A few trends to keep an eye on in Week 8 of the college football season: The No. 10 Georgia Bulldogs are heavy favorites as they host the Kentucky Wildcats. Georgia has covered six straight in this SEC matchup.
The No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers travel to Champaign to take on the Illinois Fighting Illini. The Badgers have been fantastic as road favorites under head coach Paul Chryst.
Les Miles and the Kansas Jayhawks will take on Tom Herman and the No. 15 Texas Longhorns in Austin. Kansas ranks dead last among 130 FBS teams in offensive plays per game this season and the under is 9-3 in Herman’s tenure at Texas.
Read on for the rest of our top trends to help you navigate this week’s slate (all games on Saturday). All lines are courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook as of Thursday night.
No. 3 Clemson Tigers (-24, 62.5) at Louisville Cardinals, noon ET
• Clemson is 23-9-1 ATS in the first half in road and neutral site games since 2015, per Bet Labs.
• Clemson is 10-3 ATS against ACC foes since the start of last season.
• Louisville is 4-2 ATS this season under first-year head coach Scott Satterfield following an 1-11 ATS run last season.
West Virginia Mountaineers at No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners (-33.5, 63), noon ET
• Sooners have failed to cover five straight first-half spreads as home favorites of 30 points or more, per Bet Labs.
• Over is 10-3 in Oklahoma’s past 13 games since the start of last season.
No 6. Wisconsin Badgers (-31, 51) at Illinois Fighting Illini, noon ET
• Wisconsin is 13-3 ATS as a road favorite under head coach Paul Chryst.
• This would mark just the second time since the FBS/FCS split in 1978 that the Badgers have been road favorites of 30 points or more. The only other instance came against UNLV in 1996 when Wisconsin failed to cover as 38.5-point favorites in a 52-17 route of the Rebels.
• Over is 11-4 in 15 games since 2005 when the closing total is 55 or less and the home team is an underdog of 30 points or more, per Bet Labs.
• Over is 11-3 in Illinois’ past 14 games against Big Ten opponents.
No. 9 Florida Gators (-5, 47) at South Carolina Gamecocks, noon ET
• Florida has covered 11 of its past 15 second-half spreads, including six of seven this season, per Bet Labs.
• Since 2000, there have been 14 teams that won SU as a 20-point underdog and were an underdog in their next regular season game. Those 14 went 11-3 ATS. The Gamecocks beat No. 3 Georgia 20-17 as 20.5-point favorites last week.
• South Carolina is 10-3 ATS as an underdog versus SEC opponents since the start of 2017.
No. 11 Auburn Tigers (-19.5, 55.5) at Arkansas Razorbacks, noon ET
• Auburn had covered six straight ATS dating to last season until its 24-13 setback versus Florida two weeks ago.
• Gus Malzahn is 6-1 ATS in his head-coaching career after a bye week, including 5-1 during his tenure at Auburn, per Bet Labs.
• Arkansas has failed to cover eight of its past 10 first-half spreads dating to last season, per Bet Labs.
Purdue Boilermakers at No. 23 Iowa Hawkeyes (-17.5, 48.5), noon ET
• Iowa is 14-5 ATS in the first half in its 19 home conference games since 2015.
• Purdue is 10-4 ATS as an underdog under head coach Jeff Brohm.
• Under is 10-3 in Purdue’s 13 road games under Brohm.
• Road team is 8-1 ATS in the past nine meetings.
No. 2 LSU Tigers (-17.5, 61.5) at Mississippi State Bulldogs, 3:30 p.m. ET
• LSU is 11-4 ATS in its past 15 games against SEC opponents.
• Mississippi State is 8-2 ATS in its past 10 home games since the start of last season.
• Over is 11-4 in LSU’s past 15 games dating to last season, including 5-1 this season.
No. 12 Oregon Ducks (-3, 49) at No. 25 Washington Huskies, 3:30 p.m. ET
• Oregon is 13-2 ATS in its past 15 meetings with Washington dating to 2004.
• Huskies are 13-2 SU in their past 15 home games versus Pac-12 teams.
• Washington is 7-2 ATS as a favorite in ranked-against-ranked games under head coach Chris Petersen. Since Petersen first became head coach at Boise State in 2006, he has the best cover percentage in ranked-versus-ranked matchups among head coaches with at least 20 such games (17-8 ATS).
Temple Owls at No. 19 SMU Mustangs (-7.5, 59), 3:30 p.m. ET
• SMU is 5-1 ATS this season.
• Home team is 6-0 ATS in Temple games this season.
• Temple is 18-5 ATS with 12 outright wins as an underdog since 2015.
• Over is 8-2 in SMU’s past 10 games, including 6-0 this season.
No. 20 Minnesota Golden Gophers (-28.5, 48) at Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 3:30 p.m. ET
• Since 2005, newly AP-ranked teams with a ranking between 20 and 25 are 25-8 ATS as a road favorite of 14 or more points, per Bet Labs. The Golden Gophers were unranked this season before moving to No. 20 this week. This also applies to No. 22 Missouri (see below).
