College football predictions: JD PicKell gives picks for top Week 4 games
Get ready for more college football predictions for the biggest games of Week 4 of the 2024 season as On3’s JD PicKell gave us the must-watch games.
There are some big headliners but some absurd lines. Still here at On3, no one will shy away from making picks even with lines that might make you look twice.
PicKell broke down the biggest games of the weekend and made his predictions. Let’s dive in.
Nebraska (-8.5) vs. Illinois
PicKell: “Nebraska right now is rolling, 3-0. Vibes are immaculate. They should be. I said this many times. You feel like for the first time, you weren’t imagining it the whole time, you were just telling yourself that Nebraska was close. And then every single year, they end up losing like a million close games. They’re 3-0 right now for the first time since 2016 which just so happens to also be the last time Nebraska made a bowl game. So it’s all working. Like I said, vibes are great … How do you handle that this is the spot now? (Especially with a) Bret Bielema coached Illinois team? We’re gonna find out. Because Illinois now, they’re also ranked.”
Nebraska plays Illinois in an intriguing Big Ten game Friday night, with the Huskers hosting. Both teams come in ranked in the AP Poll at No. 22 and 24, respectively. For PicKell, he wants to see how Nebraska can maximize QB Dylan Raiola. If they hit that next gear, this could be a signature win early.
However, Illinois has a very opportunistic defense, forcing two-plus turnovers a game. But since it’s in Lincoln, Nebraska is over a touchdown favorite in this game. PicKell is leaning towards a slow start for Nebraska but the Huskers will win this one and eventually cover.
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USC (-5.5) at Michigan
PicKell: “(Michigan is) trying to hit reset a little bit here, you know … Davis Warren, unfortunately, it’s like, ‘Hey, we got to make a switch here. Davis Warren, we love you. Alex Orji, we feel like right now is going to give us a better chance to win football games.’ So they announced that yesterday they made that switch during the game. Here’s the opportunity for Michigan. There’s a ton on the table for USC, and we’ll talk about that. But for Michigan now, they’re trying to hit reset on their season. If you go beat USC with all the buzz, they’ve generated at this point in the year … I think at that point you say okay, we fixed the quarterback position, we fixed the offense. We’re still Michigan, we still won the whole darn thing a year ago.”
This is a massive opportunity for USC, especially going to the Big House for a Big Ten game. PicKell noted this is a chance to “flip the optics” when it comes to Lincoln Riley against teams like this, with this style.
Michigan has a chance to silence the critics and prove they’re still a player in this year’s Big Ten, despite roster and coaching turnover. But PicKell said Texas put out a blueprint to handle this Wolverines team. PicKell is going to take USC in this one, 28-21. So place your bets on the Trojans to cover.
Tennessee (-6.5) at Oklahoma
PicKell: “The atmosphere will be electric. The place will be on fire. Very, very curious to see what the reception is for Josh Heupel … I would say, at this point in time, the best offense in college football is coming to you … Like, I want to make this very clear, every single fan that I have interacted with from the Oklahoma fan base, there has not been one inkling of, well, I don’t know if we’re going to fit into the SEC. I don’t know if we’re up to par. Like, no, we want to be in this. Like, this is the creme de la creme of college football. We consider ourselves a creme de la creme program in college football. Like, bring it on. Let’s ride. So I love that mentality. I love that from Oklahoma, they’re not running from any of the smoke, and they’re going to have a chance now to get after it here in their first game in the SEC against Tennessee.
“Now, for Tennessee, there’s a lot of emotions baked into this one. I mentioned Josh Heupel coming back to Norman. There’s a ton of excitement, obviously, too, with the way your team has played to this point this season. For Nico Iamaleava, first true road game, how do they handle that?”
PicKell is hyped for this one, as every college football should be. But when you look at Oklahoma, he can’t get over the defensive concerns, especially against Nico Iamaleava. The coaching prowess of Josh Heupel’s offense is too much for the Sooners.
So while the Sooners would love to spoil Heupel’s return to Norman, Tennessee is going to have too much. It’s time to take Tennessee for real in 2024 as a legitimate contender. PicKell picked the Volunteers to win and cover convincingly.
Utah (-1.5) at Oklahoma State
PicKell: “Cam Rising, he came back for games like this … So we’re gonna learn a lot about Utah in this game. Utah also with Cam Rising, (injury) situation with his hand, everything I’ve seen is indicating he’s going to play in this game. We’ll see what happens, but I’m gonna go ahead and predict this game as if this is situation where Cam Rising going to play. Now for Oklahoma State, I think you got to feel whether they say it or not, some sense of, disrespect feels like the wrong word, but maybe some sense of ownership over this conference, because Utah’s getting a lot of headlines. People are talking about Kyle Whittingham and everything he did at the Pac-12. And like, if you’re Oklahoma State, like, wait a second, we’ve been a top dog in this conference for a long time …
“The matchup, to me, is the unstoppable object versus the immovable force. Oklahoma State, you want to get Ollie Gordon going. Hasn’t really happened just yet. You haven’t seen him really break loose just yet against formidable opponents. But I think in this game now, we say this a lot, like your best players in your biggest spots have to be the guys that you go to. Ollie Gordon, very obvious. He’s their best player.”
PicKell likes Rising to ad lib some things and that could give the Utes the advantage. Without Gordon breaking through for Oklahoma State, yet, it gave PicKell pause in this game.
Offensively, Utah is favored over Oklahoma State’s defense. Plus, PicKell loves the big play ability from Whittingham’s crew. It’s tough to pick a road favorite, but PicKell likes Utah to win and cover in Stillwater.