College Football Upset Picks, Predictions Week 8

sportsbookreview.com

17 October 2023

Upsetscontinue to pile up as three undefeated college football teams suffered their first losses last week.NCAAF odds.

Oregon couldn't secure a road upset against Washington in Week 7, despite its efforts to slow Huskies quarterback Michael Penix Jr. Ducks quarterback Bo Nix's road record against AP Top 10 opponents dropped to 0-6 with the loss.

Stanford trailed 29-0 at halftime but stormed back for a 46-43 double-overtime victory over Colorado, winning outright as a 13.5-point underdog. The upset marked the fourth-largest comeback in Pac-12 history and the biggest in school history. It also marked Colorado's largest lead blown in program history.

Here are our best college football upset picks for Week 8 (odds via our best college football betting sites; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

College football upset picks: Week 8

Not intended for use in MA
Affiliate Disclosure: Sportsbook Review may receive advertising commissions for visits to a sportsbook

College football upset predictions

Baylor vs. Cincinnati (+115 via BetMGM, Caesars, bet365) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cincinnati is one of two winless teams in the Big 12, losing its first threeconference games with a -42 point differential. The Bearcats have averaged just 14.3points in their three conference games, and quarterback Emory Jones hascompleted fewer than 54% of his passes in those contests, with a 4-5 TD-INTratio.

Baylor is just 8-11since winning the Big 12 two years ago, and it needed a 28-point third-quartercomeback against UCF to secure one of its two wins this season. However, theBears are rested off a bye, and quarterback Blake Shapen is healthy aftermissing three games. We are making this a four-star play, as we prefer Shapen’sability to take care of the football (four touchdowns to no interceptions), asopposed to Jones, who has at least one interception in every game against an FBS opponent this season.But it is not like Shapen is a game manager who dinks and dunks all over thefield, as he has thrown for 293 or more yards in all three starts this season.

The lookahead linefor this game at the best sports betting sites was Baylor +3.5, but the line has since been bet through the keynumber of three, and the Bears are as low as +2 at DraftKings. That linemovement has us confident that Baylor can pull the outright upset, and we aregetting the best number at a handful of sportsbooks (BetMGM, Caesars, andbet365).

$1,500 Back in Bonus Bets

Minnesota vs. Iowa (+160 via bet365) ⭐⭐⭐

Iowa prevailed inits strength vs. strength matchup against Wisconsin last week. The Hawkeyes entered tied for the fewest rushing touchdowns in FBS (one) while the Badgers averaged a Big Ten-best 204 rushing yards and had 15 rushingtouchdowns entering the game. The Hawkeyes held Wisconsin to 104 rushing yardson 3.7 yards per carry, while the Badgers mustered just two field goals.

However, Iowa's lack of a passing attack will eventually cost it a game and that's the reasonfor making a Golden Gophers upset a three-star play. Quarterback Deacon Hill has completed 38.6% ofhis passes and averaged a paltry 4.4 yards per attempt in relief of the injuredCade McNamara. Thus, Minnesota’s best chance for its first road win at Iowasince 1999 is this week against arguably the most one-dimensional offense inthe country.

bet365 is the onlyone of the best sports betting apps where one can back the Hawkeyes at higher than +155 odds.

Bet $5, Get $150 in Bonus Bets

UConn vs. South Florida (+115 via BetMGM, Caesars, bet365) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

UConn is coming offits first victory of the season in Week 6, a 38-31 road win at Rice, and last week’s bye weekgave it even more time to analyze what worked well in snapping a five-gamelosing streak to start the season. However, one can argue that the Huskies’momentum has been building for over two weeks, as UConn outgainedUtah State by 60 yards in a one-point loss the week prior.

The Huskies havefound something offensively with quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson, who has multipletouchdown passes in back-to-back weeks while completing 74.5% of his passes andis coming off his best QBR (91.2) in any game this season. We expect theHuskies to outscore a South Florida team that was embarrassed as three-pointfavorites in a 56-14 loss to FAU last week. The Bulls entered that game alreadyranked outside the Top 110 in Pass Success defense and PFF coverage grade, soRoberson should have a big day leading the Huskies to victory.

Bettors can choose from BetMGM, Caesars, or bet365 for the best number on the underdogs, as all the other best sports betting sites outside of DraftKings (+114) have odds of +108 or lower.

$1,000 First Bet on Caesars

Collegefootball upset picks made 10/17/2023 at 6:09 a.m. ET.