CFB Power 5 Conference Championship Week Best Bets

No. 21 Northwestern is 0-6 straight up and 1-5 against the spread in its last six games against No. 6 Ohio State. But are the Wildcats a good bet on Saturday?

The No. 21 Northwestern Wildcats are 0-6 straight up and 1-5 against the spread in their last six games against the No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes. It is time for this ATS slump to end this Saturday when the Wildcats and Buckeyes meet in the Big Ten Championship Game.

Northwestern is a 14-point underdog on the Big Ten Championship Game odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. Let's get the obvious out of the way first; if the Buckeyes play like they did against Michigan last Saturday, they will blow Northwestern away this weekend.

But how often have the Buckeyes brought their A-game this season? Ohio State is 0-3 ATS in its last three games coming off of an ATS win, most recently following up a 26-6 win over Michigan State with an ugly 52-51 overtime win over Maryland as 14-point favorites. The Wildcats don't have Ohio State's talent, but they do consistently bring their best effort and are entering this game on a 7-1 SU run. Take the 14 points on Northwestern.

Fading the 12-0 SU and 8-4 No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide isn't going to be anyone's idea of a good time, but +13 is too many points to pass up on with the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs on the SEC Championship Game odds. Georgia will far and away be the best team that Alabama has faced this year.

With a defense that ranks 12th in the nation in total defense allowing 304 yards per game and 10th in scoring allowing only 17.2 points per game, the Bulldogs could follow in the footsteps of LSU and Mississippi State this season in holding this juggernaut offense to under 30 points. And unlike those two teams who got shut out, the Bulldogs have an elite offense to go along with their defense. This should be a competitive game throughout.

Lastly, take the OVER 78 on the Big 12 Championship Game odds, with the matchup between the No. 9 Texas Longhorns and the No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners. Bookmakers can't set the total high enough on the Sooners who have averaged 53.3 points per game and allowed 47.3 points per game across their current 4-0 OVER streak.

Texas defeated Oklahoma 48-45 for 93 combined points last time around and there isn't much reason to expect a better defensive showing from either team in the rematch.