First Reaction To G5 Week 13 Matchups ATS

The 2019 college football season is flying by, and unfortunately, we only have two weeks left in the regular season. Over the next two weeks especially in the AAC and C-USA, we have some massive games that will determine who qualifies for the conference championship games. In the AAC, Temple travels to Cincinnati with hopes of keeping their conference title dreams alive, and we have an elimination game between SMU and Navy. In Conference USA, Louisiana Tech is reeling after key suspensions and Marshall needs to keep winning to hold off FAU. Here are the early lines for Week 13 action.

Temple at Cincinnati

Spread: Temple + 11

The Owls need this game to keep their slim conference championship hopes alive. They need to beat Cincinnati and then hope the Bearcats stumble in their final game at Memphis. After getting embarrassed in back-to-back games, Temple seems to back on track after a big win over Tulane last week. Cincinnati has struggled in two of their last three games and easily could have lost to ECU and USF on the road. Cincinnati has been a much better team at home going 5-0 SU and 4-1 ATS this season. These are two of the top defensive teams in the conference and both are hard nosed teams who pride themselves on their toughness. This is a large spread for a game that could turn into a defensive battle. Look for the Owls to hang tough Saturday at Nippert Stadium.

I think Temple covers the 11 point spread

SMU at Navy

Total Points: 66.5

I was wrong about Navy last week. I felt they were going to give Notre Dame a game in South Bend. The Midshipmen fell behind early and the Irish rolled to an easy win. We will get a much better performance from Navy this week against SMU. Both teams are chasing Memphis in the west division. They both need to win out and hope Memphis losses once over the next two weeks. SMU has one of the top offenses in all of college football averaging 45 points per game. Navy is not far behind averaging almost 38 points per contest. The Midshipmen will have trouble matching up with the explosive playmakers at SMU and the Mustangs will have a tough time trying to stop the elite rushing attack of Navy. The Mustangs are 9-1 to the over this season and Navy has also been a strong team to the over going 6-3 this season. This game has all the makings of shootout Saturday afternoon in Annapolis.

I like the over 66.5 points in this key matchup

East Carolina at UConn

Total Points: 67

The Pirates have lost two straight heartbreaking games to Cincinnati and SMU. ECU went toe to toe with two of the top teams in the conference and they seem to have bought into new coach Mike Houston and his staff’s philosophy. The offense has been phenomenal recently led by quarterback Holton Ahlers. Ahlers over the past two games has 1,033 passing yards and 11 total touchdowns. It’s been another challenging season for the Huskies, but one bright spot has been the performance of running back Kevin Mensah who has over 900 yards rushing and nine scores. Both defenses have been poor this season. UConn has the third worst scoring defense in the country allowing over 40 points per game and ECU has given up 47 points per game over the last four games. The weather looks to be okay at this point, but keep your eye on the forecast as Saturday approaches. If the weather holds up this game should go over the total.

This game should go over the total of 67 points

Miami at FIU

Spread: Miami - 18.5

This game will be played at Marlins Park and it should be an interesting atmosphere between two fan bases that have only played each other three times. Last season Miami defeated the Panthers 31-17 at Hard Rock stadium. It has been an underwhelming season for FIU, and they are currently struggling to become bowl eligible. The Panthers entered the season with Conference USA Championship aspirations, but it has been a roller coaster of a season. The Hurricanes have won three games in a row, and if they beat FIU and Duke to end the season the Canes could enter next season with an impressive winning streak. These last few games are important for Manny Diaz and the Miami staff as they are trying to build a culture and sustain momentum for next season. Miami has been great on defense only allowing 19.2 points per game and they are in the top 20 in the country in total yards allowed. FIU has feasted on some of the worst teams in the country and have not beat a team with a winning record. The Panthers in their five loses have lost by an average of 21 points per game. I think FIU will be competitive for some of the game but eventually the talent of Miami will take over and wear the Panthers down.

The Canes should win and cover the spread