College Football Week 8 opening lines, odds and best bet: Take the point with the 'Dogs

College football is truly the best sport in the world. What an awesome weekend of football in Week 7. Well, that may depend on which team you cheer for or bet. As many as 7 ranked teams lost over the weekend, headlined by a 3rd defeat in as many weeks for Penn State – which sent coach James Franklin packing – and Indiana beating Oregon in Eugene. Could you imagine being told 3 years ago that Northwestern beat Penn State in Happy Valley the same day the Hoosiers beat the Ducks in Oregon? This is why college football is so awesome.

Week 8 is sure to pack another massive punch for us college football fans. There will be five ranked matchups scattered throughout the day on Saturday from LSU vs. Vanderbilt at noon ET, to Ole Miss vs. Georgia at 3:30pm ET, to a trio of incredible primetime showdowns in Tennessee vs. Alabama, USC vs. Notre Dame and Utah vs. BYU. Let’s take a look at the early lines available on bet365 as of Monday morning in those games and the rest of the big games on the Week 8 card, and cap it off with a best bet after USC cashed in for us last week – improving our early-week best bet record to 4-2. Don’t forget to check Pickswise throughout the week for all of our NCAAF predictions. 

Week 8 CFB opening lines and odds 

• Liberty -10.5 (-115) vs. New Mexico State – Tuesday, October 14
• Delaware -2.5 (-110) @ Jacksonville State – Wednesday, October 15
• UTEP -3 (-105) @ Sam Houston State – Wednesday, October 15
• East Carolina -16.5 (-110) vs. Tulsa – Thursday, October 16
• Miami -13 (-115) vs. Louisville – Friday, October 17
• Nebraska -6.5 (-110) vs. Minnesota – Friday, October 17
• Cal -10.5 (-110) vs. North Carolina – Friday, October 17
• Houston -2.5 (-110) vs. Arizona – Saturday, October 18
• Tulane -10 (-110) vs. Army – Saturday, October 18
• TCU -3 (-110) vs. Baylor – Saturday, October 18
• Boston College -1.5 (-110) vs. UConn – Saturday, October 18
• Duke -3 (-110) vs. Georgia Tech – Saturday, October 18
• Vanderbilt -2.5 (-110) vs. LSU – Saturday, October 18
• Oklahoma -4.5 (-110) @ South Carolina – Saturday, October 18
• Michigan -5.5 (-110) vs. Washington – Saturday, October 18
• Appalachian State -11.5 (-110) vs. Coastal Carolina – Saturday, October 18
• Indiana -26.5 (-115) vs. Michigan State – Saturday, October 18
• Auburn -2 (-105) vs. Missouri – Saturday, October 18
• Ohio State -27.5 (-110) @ Wisconsin – Saturday, October 18
• Georgia -7 (-110) vs. Ole Miss – Saturday, October 18
• Clemson -9.5 (-110) vs. SMU – Saturday, October 18
• Texas A&M -7.5 (-110) @ Arkansas – Saturday, October 18
• Boise State -10.5 (-110) vs. UNLV – Saturday, October 18
• North Texas -4.5 (-110) vs. UTSA – Saturday, October 18
• Texas Tech -11.5 (-110) @ Arizona State – Saturday, October 18
• Florida -10 (-110) vs. Mississippi State – Saturday, October 18
• Oregon -16 (-110) @ Rutgers – Saturday, October 18
• UCLA -3 (-110) vs. Maryland – Saturday, October 18
• Iowa -3.5 (-110) vs. Penn State – Saturday, October 18
• Alabama -8 (-110) vs. Tennessee – Saturday, October 18
• Notre Dame -7.5 (-110) vs. USC – Saturday, October 18
• Utah -3.5 (-110) @ BYU – Saturday, October 18
• Florida State -17 (-110) @ Stanford – Saturday, October 18

CFB Best Bet: Mississippi State Bulldogs +10 over Florida Gators (-110)

Ten points? The Florida Gators are 10-point favorites over an SEC opponent? Maybe I’m falling for one of those “traps,” but I just don’t see it. Not to mention the fact that Mississippi State enters this contest following a bye week. While the Bulldogs didn’t look good at College Station prior to their week off, it’s not like Florida looked much better this past weekend. After a 2-touchdown first quarter, the Gators proceeded to be forced into punts on each of their 4 drives in the second quarter, managed just 3 points in the third quarter with a turnover and a punt, and turned the ball over on their first 2 drives in the fourth quarter. 

Playing at home is certainly beneficial for almost every single team in the FBS, but despite being at home, Florida’s offense is not a unit that instills remotely enough confidence to warrant laying double digits. In fact, the egg Florida laid at home against USF highlights just how low the floor can be with this unit. In addition to being flagged 11 times in that game, the Gators were just 4/12 on third down and averaged just 4.2 yards per carry – against an AAC opponent. 

Mississippi State isn’t a world-beater defensively, but the Bulldogs are a sound unit on that side of the ball. Since Week 3, they are top-50 in yards per play, points allowed per quality drive and passing downs PPA, in addition to top 60 in PPA per rush allowed. On the other side of the ball, the Bulldogs have been great on standard downs over the last 5 weeks, and they lead the country in points scored per quality drive in that time frame. Moreover, there’s a massive turnover-margin disparity between these teams, as Mississippi State is 34th in FBS matchups while Florida ranks 116th.

Don’t get me wrong, I still have Florida favored in this game, but it’s nowhere near 10 points. Give me the Bulldogs with the double digits. I’d play it down to 8.5, as they were 8-point underdogs at Tennessee just a few weeks ago – who is power rated higher than Florida.

Now find our NCAAF best bet for the mid-week Group of 5 games