It’s hard not to say Kansas hasn’t been the most impressive team in college football through the first five weeks of the 2022 season.
Not only have the Jayhawks cashed their season win total tickets, they are off to a 5-0 start for the first time since 2009.
Funny enough, Kansas beat Iowa State in 2009 for its fifth straight win of the year. The funny part? They followed that Cyclone win up with seven straight losses to end the season.
The Jayhawks are one of the five remaining undefeated teams against the spread. Along with Kansas at the top, you have TCU (4-0), JMU (4-0), Southern Miss (4-0) and Arkansas State (5-0).
Interesting enough, Kansas hosts TCU and James Madisen travels to Arkansas State. So, no matter what happens this weekend, there will be two undefeated ATS teams left going into week 7. Let’s find out who those teams could be.
TCU (4-0 ATS) @ Kansas (5-0 ATS) | Saturday | 11 a.m. CT | TCU -7 | O/U 67.5
Kyle said it best on the College Football Central Show this week, who would’ve thought that TCU/Kansas would’ve been the most talked about Week 6 game? Even the blind man couldn’t see this coming. The computer model has the Horned Frogs by nine points over Kansas on Saturday and I think TCU wins this ball game but seven points is too many. I’m expecting this to be a back-and-forth game. Overtime? Maybe so. I trust Lance Leipold. We all should. Even without running back Daniel Hishaw and with the news of linebacker Gavin Potter leaving the program, I think the Jayhawks can stay in this game and stay undefeated ATS.
Bonus thought: TCU is coming off a thrashing off Oklahoma. Did they use all the juice last week? Something to think about.
James Madisen (4-0 ATS) @ Arkansas State (5-0 ATS) | Saturday | 6 p.m. CT | JMU -11 | O/U 55.5
Is anybody up in North Dakota paying attention to what James Madisen is doing this season? You’d sure as hell hope so. The Dukes are rolling this season and take on a 2-3 Arkansas State team that’s covered all five games this season. The Red Wolves are coming off their first FBS win of the season against Louisiana-Monroe (they suck) and while that’s all fine and dandy, JMU is the much more talented team here. Getting the Dukes at less than a two touchdown favorite is a gift in my opinion. JMU has a talented pass rush and Arkansas State can’t keep its quarterback off the ground. And the Red Wolves’ secondary has problems as they rank 115th in the nation, allowing 12.9 yards per pass. The Dukes balanced offense attack should be able to win this contest by 14 points or more.
Bonus thought: JMU has some big games ahead against Georgia Southern, Marshall, Louisville and Old Dominion. They close out the regular season with a game against Coastal Carolina. The Dukes have to stay focused on Saturday.
Southern Miss (4-0 ATS) @ Troy (4-1 ATS) | Saturday | 6 p.m. CT | Troy -6.5 | O/U 44
It shouldn’t be a surprise that Southern Miss is one of the five remaining undefeated ATS teams in college football. Why you may ask? The Golden Eagles are 7-0 ATS in their last seven games overall, as well as 5-0 ATS in their last five games following an ATS win. Troy is a legit team in the Sun Belt, however. Take away that Hail Mary loss to Appalachian State, the Trojans would be 4-1 with their only loss to Ole Miss. This isn’t an official play for me … yet because Troy’s quarterback Gunnar Watson is questionable for Saturday’s matchup. The Trojans will also be without three defensive starters for this game. I like Southern Miss in this contest and I also think an extra week of preparation will help Will Hall’s squad against a banged up Troy team.
