Another great weekend of college football is almost upon us. Last week was a bit of a setback, but the smell of redemption is in the air. There are some truly generous lines this week. It almost feels like the bookies took the week off. Here are five great college football bets for Week 9. All lines come via Draft Kings as of Friday morning.
Notre Dame at #16 Syracuse: Syracuse -2.5 (-110)
The Week 9 college football bets start off with Notre Dame getting way too much credit. The Orange just went on the road against a top-five Clemson team and took them down to the wire. Meanwhile, the Fighting Irish are just two weeks removed from losing at home to an awful Stanford team. The fact that Notre Dame is getting less than a field goal on the road is insane.
Look for an angry Syracuse team coming off a loss to have some extra motivation in this one. Playing in the Carrier Dome against a still overrated Notre Dame team shouldn’t hurt, either. The Orange still have everything to play for, the Irish do not. I like this one up to about 10, in all honesty. If you can get alternative lines, it might be worth a look.
Florida vs #1 Georgia: OVER 56.5 (-110)
We have a classic rivalry game here at a neutral site. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to be a memorable tilt. Georgia is an absolute WAGON once again this year. Florida… is not, to put it lightly. Expect the Bulldogs to win this one handily. Will they win by enough to cover the 22.5 point spread? That is more difficult to predict.
There is one major reason why I like the OVER rather than the spread here: Junk time. Florida can’t play defense. Georgia is going to score a lot of points. Their defense will likely stifle the Gators’ offense early on in the game. The problem is that we might see Georgia’s starters leave this game early if the game is something like 41-10 heading into the fourth quarter. If that happens, we could see the Florida claw back to 41-24 against Georgia’s backups.
The OVER is the safe play in this one.
Northwestern at Iowa: Northwestern +11 (-110)
With how inept that offense is, one has to wonder how the Hawkeyes can be favored by 11 against anyone. Iowa has only scored more than 10 points in two of their seven games this year. To hell with winning by 11, Iowa will be lucky just to score 11.
Now, this is arguably the worst Northwestern team of the entire Pat Fitzgerald era. Nevertheless, all Fitzgerald teams want to play stout defense and run the football. Both teams will want to play some classic, low-scoring, Big Ten football. A double-digit spread feels massive in a game where it might not take more than 13 to win it.
#19 Kentucky at #3 Tennessee: Kentucky +12 (-110)
I think we should make something clear: There is no chance Kentucky wins this game. The Wildcats are simply not talented enough — and more specifically not explosive enough — to go on the road and beat a Tennessee team that is firmly in the National Championship conversation. However, the methodical style of Kentucky’s offense might be just what they need to cover.
Despite all of the (well-earned) hype surrounding the Vols, their defense is a glaring weakness. They can’t stop anyone. Will Levis and company will have no trouble moving the ball in this game. They should be able to chew enough clock, and score enough points to keep this game within 10.
#2 Ohio State at #13 Penn State: Ohio State -14.5 (-110)
After much deliberation, we are going to round out the Week 9 college football bets column with the biggest game of the week. The Buckeyes are headed to Beaver Stadium in what will be Penn State’s last chance to stay in the College Football Playoff hunt. Can you really trust a team to cover two touchdowns in a rivalry game, on the road, against a top-15 opponent? In arguably the toughest place to play in all of college football? In this case, yes, you can.
This Ohio State team is just built different. They haven’t won a game by fewer than 29 points since their season opener against Notre Dame. Also, it is important to note that this is not the “Whiteout” night game that the Buckeyes typically have to deal with when playing in Happy Valley.
Thanks to Fox, this game kicks off at noon. Penn State actually just played this year’s “Whiteout” game last week against Minnesota. This could leave potential for a bit of a hangover. While these games are typically close, this is not your typical Ohio State-Penn State game. Lay the points.