College Football Picks Week 8 2023
Arizona continues to be my money team this year with their second no doubt cover in a row. The Wildcats covered +8 by 46 points in a blowout victory over Washington State. TCU also covered easily, but unfortunately I lost betting against Iowa for the second week in a row.
Preseason: +1.82 units
Week 0: +0.82 units
Week 1: -7.37 units
Week 2: -2.83 units
Week 3: -0.59 units
Week 4: -5.31 units
Week 5: +6.21 units
Week 6: -0.18 units
Week 7: +0.55 units
Total: -6.88 units
Pittsburgh @ Wake Forest (Saturday, 2:30 PM Central)
I’ve been a seller of Wake Forest all season- I faded them against Old Dominion (where they almost lost outright) and also against Georgia Tech. I’m continuing to sell them here- their offense is just simply not the same without Sam Hartman behind center. Pitt handed Louisville their first loss last week, which is right in line with the standard Pitt season of losing to bad teams and beating good teams.
Pittsburgh +1 -110 (3 units)
South Florida @ UConn (Saturday, 2:30 PM Central)
Longtime readers will know how much I love betting on UConn, often to my own detriment. This week will be no different- the Huskies have shown a pulse with a win over Rice and a one point loss to Utah State. South Florida has been on a rolller coaster this season- they were supposed to be awful, looked decent in September, and then the bottom has fallen back out in the last few weeks. I think these teams are close to even so I like UConn here.
UConn +2.5 -110 (2 units)
Eastern Michigan @ Northern Illinois (Saturday, 2:30 PM Central)
The MAC is a funny conference- there is no league in the country with more parity. At the start of the season it can be a challenge to separate the good teams from the bad. Now that the dust has settled a bit it’s clear that Northern Illinois is a contender- they beat MAC favorite Ohio last week. Chris Creighton has done an outstanding job in his tenure in Ypsilanti but this is not one of his better teams- they almost lost to UMass. UConn wasn’t enough for me- I’m picking another Husky team in this matchup.
Northern Illinois -12 -110 (1 unit)
Texas @ Houston (Saturday, 3 PM Central)
I circled this game on my calendar in the preseason as one to watch. Texas fans are irate at the prospect of having to travel to face a Houston program that they view as far beneath them. Unfortunately Texas has significantly overperformed expectations while Houston has underperformed, pushing this to a three touchdown spread. I do think the line is a little big though- Houston can really put up some points as you’d expect from a Dana Holgorsen offense.
Houston +23.5 -110 (1 unit)