Each week of the college football season gets a little bit bigger and a little more important. Not only for the teams that are vying for some conference hardware or a College Football Playoff spot, but also for players hoping to get seen by NFL scouts and talent evaluators. Time is gradually running out, as we’re looking at Week 8 college football odds, but a lot of big moments are yet to come.
The grind of the season will start wearing on teams more and more. Consistency is the hardest thing to achieve in sports and we get examples of that week after week. For the teams exceeding expectations or living up to lofty ones, the pressure will keep mounting.
Let’s take a look at some of the Week 8 college football odds, the early movement, and the big games.
Check out the DraftKings College Football Betting Splits and Circa College Football Betting Splits to follow line moves all week long!
Week 8 College Football Odds Report
Lines as of Sunday, October 12 at 10:20 p.m. PT
Louisville at Miami (FL) (-13, 53.5)
Friday, 7 p.m. ET
Friday night ACC action has Louisville against Miami and this should be a game that gets a lot of betting public attention. And I really don’t think that the volume of bets will come in on the Louisville side of things. What is interesting, though, is that there was some Sunday interest in backing the Cardinals, taking this line down from -14.5 at some shops to as low as 12.5. I don’t know if that’s a setup and some market manipulation to get this game under 14 early in the week before coming back in at higher limits, but it is a little bit of a surprise to see Louisville take money early when the opening line or better may have been available Friday.
Nebraska (-6.5, 47) at Minnesota
Friday, 8 p.m. ET
Another mover among the Friday games was this one, as Nebraska took road favorite money against Minnesota. This line actually opened as low as -4.5 in the market and has gone up to 6.5, but we haven’t really seen a 7 show up yet. With extra points still chip shots in college football, 5 remains a pretty dead number, so it doesn’t take much for a line to move around in that area. So, I wouldn’t put too much stock into this until we hit 7. That will be the litmus test for backing the Gophers.
LSU at Vanderbilt (-2.5, 49.5)
Saturday, Noon ET
Diego Pavia has been an ATS monster in an underdog role, but his Commodores have some expectations this week with LSU in town. Circa opened this game a pick ‘em and let the bettors decide who should be favored. The answer was apparently Vanderbilt, as they are now chalk market-wide. DraftKings actually had LSU -1.5 for a brief time this morning, but bettors hopped on that quickly and even Vanderbilt -1.5 wasn’t good enough, as we’re at 2.5 across most of the market. Like most early line moves, you want to take stock of what’s happening, but until it gets to -3, or if it doesn’t get to -3, then that’s when you take some more cues.
Baylor at TCU (-3, 65.5)
Saturday, Noon ET
Normally I’m more focused on sides than totals here, but this is a total that got hit pretty hard on Sunday. Circa opened 70.5 on this Baylor vs. TCU game and you can see that the market is now sitting more around the mid-60s. DraftKings opened 67.5 and Fanduel opened 63.5, so you can see that there were a lot of differences across the industry from different bookmakers as to where to have this total set. Now we wait to see if some Over money comes back in.
Oklahoma (-5.5, 43.5) at South Carolina
Saturday, 12:45 p.m. ET
This is a game that has danced around a little bit. John Mateer did play after his thumb surgery against Texas and looked terrible. With another week to heal up, bettors seem intrigued to back the Sooners in Columbia. South Carolina hasn’t been playing overly well lately. There were some 3.5s in the market earlier on Sunday, but 4.5 and 5.5 were the prevailing numbers later in the day. Now that this number is in that dead zone between 4 and 6, I’m not sure what will happen, but it is one that merits watching.
Oklahoma-South Carolina Matchup
West Virginia at UCF (-7, 48)
Saturday, 1 p.m. ET
Opposing groups toyed with this line on Sunday. DraftKings and Fanduel actually opened UCF -9.5 and got bet down, while Circa opened UCF -6 and got bet up. Remember, a “sharp” side doesn’t always mean that it is universally popular among influential groups. You’ll often find dueling sharp groups that have market influence and some respect. This game may be one of those, though there are certainly some injury considerations at QB on the West Virginia side and that may be playing with this line more than anything.
USC at Notre Dame (-8, 62)
Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET
This is definitely a huge game that has some significant College Football Playoff implications. It may be really hard for USC to sneak back up there with their loss to Illinois, but Notre Dame, despite early-season losses to Miami and Texas A&M seems like a team that still has a path to the CFP. Circa opened Notre Dame -9, while DraftKings opened Notre Dame -7.5. We’ve settled in the middle now, but both shops did get some activity on a line that is sure to see a very heavy wagering handle.
Utah (-3, 47.5) at BYU
Saturday, 8 p.m. ET
This is one of my favorite games of the week and will be one of my favorite lines to watch as well. Circa opened Utah -2 here and got pushed out to -3. Some shops touched 3.5 or opted to stay there based on the initial action. BYU comes into this game undefeated and as one of only three teams with an unbeaten record in Big 12 play. And here Utah is laying a road number that got a little bit bigger. I feel like that’s a pretty strong tell early in the week.
Keep an eye out for more line movements by tracking our VSiN College Football Betting Splits.
