College Football Week 8 Odds: Predicting Top Bets Against the Spread
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights have been one of the pleasant surprises of the 2023 college football season.
Greg Schiano's team needs one more victory to become bowl eligible before November, which is something it should achieve against the Indiana Hoosiers in Week 8.
Rutgers is nowhere close to the elite of the Big Ten, but it is beating all of the teams it should defeat.
For example, the Scarlet Knights' two Big Ten wins came against the Michigan State Spartans and Northwestern Wildcats, who share the conference basement with Indiana.
The UNLV Rebels fall into the same category as Rutgers. They exceeded expectations in Barry Odom's first season as head coach and are one win away from bowl eligibilty.
Rutgers and UNLV jumped on to the radar of college football bettors because they are a combined 11-1 against the spread.
The North Carolina Tar Heels have been equally as good against the spread in the higher echelon of college football.
The 10th-ranked team in the country has a great chance to move to 6-1 ATS at home against the Virginia Cavaliers.
For the latest lines on these games, go to DraftKings.
Saturday, Noon ET, BTN
Rutgers is not doing anything spectacular, but it is winning the games it is supposed to win and covering the spread at a high rate.
The Scarlet Knights are 5-1-1 ATS, a record that includes a road cover as an underdog against the Wisconsin Badgers and a push as a 24-point dog versus the Michigan Wolverines.
They should be commended for being a solid middle-of-the-run Big Ten team, which is something Indiana would love to be right now.
Indiana has been outscored 119-27 in its three Big Ten games and it needed four overtimes to earn its only win over a FBS squad. That victory came against the Akron Zips, who are viewed as one of the worst squads in college football.
Rutgers should go into Bloomington to pick up an easy victory. It needs to lock up a sixth win and a bowl berth now because it faces the Ohio State Buckeyes, Iowa Hawkeyes and Penn State Nittany Lions in its next three games.
Schiano's team should at least take care of business to earn its sixth win before it runs into that November gauntlet.
Saturday, 7 p.m. ET, Mountain West Network
UNLV is one of four teams in the FBS that is undefeated against the spread.
The Rebels covered a bunch of single-digit point spread thanks to an offense that eclipsed the 40-point mark in each of its last four games.
UNLV runs into a pesky Colorado State Rams squad on Saturday, but the visitors have one major flaw that should be exploited.
Colorado State quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi has been intercepted on 11 occasions. He has not had a clean week in the pocket and his two three-interception games came on the road.
Fowler-Nicolosi struggled mightily in his last road contest against the Utah State Aggies. He was picked off three times and completed 45.6 percent of his 57 pass attempts in that loss.
UNLV's defensive backs can add to Fowler-Nicolosi's turnover struggles, and if the CSU quarterback's bad form on the road continues, the Rebels could run away with a double-digit win and clinch a bowl berth.
Saturday, 6:30 p.m. ET, CW Network
North Carolina's offense reached another stratosphere with wide receiver Tez Walker on the field in Week 7.
Walker had 132 receiving yards and three touchdowns on six catches in UNC's 41-31 win over the Miami Hurricanes.
Walker should run all over the Virginia defense on Saturday in a game that has the potential to be out of hand by halftime.
Virginia was overwhelmed against the two best opponents on its schedule. The Tennessee Volunteers beat it 49-13 and the Maryland Terrapins earned a 42-14 win over the Cavaliers.
North Carolina should produce a similar result against a UVA team that has even struggled to compete with the average teams on its schedule.
Drake Maye should have a massive night through the air combining with Walker. UNC is looking for its fourth straight game with at least 40 points.
The Tar Heels have the potential to extend that run to six games with an easy schedule before they face the Duke Blue Devils on November 11 in their toughest remaining game.
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