College Football Week 8 Betting Odds, Trends & Predictions

19

Oct 2015

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College Football Week 8 Betting Odds, Trends & Predictions

Heading into Week 8 of the college football season I am riding a perfect 3-0 run in last week’s top picks for FootballBetting .com and after breaking down my top plays on this Saturday’s schedule I really like my chances for another big payday. The following is a quick look all three plays based on betting odds from 5Dimes.

Saturday, Oct. 24

Virginia Cavaliers at North Carolina Tar Heels (-15)

The Cavaliers have lost five straight games on the road dating back to last season and they are just 2-4 against the spread in their last six road games, but current form could be their biggest issue heading into this ACC clash. They needed three overtimes to get past Syracuse 44-38 this past Saturday as seven-point home favorites for just their second straight-up win of the year. Virginia’s main issue has been a defense that is allowing an average of 36.2 points a game.

The Cavaliers’ porous defense should play right into the hands of a North Carolina team that has won five-straight games behind and offense that is scoring 40 points a game complementing a defense that is ranked 18th in the nation in points allowed (17.3). North Carolina is 5-0 SU in the last five meetings in this border war and the streak goes to six with a SU win on Saturday by more than the 15-point spread.

Connecticut Huskies at Cincinnati Bearcats (-13)

The Huskies have now lost four of their last five games following a 2-0 start and there is no real reason to believe that they can turn things around this week as solid underdogs on the road. Connecticut is 5-14-3 ATS in its last 22 road games and 1-3-1 ATS in its last five road games against the Bearcats. Also working against its chances is an offense that is averaging just 19 points a game.

This is not the best Cincinnati team we have seen in recent years at 3-3 on the year, but its passing offense is still ranked seventh in the nation in total yards behind quarterback Hayden Moore, who has taken over for an injured Gunner Kiel. Overall, the Bearcats are scoring an average of 36 points a game and they had BYU on the ropes this past Saturday before a fourth-quarter collapse in which the Cougars scored 21 unanswered points. That is not going to happen this time around against the Huskies.

Florida State Seminoles (-5.5) at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

I went with the Seminoles last week as 6.5-point home favorites in a 41-21 romp against Louisville and I like their chances to roll against this Saturday to remain unbeaten on the year. They are currently 6-0 SU with a 3-3 record ATS and they have won six of their last seven road games against Georgia Tech SU. Florida State is averaging 33 points a game, but its defense has been the story so far with a points-allowed average of just 15.2.

The high expectations for the Yellow Jackets have turned into one disappointing performance after another with a SU record of 2-5 through seven games. Their current losing streak reached five games (both SU and ATS) with last Saturday’s 31-28 loss to Pittsburgh as three-point home favorites. Georgia Tech still boasts one of the top ground games in the nation with an average of 285.7 yards a game, but its defense is having trouble keeping opposing teams out of the end zone. This will once again be the case on Saturday night.