College Football Week 9 Preview: Spots to Target

As we head toward the end of October, we continue to see great betting spots in college football. 

Washington was mighty sleepy against Arizona State last week after their emotional Oregon win. Continuing to identify these spots will help you become a better bettor. Let’s take a look at what’s out there for Week 9. 

Letdown Spots

Clemson at NC State 

2 p.m. ET
Clemson -10

This line seems kind of insane considering where Clemson is nowadays. They are coming off a terrible double-overtime loss to Miami in which they chose not to QB sneak and instead tried to run Cade Klubnik around the end. Dabo’s team is 4-3 and hits the road again to Raleigh to take on NC State. The Wolfpack are coming off their bye week, so hopefully some of the offensive woes can be figured out. We played Pittsburgh off their bye versus Louisville a few weeks ago, and I’ll be doing the same here. 

USC at California 

4 p.m. ET
USC -10

The Trojans have now lost two in a row, eliminating them from College Football Playoff contention. Caleb Williams had another bad contest, and his Heisman hopes are all but gone with some saying he should sit out the rest of the year. Now they hit the road to play California, who is coming off a bye and has had two weeks to prepare. Last year they lost 41-35 as 21-point underdogs at USC. The Golden Bears aren’t a good team, but if USC is in a fog, then this could be ugly. 

North Carolina at Georgia Tech 

8 p.m. ET
UNC -11.5

The Tar Heels saw their CFP hopes (although faint) disappear last Saturday in their loss to Virginia. Now they head to Atlanta to take on a Georgia Tech team that has beaten them in two straight seasons. Trying to guess which Tech team shows up has been futile so far, with wins over Wake Forest and Miami and losses to Boston College and Bowling Green. 

Look-ahead Spot

Cincinnati at Oklahoma State

8 p.m. ET
Oklahoma State -7.5

The Cowboys have won three in a row and have to be feeling good after a 2-2 start to the season. They’ve settled on one signal-caller, and it’s made a difference on offense. This weekend they host Cincinnati, who has been struggling in their conference transition to the Big 12. Next week it’s Bedlam for the Cowboys who would love nothing more than to hand their rival their first loss of the season. OSU has actually won four straight games before the Oklahoma contest and covered three of the four. 

Smash Spot

Indiana at Penn State

Noon ET
Penn State -31

The Nittany Lions have to be massively disappointed by their performance in the 20-12 loss to Ohio State. Luckily for them, they come home to host an Indiana team that has been pretty lifeless all season. The Hoosiers have lost 52-7 at Michigan and 44-17 at Maryland already. I’ll be looking at the Penn State team total over when it comes out. You know James Franklin will be going for the cover late for the boosters. 

First-half Smash Spot

Houston at Kansas State

Noon ET
Kansas State -17

Houston is coming off a ridiculously tough loss to Texas in which they were screwed on a bad spot with around 90 seconds left in a seven-point game. The Cougars are hitting the road to take on Kansas State, and one has to wonder if there will be a hangover there. The Cougars are allowing an average of 31.5 points per first half on the road, which is dead last in the FBS. The Wildcats are putting up 23 points per contest at home in the first half. The reason why I’m saying first half is because KSU has a trip to Texas up next, so they may ease up a little in the second half if they have a big lead.