The college football season heads into Week 8 with a number of intriguing conference matchups on the schedule. After digging deep into the numbers, we have uncovered a couple of golden opportunities that you should be able to take to the bank.
The following are this week’s top two plays as well as a quick look at which teams the OddsShark Consensus is backing this week. All lines quoted have been provided by Sportsbook.
Pick of the Week
Virginia Tech moved back over .500 to 4-3 straight-up after last week’s 41-20 romp over Duke as a 9.5-point home favorite, but the Hokies are just 2-5 against the spread this year. They have also struggled on the road, getting outscored by a combined 35 points in three losses. They head back on the road this Saturday afternoon to face a No. 19 Clemson team that has just one SU loss and is 4-2 ATS. The Tigers also have an offense that is ranked 11th in the nation in passing behind quarterback Tajh Boyd and 11th in scoring with an average of 41.3 points a game. This all adds up to another road loss by Virginia Tech as an 8-point underdog. Clemson 28, Virginia Tech 17
The Big Ten renews a classic football rivalry this Saturday when Michigan State pays a visit to The Big House to face Michigan as a 10-point underdog. It has been a rough go of it for the Spartans this season with a 4-3 SU start that includes an ugly 19-16 overtime loss to Iowa last week as an 8.5-point home favorite. The Wolverines come into this showdown with a rushing attack that is churning out an average of 232.4 yards a game and a defense that is holding its opponents to an average of just 17.5 points a game. This should provide the perfect recipe for Michigan to roll all over their rivals especially considering Michigan State’s inability to find the end zone this season. Michigan 23, Michigan State 10
The OddsShark Consensus
The game at the top of the list on this week’s OddsShark Consensus at 70.7 percent has the Pittsburgh Panthers covering the 10.5-point spread as a road favorite against Buffalo. The second-highest pick at 69.3 percent is the Ball State Cardinals covering on the road as a 3-point favorite against Central Michigan.
A couple of other picks high on the list has Stanford beating California by more than 2.5 points on the road at 69.2 percent and Louisiana Tech covering a huge 30.5-point spread as a home favorite against Idaho. The top play on the total line has the Rice at Tulsa game going OVER the 64-point line at 72.5 percent.
The Best of the Rest
There is a pair of huge showdowns in both the SEC and Big 12 this Saturday starting with No. 6 LSU on the road as a 3.5-point favorite against No. 18 Texas A&M in a 12 p.m. start. The back-end of this SEC doubleheader sends No. 7 South Carolina to Gainesville to tangle with the No. 2 Florida Gators. The Gamecocks are currently 3.5-point underdogs with the kickoff slated for 3:30 p.m.
The Big 12 starts off its doubleheader with No. 17 Texas Tech visiting No. 23 TCU as a 1-point favorite in a 3:30 p.m. start. The second game takes us to Morgantown for a Saturday night clash between No. 4 Kansas State vs. No. 13 West Virginia with the Mountaineers favored by 2.5 points at home.
