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We booked another profitable week last week, going 3-2 on our college football best bets.
Let's see if we can keep things rolling this week with 5 more picks from our team of experts including spread and total bets.
Below you’ll find our picks for the best college football bets to make on Saturday (10/28) for Week 9 of the 2023 NCAAF season. Remember, you can always compare college football lines and odds by sportsbooks here.
Best College Football Week 9 Picks
Utah +6.5 vs. Oregon – 3:30 pm ET
Rob O’Connor is a veteran sports handicapper. He broke into the industry in 2002 and has continued to provide high quality sports handicapping advice ever since.
This Utah team just keeps finding a way to win even without star QB Cam Rising who has not returned from his ACL injury suffered last year.
Last week, Utah pulled off a last-second victory against USC, effectively ending the Trojans’ playoff hopes, while simultaneously keeping their own alive.
Now they get to face Oregon at home. These two teams have gone 4-4 against each other over their last 8 meetings, however only twice in the last 8 games has Oregon won by more than a field goal.
The Utah defense continues to lead the way. They are ranked 11th in points allowed just giving up 15 points per game and they rank 15th in yards allowed per game giving up 295.4 yards per game.
So Oregon’s top-ranked offense will not be scoring at will on Saturday.
The Utah offense also continues to show improvement under QB Bryson Barnes as he gets more reps and becomes more familiar with the offense. They have scored 34 points in back-to-back games.
Both teams have strong run defenses, but just like last week against USC, Utah will work hard to establish a ground game, limiting the time the Oregon offense is on the field and thus controlling the game. Last week Utah held the ball for nearly 10 minutes more than USC did and I expect something similar this week.
Look for Utah to keep it close and be right there at the end, play them +6.5 on Saturday afternoon.
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NC State +10 vs. Clemson – 2 pm ET
Kyler Wolff is a sports writer with a passion for football & statistical analysis. He uses his knowledge of the game and ability to break down stats to make the best picks.
Clemson and NC State are both 4-3 on the year and have played similar teams, which makes sense given that they are both in the ACC.
While Clemson outshines NCST in most statistical categories this season, NC State has fared just as well, if not better than Clemson when you look at their games this season. The Wolfpack lost to a 10th-ranked Notre Dame team in Week 2 and then lost by just 3 points to Louisville a few weeks later, culminating in their last loss a week ago in a 24-to-3 loss to Duke.
Clemson actually started their season in a loss to Duke in what ended up being a 28-to-7 loss, the exact same margin by which NC State lost last week. Their other losses came from a 7-point loss to 4th-ranked Florida State, and last week, they lost to Miami by 8.
Neither Clemson nor NC State have beaten a ranked team this year and have so far been middle of the road in both the ACC and the country in general.
If you use Duke as a litmus test for the quality of these two teams, they are exactly the same. In reality, I believe Clemson is the better team, but by 10 points?
No way, especially at North Carolina State. If this were in Death Valley, it would be one thing, but for Clemson to beat a very similarly situated team by 10 on the road, I don't see it happening.
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Wisconsin +14.5 vs. Ohio State – 7:30 pm ET
Rob O’Connor is a veteran sports handicapper. He broke into the industry in 2002 and has continued to provide high quality sports handicapping advice ever since.
This is a tough situational spot for Ohio State as they come off a huge 20-12 win against division rival Penn State last week.
Now they have to travel to Camp Randall for a game under the lights where an absolutely tough atmosphere will be waiting for them.
Ohio State has not done well ATS on the road recently, going just 3-6-1 in their last 10 away from home.
Wisconsin will continue to go with Braedyn Locke at QB as starter Tanner Mordecai is out with a broken hand. Luckily for Locke, he has arguably the best RB in the conference leading the charge in Braelon Allen.
Look for Allen and Wisconsin to control this game on the ground.
The Ohio State offense has not shown their usual explosiveness, especially against the better teams on their schedule this season. In addition to scoring just 20 points against Penn State, they only put up 17 against Notre Dame. The Wisconsin defense is tough and will prove a challenge for the Ohio State offense.
In a game where points may be hard to come, 14.5 is simply too many, especially given the letdown factor for Ohio State and the likelihood this will be a lower-scoring game. So grab Wisconsin +14.5 at home Saturday night.
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BYU @ Texas OVER 50 – 3:30 pm ET
Kyler Wolff is a sports writer with a passion for football & statistical analysis. He uses his knowledge of the game and ability to break down stats to make the best picks.
Quinn Ewers is out with a shoulder injury for Texas this week, but I don't expect that to slow down Texas' offense much. Texas has a stable of talented possible replacements, headlined by two superstar freshmen, Maalik Murphy and Arch Manning. Both could see playing time this week, and both have the potential to be just as explosive as Quinn Ewers right out of the gate.
Don't expect the 7th-ranked team in the country to crumble just because they lost their starting QB; they are still a threat to score multiple touchdowns in this one.
BYU is coming off one of their lower-scoring games (27-14 win over Texas Tech) of the year, but they have consistently played in high-scoring games against Big 12 opponents this season.
Their four other conference games this season have averaged a total of 62.75 points per game. This high scoring is thanks to their highly efficient offense led by journeyman QB Kedon Slovis and sophomore wideout Chase Roberts.
Both of these teams can get down the field quickly and score in a hurry. Between the two of them, they gain roughly 770 yards per game on offense and allow roughly 730 yards per game on defense. They also score over 59 points per game and allow over 43 points per game.
With a total of 50, the numbers point to over.
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Georgia Tech +12 vs. North Carolina – 8 pm ET
Rob O’Connor is a veteran sports handicapper. He broke into the industry in 2002 and has continued to provide high quality sports handicapping advice ever since.
North Carolina basically saw their playoff hopes come crashing to an end with an inexplicable home loss to Virginia last week.
So how motivated UNC will be coming in to a game with a Georgia Tech team that is easy to overlook remains to be seen.
Georgia Tech has had UNC’s number in recent years, winning 4 of the last 5 between the two teams.
Georgia Tech has played better than expected this year, having wins against both Wake and Miami already. They also have a 5-point loss to Louisville in Week 1 that continues to look more impressive given how well Louisville has played this season.
Georgia Tech is 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games as an underdog.
The Georgia Tech offense should be able to hang with UNC as Tech is putting up 29.7 points per game, while UNC is averaging 35.9 points per game.
Defensively there is not a ton of separation either. UNC is allowing 22.4 points per game compared to 30.3 allowed by Georgia Tech.
Given the tough situation UNC finds itself in and the fact these teams are not as far apart as you make think, 12 points is far too many. Play Georgia Tech +12 on Saturday night.
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