College Football Odds Week 9: Early Lines for Florida vs. Georgia and More
The seventh-ranked Georgia Bulldogs opened as an early favorite over the No. 9 Florida Gators in the most intriguing Week 9 matchup in college football.
According to OddsShark, the Gators are nine-point underdogs. Georgia prevailed 42-7 when the two teams met in Jacksonville, Florida, last year.
Georgia had a bye in Week 8, which allowed head coach Kirby Smart to address his team's problems from a 36-16 defeat to the then-13th-ranked LSU Tigers on Oct. 13.
Florida also had the last week off following a 37-27 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores. The week before that, it upset LSU 27-19 at home.
Saturday's game is essentially a College Football Playoff eliminator. The one-loss Bulldogs or Gators would almost certainly earn a semifinal berth if they run the table. An SEC title might not be enough, however, for the selection committee to look past two defeats.
Elsewhere, the No. 18 Iowa Hawkeyes can boost their resume in a road game against the No. 17 Penn State Nittany Lions. Penn State is a nine-point home favorite.
Iowa sits 18th nationally despite its 6-1 record in large part because it doesn't have a signature win. The Hawkeyes lost to the only ranked team—the then-No. 20 Wisconsin Badgers—on their schedule so far.
A five-point win over the Indiana Hoosiers did little to raise Penn State's stock. Still, beating the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley would cement the Hawkeyes' credibility as a Big Ten title contender.
The 14th-ranked Washington State Cougars were in a similar position entering Week 8. They then beat the Oregon Ducks in Pullman, Washington.
The Cougars are three-point underdogs to the No. 24 Stanford Cardinal, who rebounded from back-to-back losses to defeat the Arizona State Sun Devils 20-13.
As the only one-loss team left in the conference, Washington State is likely the Pac-12's only playoff hope. If the Cougars can clear their Week 9 hurdle, they won't be seriously tested again until the Apple Cup on Nov. 23 against the 15th-ranked Washington Huskies.
