Seminoles Open as Heavy Favorites over Irish in Week 8 Marquee Matchup
After being knocked from their familiar perch atop the Associated Press Top 25 by the Mississippi State Bulldogs, the No. 2 Florida State Seminoles opened as 13.5-point home favorites over the No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish for their matchup on Saturday night this week.
The 6-0 Seminoles head into Week 8 riding a 22-game unbeaten streak straight up, but they have been a major disappointment to bettors, posting a 1-6 record against the spread dating back to their national championship victory in early January.
The 6-0 Fighting Irish have been a more reliable bet, going 4-2 ATS, and they have thrived as underdogs, going 4-0 ATS in their last four games as dogs and 3-1 SU, including a 17-14 outright win over Stanford as three-point underdogs in Week 6.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Saturday night’s Florida State vs. Notre Dame matchup is the first between the two squads since 2011, when the Seminoles posted an 18-14 home win over the Irish, covering a three-point spread.
The No. 3 Ole Miss Rebels, who will be looking to build on a pair of stunning wins over Alabama and Texas A&M, open as 17-point favorites over the 3-3 Tennessee Volunteers at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.
Mississippi was pegged as the underdog in its recent victories, extending its winning streak to seven, both straight up and against the spread, ahead of the Volunteers vs. Bulldogs matchup at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday night.
Tennessee has struggled with consistency since dominating the Utah State Aggies 38-7 in its season opener. The Volunteers are just 2-3 ATS in their last five games but are 4-1 ATS in their last five games against the Rebels.
The No. 4 Baylor Bears will face a tough test Saturday afternoon when they take on the 4-2 West Virginia Mountaineers. The 6-0 Bears opened as 9.5-point road favorites, according to sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark, against a Mountaineers club that scored 17 points in the last six minutes of its matchup against the Texas Tech Red Raiders to eke out a 37-34 victory.
Led by quarterback Clint Trickett, the Mountaineers own the seventh-ranked passing game in the nation but are 0-3 ATS in their last three games.
Baylor needed a little comeback magic of its own last weekend, scoring an incredible 24 unanswered points in the final 11 minutes to capture a 61-58 victory over the TCU Horned Frogs, ending the Bears' five-game ATS winning streak.
In other college football betting action, the No. 8 Michigan State Spartans opened as 14-point favorites over the Indiana Hoosiers. The No. 9 Oregon Ducks are favored by 19 over the Washington Huskies, and the No. 10 Georgia Bulldogs are pegged as early three-point road favorites over the Arkansas Razorbacks.
| Teams | Line | Total |
| Louisiana-Lafayette at Texas State | -1 | 63 |
| Virginia Tech at Pittsburgh | 2.5 | 47 |
| Utah at Oregon State | -1.5 | 57 |
| Fresno State at Boise State | -16 | 61 |
| Temple at Houston | -9 | 50 |
| Baylor at West Virginia | 9.5 | |
| Furman at South Carolina | OFF | |
| South Florida at Tulsa | PK | |
| Syracuse at Wake Forest | 4 | |
| Western Kentucky at Florida Atlantic | 3 | |
| UTSA at Louisiana Tech | -6.5 | |
| Tulane at Central Florida | -19 | |
| Iowa at Maryland | -2.5 | |
| Kansas State at Oklahoma | -12 | |
| Purdue at Minnesota | -15 | |
| Virginia at Duke | -5 | |
| Western Michigan at Bowling Green | -2.5 | |
| Akron at Ohio | 4 | |
| Eastern Michigan at Massachusetts | -12 | |
| Appalachian State at Troy | -6 | |
| North Carolina State at Louisville | -15 | |
| Cincinnati at Southern Methodist | 14.5 | |
| UAB at Middle Tennessee | -2 | |
| Rutgers at Ohio State | -20 | |
| Army at Kent State | 5.5 | |
| UCLA at California | 8 | |
| Clemson at Boston College | 7.5 | |
| Texas A&M at Alabama | -12 | |
| Michigan State at Indiana | 14 | |
| New Mexico at Air Force | -12 | |
| Kansas at Texas Tech | -14 | |
| Ball State at Central Michigan | -6.5 | |
| San Jose State at Wyoming | -1.5 | |
| Georgia at Arkansas | 3 | |
| Oklahoma State at TCU | -10 | |
| New Mexico State at Idaho | -4 | |
| Miami (Ohio) at Northern Illinois | -15 | |
| Marshall at Florida International | 21 | |
| Colorado at Southern Cal | -21 | |
| Georgia Tech at North Carolina | PK | |
| Utah State at Colorado State | -5.5 | |
| Tennessee at Mississippi | -17 | |
| Southern Miss at North Texas | -11 | |
| Missouri at Florida | -3 | |
| Kentucky at LSU | -11 | |
| Nebraska at Northwestern | 6.5 | |
| Georgia State at South Alabama | -17 | |
| Notre Dame at Florida State | -14 | |
| Iowa State at Texas | -11 | |
| Washington at Oregon | -19 | |
| Nevada at BYU | -12 | |
| Hawaii at San Diego State | -11 | |
| Stanford at Arizona State | 4.5 |
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
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