College Football Week 8 thread

The most interesting games and lines from Week 8. Point spreads from ESPN odds page, and all times Eastern:

Thursday

Utah (-1.5) at Oregon State, 10 p.m., Fox Sports 1 (or Fox Sports 2, if there’s an MLB game)

Saturday

Baylor (-9.5) at West Virginia, noon, Fox Sports 1

Kansas State (+9.5) at Oklahoma, noon, ESPN

Virginia (+3) at Duke, 12:30 p.m., ACC Network

Texas A&M (+12.5) at Alabama, 3:30 p.m., CBS

UCLA (-7) at Cal, 3:30 p.m., ABC/ESPN2

Clemson (-7.5) at Boston College, 3:30 p.m., ESPNU

Michigan State (-14) at Indiana, 3:30 p.m., ESPN

Oklahoma State (+9) at TCU, 4 p.m., Fox Sports 1

Georgia (-3.5) at Arkansas, 4 p.m., SEC Network

Tennessee (+16.5) at Ole Miss, 7 p.m., ESPN

Missouri (+4.5) at Florida, 7 p.m., ESPN2

Georgia Tech (+2.5) at North Carolina, 7 p.m., ESPNU

Kentucky (+10.5) at LSU, 7:30 p.m., SEC Network

Notre Dame (+12) at Florida State, 8 p.m., ABC

Washington (+21) at Oregon, 8 p.m., Fox Sports 1

Stanford (-3.5) at Arizona State, 10:30 p.m., ESPN

 

The FSU and Alabama lines both shock me. May have to look to plunk some down this week.

 

Thursday
Utah (-1.5) at Oregon State, 10 p.m., Fox Sports 1 -- Oregon State

Saturday
Baylor (-9.5) at West Virginia, noon, Fox Sports 1 -- West Virginia straight
Kansas State (+9.5) at Oklahoma, noon, ESPN -- good game, the Rick Stain Gut Feeling of Approval™ says Every Man a Wildcat to cover
Virginia (+3) at Duke, 12:30 p.m., ACC Network -- Duke
Texas A&M (+12.5) at Alabama, 3:30 p.m., CBS -- Bama should hammer 'em.
UCLA (-7) at Cal, 3:30 p.m., ABC/ESPN2 -- Cal straight
Clemson (-7.5) at Boston College, 3:30 p.m., ESPNU -- Boston College straight
Michigan State (-14) at Indiana, 3:30 p.m., ESPN -- Indiana won't win but Indiana will cover.
Oklahoma State (+9) at TCU, 4 p.m., Fox Sports 1 -- good game, I'll take the points.
Georgia (-3.5) at Arkansas, 4 p.m., SEC Network -- Georgia should cover but Arkansas is decent in an upset kind of way.
Tennessee (+16.5) at Ole Miss, 7 p.m., ESPN -- Take the 16.5
Missouri (+4.5) at Florida, 7 p.m., ESPN2 -- Who cares.
Georgia Tech (+2.5) at North Carolina, 7 p.m., ESPNU -- 59-58 final.
Kentucky (+10.5) at LSU, 7:30 p.m., SEC Network -- I would love to see Kentucky win a night game in Death Valley.
Notre Dame (+12) at Florida State, 8 p.m., ABC -- Notre Dame straight.
Washington (+21) at Oregon, 8 p.m., Fox Sports 1 -- Take the over.
Stanford (-3.5) at Arizona State, 10:30 p.m., ESPN -- If it's Stanford it's a slugfest.

 

Can't speak to Florida State-Notre Dame but I think Vegas has finally figured out that A&M isn't any good this season.

 

Reasons to fear ND's chances: Golson can't hang on to the @#$@ football. Secondary has been ravaged by suspensions and injuries. Only way they stay within 12 is if they win the turnover battle and the past few weeks have made me very pessimistic about that.

 

That UNC game was such a classic trap game, though - I called it on the Week 7 thread. They were never in danger of losing it, not really. And they were up two touchdowns until UNC scored one very late to make it look better.

Maybe FSU really does hammer them, but the 'Noles haven't been any great shakes to this point, either. That's a huge line, IMO.

 

https://www.facebook.com/bankofannarbor

 

This might have been posted in Week 7 but thoughts from the peanut gallery?

http://www.si.com/college-football/2014/10/11/jameis-winston-florida-state-disciplinary-hearing

 

I really don't know what to make of Notre Dame. Maybe it's because the season is half-over and they haven't played a true road game yet.

The only time they've left South Bend all season was when they played Syracuse in East Rutherford, which is more a home game for the Irish than the Orange.

 

Geez, a little tOSU envy or what.

Might be pointed out that Columbus is in about 20 other states as well.

And definitely not the year to be throwing out any kind of smack from Ann Arbor.

 

You should have the opposite reaction to this. When something looks off, there's a reason. Don't get taken for a ride.

 

Well they DID drive all the way down to Indy for the Purdue game.....

I'm not completely sure what to make of them, either. I do know they've only played one team (Stanford) with a record over .500. Opponents overall record is 17-21. I feel like Kelly's gotten a lot out of them....but with injuries, suspensions, FSU & 2 trips to the western time zone ahead of them....reality is likely to give them a big slap.

As for UNC being a "trap game"....as a local, I've been hearing "UNC IS A TRAP GAME!!!" since last year's Spring Game. It's been repeated, ad nauseam, for the better part of 6 months.....which makes it hard to actually consider still a "trap." Truth is, Carolina gashed 'em up pretty good. Dick, you may not have been concerned, but you'd have been in a pretty big minority in SB.

Of course, it's Notre Dame. They're likely to go down there, beat FSU, then get their asses kicked by Navy the next game.