Week 8 of the college football season delivered another round of chaos as three top-10 teams — BYU, Ole Miss, and Texas Tech — all suffered losses. With Week 9 odds now released, attention turns to potential upsets, including No. 6 Utah visiting Cincinnati as a 6.5-point road favorite and a first-ever Big Ten matchup between USC and No. 2 Ohio State.
Other notable lines feature No. 13 Texas Tech favored by 3.5 over No. 22 Arizona, No. 3 Georgia laying 12.5 points against No. 17 Florida, and Northwestern traveling to face Oregon as a 3.5-point underdog. The games are scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 31.
SportsLine's computer model, which simulates every FBS game 10,000 times, enters Week 9 on a 68-59 run on top-rated picks, returning nearly $400 at betting sites. The model has locked in score predictions for every matchup and is backing multiple underdogs to win outright.
One highlighted projection has Oregon (-3.5) defeating Northwestern 30-21, with the Ducks covering the spread 62% of simulations and the over (47.5) hitting 58% of the time. Oregon enters the game in a desperation spot after three losses and the firing of offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer following a 21-10 loss to Illinois. Northwestern rides a four-game winning streak, though those victories came against teams with a combined one Big Ten win, and the Wildcats lost to Indiana in their only true road test against quality competition.
Key Week 9 lines include: Arizona at Texas Tech (-3.5, 54.5), Notre Dame at Navy (+30.5, 56.5), Auburn at Ole Miss (-12.5, 57.5), Florida at Georgia (-12.5, 55.5), Utah at Cincinnati (+6.5, 56.5), Northwestern at Oregon (-3.5, 47.5), South Carolina at Oklahoma (-4.5, 44.5), Clemson at Florida State (-6, 49.5), Miami at North Carolina (+14, 52.5), Mississippi State at Texas (-20.5, 50.5), and Ohio State at USC (+6.5, 51.5). Odds via FanDuel and subject to change.
