Another week and we have another top 5 matchup on the college football slate. It isn’t a surprise seeing a SEC team ranked No. 1 in the AP poll but it is when Texas is that team. The Horns’ first season in the conference has been a boon so far and they’ll get another crack when they host No. 5 Georgia on Saturday night. This is the second straight game against a top 20 foe and the third this season for the Longhorns, who easily covered the first two meetings and have been a success at the Crypto Sportsbook with five payouts in six games. The Horns are a 3.5-point early line favorite. There are two other matchups between ranked teams with one getting significantly more attention than the other. The loser of the No. 7 Alabama at No. 11 Tennessee game will be dealt a playoff blow. Both squads have one loss and Bama is a 3-point favorite.
College Football Betting Lines
Week 8 College Football Parlay Card Wagers
Iowa -5.5 at Michigan State
Army -15.5 vs. East Carolina
Nebraska / Indiana UNDER 50.5
I’m getting closer so maybe that elusive first college football parlay win is right around the corner. It’s been frustrating since I usually have a few parlay wins by this point, but it also shows just how unpredictable wagering on the games can be. Sportsbooks allow line changes in your favor and that worked for me in Minnesota’s 21-17 win over UCLA. The Gophers opened as a 5.5-point favorite with the closing line at -3.5, which they covered. I also backed Iowa State -3 in its 28-16 win over Virginia. I expected points in the San Jose State-Colorado State contest and I was right. The teams didn’t get me enough though falling one point shy of cashing the OVER.
Hopefully it’s not too late to jump on the Army bandwagon. I was actually backing them in their Week 5 matchup with Temple but didn’t include the pick in the article since it was a Thursday game. And the Black Knights covered the spread in that game just like they’ve done in all six contests.
We typically don’t see service academies dominate like Army has this season. They lead the nation in rushing and face an ECU squad that just surrendered 311 yards on the ground in a loss to Charlotte last week. Army hasn’t allowed more than 14 points in a game this season and the Pirates aren’t a juggernaut leaving the Black Knights with enough to cover.
The best Big Ten matchup of the week takes place in Bloomington where the undefeated Indiana Hoosiers host the one-loss Nebraska Cornhuskers. IU has racked up a ton of yards and points this season averaging 515.7 and 47.5 respectively to rank among the top 6 nationally in both categories. However, I’m not sure they’ve faced a defense as good as Nebraska’s.
The Huskers held five of their six opponents to 10 points or less and allow just 4.4 yards per play. Indiana is stingy on defense as well giving up just 14.8 points per game and an average of 255.7 yards. Those groups will have the better end of the deal keeping the score below the total of 50.5.
As long as the Iowa Hawkeyes don’t play a good team they can dominate. And I’m not ready to put Michigan State in that category after losing three in a row. Granted, two of those losses were to powerhouse programs Ohio State and Oregon, but narrow wins over Maryland and FAU didn’t inspire a lot of confidence. Iowa’s only losses were by a point to unbeaten Iowa State and at Ohio State a few weeks ago. They rebounded from that setback with a 40-16 payout victory over Washington in Week 7.
The difference this year is the Hawkeyes have an offense averaging nearly 30 points to go along with its usual smothering defense. And the Spartans are a work in progress on offense ranked 103rd nationally in yards per game and 118th in scoring. I’ll lay the 5.5-points to back Iowa.
I backed Oregon as my honorable mention pick last week and the Ducks came through with an outright win as a 3.5-point dog. Two straight HM pick wins have me at it again and I’m backing Georgia and the points on the road in Austin. They haven’t been as dominant as in years past but UGA has exceptional talent and there’s plenty at stake with a loss a debilitating blow. I expect the Bulldogs to answer the bell in a game they need.
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