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College football Week 6 action report: Sharps like Iowa over Michigan

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Before you make your college football bets this weekend, it's worth knowing which side other bettors are backing - especially on games drawing sharp action.

We talked to Jay Rood, Bet.Works' chief risk officer and theScore Bet's head trader, to see how sharps and public bettors are playing the Week 6 slate.

No. 14 Iowa at No. 19 Michigan

Current line: Michigan -4

Michigan looked dead in the water two weeks ago after a blowout loss to Wisconsin, but the Wolverines found their groove in last week's 52-0 home win over Rutgers. Two weeks removed from the Wisconsin debacle, Michigan once again takes center stage for a top-20 matchup against undefeated Iowa.

"(This game is) drawing the most action of any of the college games this week," Rood said.

The Wolverines looked solid in last week's lopsided victory, but sharps are all over Iowa; the Hawkeyes opened as 5-point 'dogs but were getting four points as of Friday evening. The public likes them, too, betting them at a four-to-one clip over Michigan.

No. 7 Auburn at No. 10 Florida

Current line: Auburn -3

Though the Big Ten matchup is drawing more betting action, the game of the week is in Gainesville, Florida, where the Gators are 3-point home underdogs against Auburn in a clash of undefeated SEC juggernauts.

Rood said the money on each team was roughly dead even as of Friday, though Auburn was drawing a four-to-one advantage in ticket counts and parlays. Sharps, in turn, are buying Florida, which has managed to keep its winning streak alive without starting quarterback Feleipe Franks.

In two games without Franks, the Gators outscored Tennessee and Towson by a combined 72-3 margin, scoring at least 34 points in each contest. But Saturday marks a much tougher test for Florida, which is 3-8 against the spread as a home 'dog in the last 20 years and 2-7 ATS in its last seven home games versus SEC teams.

North Carolina at Georgia Tech

Current line: North Carolina -10.5

The week's biggest public darling is North Carolina, which was one failed two-point conversion away from upsetting then-No. 1 Clemson at home. Fresh off that loss, the Tar Heels head to Atlanta as hefty road favorites with plenty of public support.

UNC opened as 8.5-point chalk but had been bet to -10.5 as of Friday, fueled by Georgia Tech's on-field incompetence amid a seven-game ATS losing streak. The Yellow Jackets lost to The Citadel (FCS) two weeks ago and scored just two points in last week's ugly loss to Temple.

Still, this could be a trap game for the road favorite. The Tar Heels are 1-9 straight up in their last 10 trips to Bobby Dodd Stadium and were underdogs in all 10 games. They're now double-digit road favorites for only the fifth time this decade, with a first-year head coach and a first-year quarterback.

No. 11 Texas at West Virginia

Current line: Texas -10

Surprise, surprise: The Longhorns are earning public support as double-digit favorites, this time on the road against conference foe West Virginia.

After going 2-2 ATS with two half-point ATS losses, Texas is drawing the most attention from public bettors behind UNC, according to Rood. Sharps have pushed the betting line from an opening -11.5 down to -10 toward West Virginia, setting up Saturday's game as a classic Pros vs. Joes tilt.

Though both teams are 3-1 straight up, the records don't tell the whole story: Texas has three impressive wins and dueled No. 5 LSU for four quarters, while the Mountaineers were routed by Missouri in Week 2 and narrowly edged a middling Kansas team a week ago.

C Jackson Cowart is a betting writer for theScore. He's an award-winning journalist with stops at The Charlotte Observer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Times Herald-Record, and BetChicago. He's also a proud graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, and his love of sweet tea is rivaled only by that of a juicy prop bet. Find him on Twitter @CJacksonCowart.

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