ball rolling and start the month of October off right with some more winners, shall we?
Week 5 Featured College Football Parlay #1
Our first featured parlay for this week is a doozy. We are combining three ATS picks together on a single ticket and going for a major win to start October strong. The college football betting market has sided with two of these plays already based on line moves throughout the week. The third play offers up a fantastic situational handicap to round out this +619 ticket. Let’s take a closer look at each game.
Michigan at Wisconsin (-2.5)
Every week, there are always a handful of “smelly†point spreads. Well, for Week 5, this Big Ten clash is without a doubt the smelliest of them all. Despite coming into the week with an undefeated record and a No. 14 ranking in the AP Poll, Michigan is catching nearly a full field goal on the road against Wisconsin. For as impressive as Jim Harbaugh’s team has been to date, Paul Chryst’s Badgers have arguably been the complete opposite. While the Wolverines were dispatching of a game Rutgers team last week, Wisconsin was blown out of the Windy City by Notre Dame. And yet, the Badgers opened as the betting favorite and have even taken sharp money and been bet up a full point from -1.5 earlier in the week. Stinky, stinky indeed!
The struggles of the Badgers’ offense last week were rooted in the poor job by the offensive line up front. In fact, this has become a bit of a common theme this season. Quarterback Graham Mertz has lost his confidence due to constantly being under pressure. As a result, he has become extremely turnover-prone. The Badgers enter this game with a 1-2 record but certainly can’t play any worse than they did last week. One could also argue that Michigan’s four wins to date didn’t exactly against high-caliber opponents. The bottom line is we have the betting market driving a line that favors a below-.500 team against an unbeaten squad with a top-15 ranking. Las Vegas has a way of being right on these things, and we’ll leave it at that.
Nevada (+5) at Boise State
This is actually a massive game as far as shaping the Mountain West Conference going forward is concerned. Nevada will hit the blue turf coming off a bye week as they look to score an upset over perennial conference favorite Boise State. The last time we saw the Wolfpack in action two weeks ago, they lost outright by 21 at Kansas State, a game in which they were actually a short betting favorite. Star quarterback Carson Strong was not at his best in the Little Apple, and Nevada also failed to get any sort of rushing attack going. However, this is still a talented team that beat Pac-12 foe California on the road earlier this season.
Meanwhile, Boise State shook off a complete officiating screw-job in their loss to Oklahoma State by putting it on Utah State last week. While the final score of 27-3 would suggest that the Broncos dominated, it’s worth noting that the Aggies did a good job of beating themselves, evidenced in their three turnovers and 13 penalties. Nevada is a much more experienced bunch and is unlikely to make that many mistakes in a big-time spot. The onus will be on the Broncos’ defense to slow down Strong and a dynamic Wolfpack offense. The college football betting market has backed Nevada throughout the week, and we’ll look to do the same in our parlay.
Louisiana Tech (+17.5) at North Carolina State
After getting out to an early lead last week, Louisiana Tech failed to score in the second half. We had to sweat them out as moneyline favorites in one of our college football parlays, but the Bulldogs ultimately emerged with a seven-point win over North Texas. However, it’s worth noting that starting QB Austin Kendall did miss the contest. At any rate, LA Tech’s two wins this season have come by a combined 10 points. At the same time, their two losses have both come down to the final play of the game and by a total of three points. The close losses to Mississippi State and SMU are almost more encouraging than narrow wins over the Mean Green and FCS opponent Southeastern Louisiana.
This week, Skip Holtz’s ball club heads to Raleigh to take on North Carolina State of the ACC. The Wolfpack are coming off an emotional upset win over Clemson in overtime last week. While that was a statement victory, to say the least, it could also lead to a bit of a letdown this Saturday. Dave Doeren’s Wolfpack squad is solid, but far from world-beaters. Clemson simply is not the dominant force that we’ve grown accustomed to in recent seasons. LA Tech and NC State do have a common opponent in Mississippi State. The Bulldogs lost in Starkville by one and had a field goal attempt at the end to win that sailed wide. The Wolfpack lost in Starkville by 14 the following Saturday. Louisiana Tech might not spring an outright upset this week, but covering the spread as 17.5-point dogs is more than doable.
Week 5 Featured College Football Parlay #2
With a high-stakes, high-payout ticket serving as our first featured parlay for Week 5, this second one is a bit more conservative. While it is probably a much easier ticket to get behind given that it features five home favorites on the moneyline, the potential payout is not nearly as rich at +152 odds. Nonetheless, it’s an intriguing parlay with only one team being shorter than a 4-1 favorite. Additional commentary on each individual selection can be found below.
Duke at North Carolina (-1125)
The fact that Duke was in a dog fight with Kansas and actually trailed at halftime of last week’s game pretty much says it all. They may come in with a worse record, but North Carolina is a much more talented team. Look for the Tar Heels to get back on track after last week’s debacle against Georgia Tech.
South Florida at SMU (-1500)
Give South Florida some credit for putting together a second-half rally at BYU last week to at least make the final score respectable. Unfortunately, they fell short and remained winless against FBS competition on the season. Meanwhile, SMU comes in unbeaten and off an upset of Big 12 opponent TCU. The Mustangs should roll at home.
UNLV at UTSA (-1500)
Jeff Traylor’s Roadrunners continue to impress. After upsetting Memphis at the Liberty Bowl last week, UTSA returns home to take on a winless UNLV squad. Among the Rebels’ losses to date is a home defeat at the hands of FCS-level Eastern Washington. UTSA should assert itself as the superior team they are in this matchup.
Auburn at LSU (-150)
This is by far the closest matchup being included in this college football parlay. LSU wasn’t exactly a team many were rushing to back following a disappointing start to the year. Well, the Tigers responded by earning an impressive win in a tight ball game at Mississippi State last week. Side note: For a team not actually included among this week’s plays, Miss State has certainly gotten a good chunk of coverage in this column!
At any rate, the Tigers now return home to Baton Rouge and will welcome in SEC rival Auburn. Primetime in Death Valley is not an environment any road team is itching to venture into. In addition, this is an Auburn team that needed an officiating gaffe just to beat Georgia State last week. The number is short, but it’s hard not to like LSU in this spot.
Northwestern at Nebraska (-450)
Nebraska is coming off of a gut-wrenching overtime loss at Michigan State last week. Scott Frost’s team continues to show signs of improvement and plenty of fight. If they can clean up the special teams, the Huskers should have no trouble with a bad Northwestern team at home.
Other Week 5 College Football Bets to Consider
While the two featured parlays above have been constructed for you, the beauty is that bettors can mix and match to build their own parlays as they wish. Not convinced on any of the picks above? Looking to build an even bigger parlay? This section is for you! Below are a handful of other college football wagers to consider for Week 5. We’ve even included last week’s record for each category in parenthesis to further assist bettors when choosing additional bets to include in their college football parlays. Good luck with all of your NCAAF bets this week and enjoy the games!
Moneyline Favorites of Various Degrees (3-0)
Georgia (-1125)
Kent State (-850)
West Virginia (-280)
Air Force (-450)
Fresno State (-435)
Moneyline Underdogs with Bite (2-1)
TCU (+155)
Georgia Tech (+130)
Nevada (+210)
South Alabama (+350)
Point Spread Plays (3-1)
Troy (+7)
Mississippi State (+7)
Tulane (-3)
LSU (-3)
Over/Under Options (1-1-1)
Air Force at New Mexico (Over 46)
Louisville at Wake Forest (Over 63)
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Henry John is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Henry, check out his archive and follow him @HankTimeHenry.