Written By Vegas Matty
With the Clemson, Washington State, and Washington all losing as double-digit favorites last week eyes will shift to Penn State Saturday night. The Nittany Lions opened 11.5-point home chalk at BetOnline.AG for their showdown against 19th-ranked Michigan after the Wolverines needed overtime to avoid a Hoosiers upset bid.
Penn State will be tested each of the next three weeks, visiting the sixth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes and then the 18th-ranked Michigan State Spartans following the Michigan game. The Nittany Lions have an excellent opportunity to solidify their status as the clear second choice for the College Football Playoff field should they sweep all three opponents.
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Meanwhile, the Alabama Crimson Tide SEC dominance tour continues with them hosting the Tennessee Volunteers as 34-point favorites on the heels of routing the Arkansas Razorbacks 41-9 last week. Alabama gets a bye before hosting 24th-ranked LSU and visiting the Mississippi State Bulldogs, with the 21st-ranked Auburn Tigers looking like their toughest test the rest of the regular season. On the other side, the Vols have lost three of four, putting head coach Butch Jones on the ultimate hot seat.
In the ACC, the seventh-ranked Clemson Tigers and 16th-ranked North Carolina State Wolfpack both have byes this week, before they square off in Raleigh on November 4. The Syracuse Orange stunned Clemson 27-24 last Friday as 24-point home underdogs, and they opened as 15-point road dogs at the unbeaten Miami Hurricanes this week. The eighth-ranked Hurricanes sit atop the ACC Coastal following a 25-24 come-from-behind win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
The Big 12’s lone undefeated team is the fourth-ranked TCU Horned Frogs, and they are one of this week’s biggest favorites. The Horned Frogs took care of business with a 26-6 road victory against the Kansas State Wildcats and they opened as 37-point home chalk at BetOnline.AG versus the Kansas Jayhawks this Saturday. TCU’s most difficult matchup is still to come on November 11 at the ninth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners, who bounced back from their first loss with a 29-24 win over the Texas Longhorns. Oklahoma opens as a 12-point road fave at Kansas State this Saturday.
The Pac-12 is up for grabs with Washington State and Washington falling the Stanford Cardinal and USC Trojans now lead their respective divisions. The 11th-ranked Trojans take a break from their conference schedule for their annual meeting with the 13th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who opened as 3-point home favorites at BetOnline.AG and have already been bet up to -4. The 22nd-ranked Cardinal and 12th-ranked Huskies are also on byes while the 15th-ranked Cougars opened as 11-point home chalk against the Colorado Buffaloes.
On the NFL side the biggest story surrounds how the Green Bay Packers will deal with the loss of starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers to a broken collarbone. The Packers host the New Orleans Saints after backup Brett Hundley could not get the job done in a 23-10 road loss to the Minnesota Vikings. The Saints opened as 4.5 point road favorites, over a 10 point adjustment from last week’s look ahead line for the game.
Green Bay went 2-4-1 without Rodgers in 2013 after he suffered the same injury. New Orleans has won three in a row following an 0-2 start after crushing the Detroit Lions 52-38 at home on Sunday. The Saints have dropped two of the past three meetings with the Packers but they have covered the spread in four of the previous five.
Two other prime-time NFL games worth watching include the New England Patriots hosting the Atlanta Falcons in a Super Bowl rematch on Sunday Night Football and the Washington Redskins visit the NFC East-leading Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football. The defending Super Bowl champion Patriots opened as 3.5-point favs for the Superbowl rematch. The Eagles opened as 4-point home chalk with the number trending higher through early wagering.
College Football Week 8
Houston (-3) vs Memphis
Arkansas St (-12.5) vs Louisiana
Western Kentucky (-9.5) @ Old Dominion
Marshall (-3) @ Middle Tennessee St
Air Force (-5.5) @ Nevada
Colorado St (-7) @ New Mexico
Northwestern (-1) vs Iowa
Tulsa (-6.5) @ Connecticut
Troy (-9.5) @ Georgia St
SMU (NL) @Cincinnati
Florida Atlantic (-3) vs North Texas
Buffalo (NL) @ Miami OH
Toledo (NL) @ Akron
Ohio (-20) vs Kent St
N. Illinois (-13.5) @ Bowling Green
Western Michigan (NL) @ Eastern Michigan
Michigan St (-7) vs Indiana
UAB (-7) @ Charlotte
Army (-6.5) vs Temple
BYU (-5.5) @ East Carolina
Purdue (-8) @ Rutgers
Duke (-8) vs Pittsburgh
Miami FL (-14) vs Syracuse
Central Michigan (-3) @ Ball St
Georgia Tech (-7) vs Wake Forest
App St (NL) vs Coastal Carolina
Penn St (-10) vs Michigan
Wisconsin (-23.5) vs Maryland
Virginia Tech (-21.5) vs UNC
Virginia (-7) vs Boston College
Boise St (-14.5) vs Wyoming
TCU (-37.5) vs Kansas
UTSA (-21.5) vs Rice
Umass (-7) vs Ga Southern
UCF (-7) @ Navy
Missouri (-14) vs Idaho
Miss St (-10) vs Kentucky
USF (-11.5) @ Tulane
UNLV (-3) vs Utah St
La Tech (-3) vs S. Miss
UCLA (-6.5) vs Oregon
Arizona (-1) @ Cal
Minnesota (-14.5) vs Illinois
Alabama (-34) vs Tennessee
Oklahoma St (-7) @ Texas
WVU (-10) @ Baylor
Auburn (NL) @ Arkansas
Florida St (-7) vs Louisville
UL Monroe (NL) @ S. Alabama
Notre Dame (-4) vs USC
Oklahoma (-12.5) @ Kansas St
LSU (-7) @ Ole Miss
Texas Tech (-5.5) vs Iowa St
Utah (-10.5) vs Arizona St
Washington St (-10.5) vs Colorado
San Diego St (-10.5) vs Fresno St
NFL – Listen to Monday’s Bet The Board Podcast and we Discuss NFL Opening Lines
Chiefs (-2.5) @ Raiders
Titans (-6.5) @ Browns
Jaguars (-3) @ Colts
Steelers (-6) vs Bengals
Vikings (-4.5) vs Ravens
Dolphins (-3.5) vs Jets
Bills (-3) vs Buccaneers (Winston)
Panthers (-3) @ Bears
Saints (-4.5) @ Packers
Rams (-3.5) vs Cardinals (London)
Cowboys (-5) @ 49ers
Seahawks (-7.5) @ Giants
Broncos (-2.5) @ Chargers
Patriots (-4) vs Falcons
Eagles (-4.5) vs Redskins
