College Football

'Bear Bets': The Group Chat's favorite bets in Michigan-Penn State, Week 11 games

Updated Nov. 10, 2023 9:08 a.m. ET

Week 11 of the college football season is here!

FOX Sports' Chris "The Bear" Fallica and Geoff Schwartz had a lot of thoughts on this week's slate, as did FOX Sports contributors Sam Panayotovich and Will Hill.

There are some highly anticipated matchups this week, so the Group Chat segment of the latest "Bear Bets" episode broke down the games from a betting perspective.

Let's get right to their thoughts!

Penn State (+4.5) will look to finally get over the hump against a top-ranked opponent in Michigan (noon ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app). Do you have any faith in Penn State pulling off the upset, or do you have other plays you like?

Sammy P: Lean Michigan -4.5

"This is just a whole hornets' nest thing, where you wanna fly in there and just rattle Michigan's thing for the last two, three weeks. It just feels personal at this point. We still don't know which teams are throwing daggers at other teams. … I just feel like if [Jim] Harbaugh has the chance, he's going to run this thing up. My concern, stylistically, in this game is that Penn State can't move the ball down the field. I think there's concerns about Drew Allar."

Hill: ‘Screams' Under 45.5

"[Michigan] and Penn State are pretty good on defense. … It'll be interesting if Penn State realizes early on — it reminds me of the Ohio State game, which was just methodical and very low-scoring — that at what point, ‘Hey, we can't run the ball, so we're gonna try and take some chances down the field.' To me, this is like a 20-13, 21-14 type of game."

Schwartz: Maybe Penn State +2.5 first half, Michigan -4.5?

"This is Michigan's first time this season playing anyone that has a pulse, and they're on the road. Penn State's a good football team. Everything you've said about their offense is absolutely true, but this feels like a situation where it's tied 10-10 at halftime and, just like last season, the second half belongs to the better team."

The Bear: Penn State Under 20.5

"I think my first question when I handicapped this game was, how many points can Penn State score? I think it goes in line with what Will and Sammy were saying. I think 20 points is the max for Penn State."

Michigan vs. Penn State showdown best bets Week 11

Utah and Washington (-8.5) meet in Seattle (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app), as both teams jostle for positioning to get into the conference championship game. Do you like any plays in this one?

Schwartz: Over 49.5

"I never thought I'd say this about a Utah team this year, but I actually like the Over in this game. You look at Washington's defense, it's not very good, and there's not a lot of depth there. They've been buoyed by fourth-down defensive success and turnover luck. … On the flip side, I don't think Utah's defense is equipped to stop Washington very much."

Can Bryson Barnes, Utah defeat Michael Penix Jr., Washington?

USC appears to be in turmoil following its loss to Washington last week. Are you giving it any chance to cover the 14.5-point spread at one-loss Oregon (10:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app) on Saturday?

Schwartz: Oregon -14.5

"I'm going to put it simply: Oregon's going to win this game by a lot of points, [more than 15]. It's going to be somewhere in the 55-28 range, is my guess. … When Caleb Williams and when this USC offense has played similar defenses to Oregon, it scored 20 points against Notre Dame and only 25 against Utah. Oregon's defense is just as good, or better than Utah's and just as good as Notre Dame's.

Hill: Oregon Over 44.5 points

"USC's going to move the ball. I just don't know if Oregon's going to punt at all in this game. Oregon's point total is probably the better play because it might score every time it has the ball."

The Bear: Lean Oregon -14.5

"I wonder if USC might be better on defense if it onside kicks the ball after every score or try to sneak a 12th man on defense and see if the officials notice it. It clearly doesn't work. It's embarrassing how bad they are."

Week 11 Upset Alert: Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma

What other plays do you like or are you looking into?

The Bear: UCF +2.5 vs. Oklahoma State

"Oklahoma State. I think they are ripe for an upset this week. UCF finally won a league game last week. It should've beaten Oklahoma in Norman. Don't you think it should be UCF or pass here?"

UCF vs Oklahoma State, Arizona State vs. UCLA best bets, predictions, odds

Schwartz: Colorado +10.5 vs. Arizona

"This is a dead spot for Arizona. Two straight home games against ranked opponents, and you win both of those. You're on the road at Colorado, who's not very good, and it's a noon kickoff. You also have Utah at home next week."

Sammy P: SMU -16.5 vs. North Texas

"I don't think SMU's [starting quarterback] is going to play, but they really like their backup. Someone told me in Vegas that SMU has six guys that can score touchdowns on any play. North Texas has two."