• Rutgers is 0-5 ATS in its past five games and 1-5 ATS overall this season.
• Under is 5-1 in both teams’ past six conference games.
Tulsa Golden Hurricane at No. 21 Cincinnati Bearcats (-17.5, 47.5), 3:30 p.m. ET
• Cincinnati is 1-12 ATS in its past 13 games as a ranked team dating to 2009. The lone cover came last week in a 38-23 win at Houston.
• Road team is 6-0 ATS in Tulsa games this season.
• Under is 7-2 in Tulsa’s past nine games dating to last season with a closing total of 55 or less, including 3-0 when the closing total is under 50, per Bet Labs.
UL Monroe Warhawks at No. 24 Appalachian State Mountaineers (-15, 66.5), 3:30 p.m. ET
• Appalachian State is 13-4-1 ATS since the start of last season.
• Appalachian State is 7-3 ATS in the first half in its past 10 games, including four straight first-half covers this season, per Bet Labs.
• Under is 10-4 in UL Monroe games when the closing total is 60 or more since the start of last season, per Bet Labs.
No. 18 Baylor Bears at Oklahoma State Cowboys (-4.5, 68), 4 p.m. ET
• In 15 games as an underdog of less than seven points, Matt Rhule is 12-3 SU and ATS, including four outright wins during his tenure at Baylor.
• Baylor is 5-1-1 after an ATS loss since the start of last season. The Bears failed to cover last week in a 33-30 win over Texas Tech as 10.5-point favorites.
• Oklahoma State is 8-2 ATS in its past 10 games, including 5-1 ATS this season.
• Under is 6-0-1 in the first half of Baylor’s past seven games versus Big 12 opponents dating to last season. The Bears are holding opponents to 3.2 PPG in the first half this season, second-lowest in FBS.
No. 22 Missouri Tigers (-21, 56.5) at Vanderbilt Commodores, 4 p.m. ET
• Missouri is 8-3 ATS as a favorite of 14 or more points under head coach Barry Odom.
• Vanderbilt is 0-6 ATS this season, making the Commodores one of five FBS teams yet to cover a game in 2019.
Kentucky Wildcats at No. 10 Georgia Bulldogs (-25, 46.5), 6 p.m. ET
• Georgia has won nine straight versus Kentucky and is 6-0 ATS in its past six games versus the Wildcats.
• Georgia is 5-1 ATS in regular season games following a SU loss under head coach Kirby Smart. The Bulldogs were upset by South Carolina last week 20-17.
• Under is 10-2 in Kentucky’s past 12 games against SEC opponents since the start of last season.
No. 17 Arizona State Sun Devils at No. 13 Utah Utes (-13.5, 45.5), 6 p.m. ET
• Arizona State is 8-3 ATS with six outright wins as an underdog under head coach Herm Edwards.
• The underdog has covered the spread in Arizona State’s past 11 regular-season games.
• Under is 5-0 in Utah’s past five games against Pac-12 opponents, including 3-0 this season.
Kansas Jayhawks at No. 15 Texas Longhorns (-21, 62.5), 7 p.m. ET
• Texas is 8-2-1 ATS following a SU loss under head coach Tom Herman. The Longhorns lost 34-27 against No. 6 Oklahoma last week.
• Under is 17-7-1 (9-3 while at Texas) in Tom Herman’s head coaching career when the closing total is 60 or more, per Bet Labs.
• Kansas is 5-2 ATS in the past seven meetings, including three straight covers.
No. 16 Michigan Wolverines at No. 7 Penn State Nittany Lions (-9, 47), 7:30 p.m. ET
• Penn State is 19-5-1 ATS in its past 25 home games following a SU win (all under head coach James Franklin). The Nittany Lions are coming off a 17-12 victory over No. 17 Iowa last week.
• Michigan is 2-8 ATS and 1-9 SU versus AP top-10 teams under head coach Jim Harbaugh and 2-8 ATS (0-10 SU) in its past 10 road games against AP top-10 teams.
• Favorite is 5-0 ATS in the past five meetings.
Tennessee Volunteers at No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide (-34.5, 61), 9 p.m. ET
• Alabama is 12-0 SU and 9-3 ATS against Tennessee under head coach Nick Saban.
• Alabama is 7-17-1 ATS in the second half as a full game home favorite of 30 or more points when leading by 17 or more at halftime under Saban, per Bet Labs.
• Tennessee is 12-5-1 ATS against AP top-five teams since the FBS/FCS split in 1978. The Volunteers’ 12 wins are tied with Michigan for the most by any team in that span.
No. 14 Boise State Broncos (-7, 45.5) at BYU Cougars, 10:15 p.m. ET
• Boise State is 50-19-1 ATS in the first half against nonconference opponents since 2005, including 21-6 ATS under head coach Bryan Harsin, per Bet Labs.
• BYU is 1-6-1 as a home underdog under head coach Kalani Sitake.
• Under is 30-14-1 in BYU games under Sitake, including 12-4 when the closing total is under 50, per Bet Labs.