The Week 4 college football schedule is light on Top 25 matchups, as we only have three of them, but this is a good week to really dig in and take a look at the teams given that a lot of them are playing their final tune-up for conference play. Of course, conference play has already started for a decent number of teams, including some SEC barnburners last week.
Texas Tech vs. Utah, Illinois vs. Indiana, and Auburn vs. Oklahoma are the three Top 25 matchups, and all of them could have some long-ranging impacts in the College Football Playoff picture. There are several games that are not marquee in nature that have seen some line movement and it is always a good exercise to take stock of where a line opened, where it moved initially, and then follow it throughout the week.
Check out the DraftKings College Football Betting Splits and Circa College Football Betting Splits to follow line moves all week long!
Week 4 College Football Odds Report
Lines as of Sunday, September 14 at 8:00 p.m. PT
The Week 4 college football schedule is light on Top 25 matchups, as we only have three of them, but this is a good week to really dig in and take a look at the teams given that a lot of them are playing their final tune-up for conference play. Of course, conference play has already started for a decent number of teams, including some SEC barnburners last week.
Texas Tech vs. Utah, Illinois vs. Indiana, and Auburn vs. Oklahoma are the three Top 25 matchups, and all of them could have some long-ranging impacts in the College Football Playoff picture. There are several games that are not marquee in nature that have seen some line movement and it is always a good exercise to take stock of where a line opened, where it moved initially, and then follow it throughout the week.
Rice (-4, 42.5) at Charlotte
Thursday, 7:30 p.m. ET
The week begins with this American Conference clash and we’ve seen some differences in opinion already. DraftKings opened this one at 6.5 and Fanduel got there early as well, but early bettors scooped the perceived value on the 49ers and now we sit as low as 3.5 in the market. Circa was at 4 at time of writing, just a half-point down from where they opened late Sunday morning.
Tulsa at Oklahoma State (-13, 56.5)
Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Tulsa is obviously not a household name, but there are some sharper groups and individuals out there that do really like this team. Even though the line movement on the Golden Hurricane was wrong two weeks ago against New Mexico State, we have some interest in them again this week. Influential bettors stayed away for the most part last week against Navy, but have jumped back on the train here against an Oklahoma State team that got thoroughly embarrassed by Oregon two weeks ago and is coming off of a bye.
SMU at TCU (-7, 63.5)
Saturday, Noon ET
This rivalry game in the DFW Metroplex is always a fun one, as SMU heads to Fort Worth to battle TCU. TCU got whacked pretty hard off of the 4.5 opener at Circa. DraftKings opened TCU -5.5 and now most of the market sits 7. The Mustangs weren’t overly impressive and didn’t come close to covering the number against Missouri State, while TCU played Abilene Christian last week. We’ll have to wait and see if 7 is the point of resistance or if we see the sportsbooks push out to 7.5 in hopes of getting a good idea of how the action will go the rest of the week.
Auburn at Oklahoma (-6, 49)
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET
Jackson Arnold’s return to Norman should make for a hell of an atmosphere in this game. Oklahoma was -4.5 at DraftKings shortly after open and one-way money on the Sooners pushed the line out to where it is now. Other books did meet some resistance at 6 or 6.5 and simply stopped there. Oklahoma feels like more of a known commodity than Auburn at this point, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see this one get pushed out to 7 before possible buyback takes us back to this point.
North Carolina at UCF (-6.5, 49)
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET
This is a great spot for the sportsbooks. Circa opened this one at 6 and got bet up to 7 before somebody came back in and scooped the key number to take the line back down to 6.5. Finding your place around a key number early in the week is always a good thing, especially in a game that might have a little bit of interest given the Bill Belichick factor. DraftKings actually opened this at 3.5 and got bet all the way up to 7 before also finding out that 7 was a buy point on the Tar Heels.
Troy at Buffalo (-6, 42.5)
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET
What a roller coaster ride this seemingly uninteresting game has been already. Troy is without QB Goose Crowder. Buffalo almost lost to lowly Kent State last week. The dust seems to have settled with Buffalo anywhere from -6 to -7, but this line was all over the map earlier. Circa actually had this game at 12.5 at open and it was immediately corrected. DraftKings opened around -1.5 and got shoved up to -3 before money kept coming in. Like I said, a seemingly uninteresting afterthought of a game, but betting is the great equalizer in that regard.
Florida at Miami (FL) (-7.5, 52)
Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET
I am a very interested observer in this line. My Week 4 College Football Power Ratings do have Miami favored by a little more than this, but I am fascinated to see how Florida is approached. The Gators had five turnovers last week in the 20-10 loss to LSU. That’s an outlier type of thing and we often see line moves on teams that have a quirky box score. But, the Hurricanes are a juggernaut thus far and Florida lost to a South Florida team that Miami just decimated over the weekend. The market was pretty spread out on this one as of Sunday night, ranging from 7.5 to as high as 9.5. Circa opened 9 and took Florida money right away.
Illinois at Indiana (-4.5, 52.5)
Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET
This line is particularly interesting as well. DraftKings actually opened Indiana under a field goal favorite and the line shot up quickly. Circa opened 5, got hit down to 4, and then settled in at 4.5. It doesn’t take much to move around a number between 4 and 6, so I’m curious to see what the next move is for a group or deep-pocketed individual on this game. Illinois was a CFP candidate over the offseason due to their returning production. Indiana looks good again under Curt Cignetti. Massive game that could draw a pretty big betting handle as one of the marquee games on an otherwise lacking slate.
Keep an eye out for more line movements by tracking our VSiN College Football Betting Splits.
