College Football Parlay Picks: Saturday, October 17

Following a full slate of midweek action on the gridiron, Week 7 of the college football season gets underway in earnest with a massive slate of games on Saturday. We have a showcase game in the Big Ten (Ohio State vs Indiana) as one of the clear highlights on the card, along with a pair of massive showdowns in the SEC between Alabama and Tennessee and Missouri and Ole Miss. Elsewhere, we have a huge top-10 matchup between Notre Dame and BYU in a game that could go a long way to deciding if the Fighting Irish get a first round bye in the College Football Playoff.

Ahead of another fabulous weekend of college football, it’s time to break down our weekly CFB parlay, consisting of our expert's favorite plays of the week at massive +1319 odds, courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook. For more predictions and analysis, be sure to check out our CFB picks for every FBS game this year, as well as our CFB best bets for our most confident selections this week.

Ohio State vs Indiana 1st Half Under 24.5 (-114)

BYU team total under 17.5 (-132)

Georgia State ML (+330)

Week 7 CFB Parlay odds: +1319

CFB Parlay Pick: Ohio State vs Indiana 1st Half Under 24.5 (-114)

A season ago, we saw these teams take on each other in the Big Ten title game, and that game was a defensive struggle of the highest order. In fact, there were just 23 combined points in that contest, and I'm anticipating a similar script this time around. Indiana is no stranger to lower-scoring games this season, and the Hoosiers are clearly led by their excellent defense (13th in yards per play, 15th in success rate allowed) that is surrendering just over 18 points per game in Big Ten play to this point. On the other side, Ohio State's tendency in big games this season has been to grind out scoring drives and lean on its defense to make plays and get stops when it needs to. I expect the clock to be running early and often in a game where both teams should keep things pretty close to the vest early on. With that in mind, I can only look toward the under in the first half.

CFB Parlay Pick: BYU Cougars team total under 17.5 vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-132)

Unfortunately for BYU, I don't see a path for the Cougars to win this game given the edges Notre Dame holds on both sides of the ball. However, rather than lay the big number with the Irish, I'll target the Cougars team total under instead. The Fighting Irish are among the very best defenses in the country, and it's essentially a nightmare to throw the ball against this secondary (5th in EPA per dropback). Furthermore, the Irish also do a great job of generating pressure on the opposing quarterback, with Notre Dame sitting at third nationally in Havoc rate. That doesn't bode well for a BYU team that is going to need to provide Bear Bachmeier with time to throw, especially on late downs. The Cougars are already a poor passing offense, but they have been able to rely on their strong ground game in years past. However, with LJ Martin out of the lineup for the foreseeable future, that absence looms large against a Notre Dame defense that is ranked fourth in success rate allowed on the year.

Don't miss our expert's full Notre Dame vs BYU prediction

CFB Parlay Pick: Georgia State Panthers ML over James Madison Dukes (+330)

For the final leg of our parlay, we'll go to the Sun Belt for an important matchup between the Georgia State Panthers and James Madison Dukes. Georgia State has been a team that I've bet on all season long, and I still think the Panthers are slightly underrated in the market against a James Madison side that is a bit overvalued after getting out to an undefeated start through the first six weeks. The Dukes are undeniably the favorites in the Sun Belt, but this is a defense that can certainly be had (ranked 70th in adjusted EPA per play) and the Georgia State passing offense has been a well-oiled machine this season (16th in EPA per dropback, 22nd in passing success rate). The situational spot should also favor the underdog, as James Madison has a rivalry game against Appalachian State on deck next Thursday. Instead of taking the points, I'll take a shot with the Panthers to continue their excellent form with an outright upset on the road.

Grab our expert's full Georgia State vs James Madison prediction