College Football Picks Week 8: Best Favorites to Bet Before Odds Change
The Oklahoma Sooners return to action on Saturday for the first time since their Red River Rivalry win over the Texas Longhorns.
Brent Venables' team is now the favorite to win the Big 12 and potentially represent the conference in the College Football Playoff.
The Sooners should put up some high offensive totals in Week 8 against a UCF Knights defense that has had trouble adapting to the Big 12.
UCF allowed 131 points in its three league games, and it could be in for another rough day against former UCF quarterback Dillon Gabriel and the Sooners offense.
Oklahoma is far from the only top 10 team with a significant mismatch in play on Saturday.
The Michigan Wolverines can also be trusted as a multi-touchdown favorite in a rivalry game with the Michigan State Spartans that could get ugly fast.
For the latest lines on these games, go to DraftKings.
Saturday, Noon ET, ABC
Oklahoma averages 506 total yards per game, but it comes into Saturday with a worse total in that category than UCF.
That is about all the Knights have going for them ahead of their trip to Norman, Oklahoma.
UCF's defense was torn apart by the Kansas State Wildcats, Baylor Bears and Kansas Jayhawks.
The Knights' 51-point concession to Kansas marked their worst defensive performance of the season. They did have a bye week to fix some things on defense, but Oklahoma also had a week off to recharge and tweak its offense.
Gabriel should lead the Sooners offense to some high offensive numbers at home on Saturday.
A blowout is in the cards because of Oklahoma's defense. That unit held each of its first five opponents to 20 points or fewer.
The Sooners won each of their first five contests by at least 14 points. They can easily cruise past UCF to cover the 17.5-point spread because of the advantage the defense is expected to open up.
Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC
Michigan has been the most dominant team in the country through seven weeks.
The Wolverines have not allowed an opponent to go over 10 points on their way to a 7-0 record.
Jim Harbaugh's team owns an average margin of victory of 32.7 points. That is bad news for a Michigan State program that sits near the bottom of the Big Ten.
Michigan State enters Saturday on a four-game losing streak, a run that was started by a 41-7 loss to the Washington Huskies.
The Spartans proved in that contest that they could not keep up with a top 10 team. They come into Saturday on an emotional low, as well, after they blew a 24-6 lead over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights last week.
The two rivals are trending in different directions, and even though Michigan State may have motivation to beat its in-state rival, it can't compete with the Wolverines right now.
Saturday, Noon ET, ESPN
The Arkansas Razorbacks have had some of the toughest luck in the FBS.
Four of Arkansas' five losses have come by one score, the latest of which occurred against the Alabama Crimson Tide last week.
Arkansas displayed all sorts of fight on the road against Alabama, the LSU Tigers and Ole Miss Rebels, which leads us to believe a breakout performance is coming against a lesser opponent in the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Mississippi State was not competitive with LSU or Alabama and its only victory against a power-conference team came in overtime against the Arizona Wildcats in Week 2.
The Bulldogs' passing game has not been great. Quarterback Will Rogers failed to reach the 200-yard mark through the air in four of six games. The Bulldogs have not had a 100-yard rusher since the overtime triumph over Arizona.
Mississippi State is 1-3 in its last four SEC road games. All of those defeats were by seven or more points. The lone victory in that stretch came in the Egg Bowl rivalry with Ole Miss.
Arkansas could use Saturday as a chance to take out some frustration from its close losses. KJ Jefferson should find success against an average Mississippi State defense that give sup 395.2 total yards per game.
A win and a cover would be nice to see for Arkansas as it tries to get on a winning streak to reach six victories and land a bowl berth.
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