3 Best College Football Bets and Player Props for Week 12

Each week in college football, there are tons of games available to us.

While this can be a bit overwhelming, it also gives us plentiful college football odds we can target at FanDuel Sportsbook. From the biggest games of the week all the way on down, we're never lacking for options.

Which college football betting lines are the best ones to target this week? Let's take a look.

College Football Betting Picks and Player Props for Week 12

Notre Dame at Pittsburgh

Mason Heintschel Over 263.5 Passing Yards (-114)

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have definitely improved on defense since the early part of the season. I think this line is just a bit too low, though, for freshman breakout QB Mason Heintschel.

In its first two games this season, Notre Dame gave up 27 and 41 points against the Miami (FL) Hurricanes and Texas A&M Aggies, respectively. It was the home game against the Aggies that really set off alarm bells -- although A&M has proven to be an elite team -- and things didn't get any quieter the next week when a bad Purdue Boilermakers squad put up 30 in South Bend.

Things have been much better since as ND has let up more than 13 points in only one of its last six games and now ranks an impressive 13th on defense, per ESPN's SP+.

But I'm not sure how good the Irish really are on defense. They've mostly beat up on lesser competition during this recent stretch, and the one game where they surrendered more than 13 points came against their toughest foe in that time as the Southern California Trojans scored 24 at Notre Dame behind Jayden Maiava's 328 passing yards.

Heintschel is really slinging it lately, putting up at least 304 passing yards in four of his past five games, including a 423-yard outburst two games ago. He's attempted 48 and 38 passes in his last two outings despite both being wins of 15-plus points.

While the Irish will obviously be a difficult test, Heintschel is playing great, and with the Pittsburgh Panthers a 12.5-point underdog, game script could result in Heintschel having to air it out often in this noon ET matchup.

Oklahoma at Alabama

Alabama -5.5 (-118)

The Alabama Crimson Tide host the Oklahoma Sooners at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday in a battle of two of college football's blue bloods. I like the Tide to cover at home.

'Bama has more than recovered after a surprising season-opening loss to the Florida State Seminoles. The Tide have gone unbeaten since, including impressive road Ws at the Georgia Bulldogs and Missouri Tigers.

Alabama has been especially strong at home, winning by at least 11 in every home affair, and they've had home games against the Vanderbilt Commodores (16th by FPI) and the LSU Tigers (22nd), so it's not like they're beating up on only little guys.

Oklahoma is fresh off a bye, and any path they have to getting into the playoff starts with notching a win in Tuscaloosa -- so they're a dangerous team.

But OU's strength is its defense, which ranks third by SP+, and that defense hasn't held up all that well against elite competition the last two games, giving up 34 at home to the Mississippi Rebels and then 27 at the Tennessee Volunteers. If Ty Simpson and Alabama's offense can have success, I'm not sure OU's offense can keep up against a 'Bama defense that is 10th by SP+.

Purdue at Washington

Washington Over 168.5 Rushing Yards (-114)

The Washington Huskies are 16.5-point home favorites over Purdue, and the Huskies' offenses should eat all day -- especially on the ground.

Purdue's defense is not good. They rank 82nd by SP+ for the season, and they've been gashed by ground games over the last four weeks, permitting 209.7 rushing yards per game in that time. While half of those four games came against the Ohio State Buckeyes and Michigan Wolverines, the other two were versus the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and Northwestern Wildcats.

Washington's run game can take advantage.

The Huskies are averaging 35.5 rushing attempts per game, and they've put up an average of 200.4 rushing yards per game at home. That average would look even rosier if we removed Washington's 61-yard rushing day at home versus OSU.

Also, it surely doesn't help Purdue's chances Saturday night that this is by far their longest road trip of the season as the only other time they played a road game that wasn't in a state bordering Indiana was a trip to Minnesota, which still isn't that far away from West Lafayette.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.