Clay Travis' College Football Picks For Week 15: Winners On Championship Saturday, Take SEC Under To The Bank

We went 6-6 last weekend running our season total to 80-96, a poor result on the regular season, but at least one that hasn't gotten worse over the past three weeks when we've managed to stay in positive territory. 

I leave for Israel on Thursday, and I'm going to be there for all the conference title games this weekend. 

Rough math tells me that the SEC title game kicks off at 11 p.m. in Israel and the Big Ten and Big 12 title games don't kick off until 3 a.m. on Sunday morning. So, yeah, I'm in a tough spot in terms of keeping up with everything that happens with these games from over there. 

Plus, I have no idea how widely distributed American football is in Israel. I know it was super easy to find the games in Australia, but curious to find out about Israel. If you are in Israel, by the way, and have a sports bar you'd suggest where American, or foreign, football fans gather to watch games, I'd love to hear the suggestions. That seems like a pretty cool experience. 

For the record, I'll be doing the Clay and Buck show from Israel all next week, I'm going to tour the terror sites and experience what life is like for Israeli's since Oct. 7. 

So the content next week should be unique to say the least. 

And as a history buff, I can't wait to see and tour all the sites there. 

Okay, with that in mind, here are my seven college football winners for the weekend:

HONOLULU, HI - OCTOBER 12: Ashton Jeanty #2 of the Boise State Broncos celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the second half of the game against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex on October 12, 2024 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)

UNLV +3.5 at Boise State

Barry Odom's coaching job at UNLV so far is one of the great untold stories of college football. Five years after being fired at Missouri he's playing Friday for a chance to take the Running Rebels to the college football playoff. 

Who would have ever foreseen that coming?

Meanwhile, Boise State, which spent much of the past nearly 20 years battling for a chance to make the playoff, now is achingly close to a playoff bid as well. 

Which is why I defy anyone who told us that the playoff would hurt interest in college football to explain why millions of people will be watching this game with major rooting interests. 

The playoff is GREAT for college football. 

But I digress, UNLV, which lost earlier this year, is playing loose, Boise State hasn't been playing well for much of the past month, I like UNLV to win this default playoff game outright.  

Iowa State vs. Arizona State -2.5

Did I mention that the college football playoff is great for all fans of the sport?

Without a 12-team playoff, no one but fans of these two teams would care one iota about Iowa State vs. Arizona State, neither team is within hailing distance of a four-team playoff so it would have zero implications. 

But with a playoff spot on the line?

Heck, it's a default playoff game too, our second of this coming weekend!

That makes two playoff games -- one Friday and another early Saturday morning.

Arizona State has won five in a row. 

Make that six as the Sun Devils punch an improbable playoff ticket with their Big 12 title and cover the number as well.  

ATHENS, GEORGIA - NOVEMBER 16: Carson Beck #15 and Dylan Fairchild #53 of the Georgia Bulldogs celebrate after a touchdown during the second quarter against the Tennessee Volunteers at Sanford Stadium on November 16, 2024 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Georgia +2.5 vs.Texas and the under 49.5

I love the under here, it's my blood bank guarantee for the week. 

So tap the veins, boys and girls, and get your bets in now. 

After surviving eight overtimes and poor play for much of the night, I expect Kirby Smart to dial back in with his Georgia defense and the Texas defensive performance Saturday in Aggieland was absolutely elite. 

We've already seen these teams play once in Austin and Georgia's defense took over that game. 

This time I think both defenses come to play in Atlanta, but ultimately it's a Georgia home crowd that carries the Bulldogs through to an SEC title with a 20-14 win over Texas. 

Giving us a double win on the under and the Bulldogs. 

Penn State coach James Franklin has his team in position to play for the Big Ten title despite loss to Ohio State. (Credit: Getty Images)

Penn State +3.5 vs. Oregon and the under 49.5

After Penn State lost to Ohio State a month ago, Nittany Lion fans were despondent when it came to winning big games in the conference. 

Then, boom, Ohio State chokes against Michigan and out of nowhere Penn State is in the Big Ten title game playing for an overall number one seed in the playoff. 

Oregon, on the other hand, remains the only undefeated major conference team and wants to lock down a bye and lock down the number one overall seed too. 

I expect Penn State, which doesn't have a ton of offensive explosion, to strangle the offense out of this game and both defenses to dominate. 

The end result?

A 20-17 win for one team. 

Which team?

It won't matter if you have Penn State +3.5 and the under. 

But it will be Penn State, pulling off the upset and winning the Big Ten. 

Clemson +2.5 vs. SMU

I'm torn on this game because Clemson has been difficult to predict all season. 

Meanwhile SMU hasn't blinked at all over the past three weeks. 

Ultimately, I come back to this: Clemson has been in these kind of games a ton of times over the past decade and SMU hasn't. I think that matters with a playoff berth on the line for SMU. 

Clemson covers and pulls off the outright upset to win the ACC title and steal a playoff bid. 

...

There you have it, seven winners for conference title weekend. 

And I can't wait to see the playoff bracket unveiled. 

Let's get rich, kids!