Ivan Herrera 
Welcome back to another exciting season of CFB! We are starting the conference championship weekend with the Conference USA, Mountain West and American Athletic title games. Two of these games (CUSA and MWC) are rematches of close regular season games.
The purpose of this article is to break down the college football main slates, both on the DFS and betting sites. The article includes my favorite plays at every position as well as honorable mentions. You can also find my favorite bets under my Dragos Best Bets section.
Conference USA: Jax State (-4) vs Western Kentucky (O/U 59)
The first game on Friday’s three-game slate is the battle for Conference USA supremacy, featuring Jax State against Western Kentucky. This is a rematch from the last week of the season, in which Western Kentucky beat Jax State 19-17 at home. This time Jax State will have the pleasure of hosting Western Kentucky with much higher stakes on the line
Favorite Plays:
JaxState: Tre Stewart (RB, $8500) is the best play on the JaxState side. If starting quarter back Tyler Huff was 100% he would be one of the best plays on the slate, but he is dealing with an ankle injury and is listed as a GTD. Because of that I am going with the Gamecocks leading back Stewart. He is averaging 5.9 yards per carry and he had 85 yards on 20 carries against this same WKU last weekend. With the uncertainty at quarterback I’m expecting Stewart to see a slight uptick in workload. WKU is one of the worse teams against the run ranking 122nd in CFB allowing 208.2 yards. JaxState ran for 229 yards against them last week so I am not expecting anything to change in the Gamecock game plan.
WKU: Caden Veltkamp (QB, $7700) is one of the best quarterbacks on the slate. Veltkamp was second in passing yards for a CUSA quarterback with 2665 yards, he was 38th in all of CFB. He was also 19th in passing efficiency with 153.58 and 24th in passing touchdowns (22). The JaxState passing defense has been ok this season finishing the regular season ranked 73rd in passing yards allowed (221.7). In last week’s game Veltkamp threw for 301 yards but he only threw one touchdown pass which hurt him in DFS. He was a bit unlucky to not score more, and if JaxState allows him to complete 60% of his 40+ attempts again, he should be in for a much better DFS performance. Kisean Johnson (WR, 6800) is Veltkamp’s top target, he finished the regular season with 65 receptions for 830 yards and six touchdowns. In the last five weeks of the season he averaged 5.6 receptions for 67.4 yards and had two touchdowns. Easton Messer (WR, 5000) and Dalvin Smith (WR, 4100) have both been solid options for Veltkamp but they struggled to finish off the year. Both averaged less receptions in the final five games than they were averaging coming into that stretch of games.
Other Plays for the Game: Michael Pettway (WR, $3900). Elijah Young (RB, $6200)
Mountain West: Boise State (-4.5) vs. UNLV (O/U 57.5)
The second game on the slate is the much-anticipated rematch between Boise State and UNLV. In their first game at UNLV, the Broncos managed to survive a back-and-forth slugfest with a 29-24 victory over the Rebels. This time, Albertsons Stadium in Boise will have the pleasure of hosting these two in a battle for a CFP spot.
Favorite Plays:
Boise State: Ashton Jeanty (RB, $12500) should be the Heisman favorite given the incredible season he is having at Boise. Jeanty comes into the slate ranked first in rushing yards (2288), touchdowns (28), and yards per carry (7.33). The Rebel are one of the best rush defense in CFB. They are ranked 10th, allowing 101.1 yards and 1.2 touchdowns per game. In his Week Nine game against UNLV, Jeanty had 128 yards, a touchdown, and three receptions for 11 yards. That was Jeanty’s worse game of the season, he had fewer DK points against Portland State but he didn’t play the 2nd half. This game should be very similar with Jeanty having to earn his yards, but I expect him to make a statement to everyone watching before leading the Broncos to a CFP spot. Maddux Madsen (QB, $6400) had one of his best games of the year against UNLV because like every other opponent the main focus is on Jeanty. With his price I like Madsen a lot because UNLV will stack the box in the first half against Jeanty so Madsen should have space to throw to his receivers.
UNLV: Hajj-Malik Williams (QB, $9600) has been one of the better dual-threat quarterbacks since taking over for Sluka who left early in the year due to NIL issues. In his matchup against Boise State, Williams was able to finish with 279 yards and three total touchdowns. Similar to the first game, for UNLV to have a shot at the end Williams will have to find a way to produce both with his arm and legs. His best target all season has been Ricky White III (WR, $8000). White is one of the better wide receivers in CFB, ending the regular season 18th in receiving yards (1020) and fifth in receiving touchdowns (11). Boise State did a great job holding him to just five receptions for 57 yards in their first game but I’m expecting a much better performance as he looks to spoil Boise State’s CFP chances.
Other Plays For the Game: Cameron Camper (WR, $4400). Jacob de Jesus (WR, $4000). Latrell Caples (WR, $3100). Jai’De Thomas (RB, $5200)
American Athletic: Tulane (-4.5) vs Army (O/U 45.5)
The final game on the slate is the only game that doesn’t feature a rematch from earlier in the year. Tulane is making their third straight AAC title game, they beat UCF in 2022 but fell to now ACC members SMU last season. Meanwhile Army is looking to defend their turf and capture their first ever Conference title in school history in their first season in the AAC.
Favorite Plays:
Tulane: Makhi Hughes (RB, $8000) is looking to get back on track after being shutdown by Memphis last week in a game that cost them a chance at the CFP. Hughes had a season low 15 rushing yards and 6.1 DK points, which snapped his eight game streak of 19.9 or more DK points dating back to his 16.4 game against Oklahoma in Week 3. Army has one of the better rush defense on paper but over the past two weeks they have struggled to contain the running game. Over the last two games Army has allowed 397 yards against the two best rushing offenses they faced all year. Hughes has played against three top 25 rush defenses this season averaging 71.3 yards against them and scored a touchdown. If Hughes does struggle, then it’ll be up to Darian Mensah (QB, $5800) to carry this team like he did last week against Memphis. If Mesah does have to lead this Green Wave side, then Mario Williams (WR, $5100) should be in for a good game. He led Tulane in receptions (48) and yards (831) this season after transferring over from USC.
ARMY: The Army offense revolves around Bryson Daily (QB, $10300). Daily has been effective running Army’s triple option. He led all CFB QBs with 1354 rushing yards, which was also good for 9th in all of CFB. He has no value as a passer so for him to succeed he will need to continue his great rushing season. Kanye Udoh (RB, $5900) was Army’s second leading rusher behind Daily and he’ll need to support Daily if Army wants to win their first Conference title in school history. He averaged 6.2 rushing yards per carry which was .5 more than Daily.
Other Plays For the Game: Noah Short (RB, $4400). Dontae Fleming (WR, $4500). Alex Bauman (WR, $3400)
Drago’s Best Bets:
- Western Kentucky ML (+150) vs Jax State
- Boise State -4.5 (-108) vs UNLV
- Army +4.5 (-108) vs Tulane
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