Takes on College Football: Against the Spread, Week Eight

Ups and downs. Last week saw both from the bettors. Here we are at Week Nine: our best guess at the best bets with the lowest stress! Also, don't take Blaine's advice this year. 

2021 ATS Record
Blaine Duncan: 9-11-1 (Week Seven: 0-3)
TD Wood: 11-10 (Week Seven: 3-0)

Blaine Duncan
L! O! L!  When you have an 0-3 week, you feel as though you took swings, which is good, but dammit, you also feel hesitant to put your feet back in the water. Every pick feels like a future loss. Here we go, though. 

Maryland at Minnesota (-4) -- Minnesota at home. What more should I say? That's all I need!

N.C. State (-3.5) at Miami -- Miami, dropping game after game, is another team that seems down and out with N.C. State on the up and up. The Wolfpack seems as though they're set to come in and really whup ass. They've got the taste of the ACC Championship on their lips now. 

Clemson at Pitt (-3.5) -- Say what you will about Alabama, but at least when they have down years, they aren't losing multiple games. Yes, Clemson got the win over Syracuse, but it was too close for comfort for "Aw, shucks" Dabo. This Tigers team may fold after the Panthers put one on 'em on the road! I like that Pitt plays at home for this one, and I say Pitt gets a touchdown victory over what once was a great nation. 

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TD Wood
Insert counting money gif here. That's more like it! I'll take a little luck any day (thank you for that garbage time TD, Kentucky), now to take the momentum and run. Kind of a lousy lineup this week, there's not a single matchup of Top 25 teams.

*Game of the Week* Oregon (+1.5) at UCLA-- This is where Gameday is going, so I guess it'll do for this spot. Oregon hasn't exactly set the world on fire since their upset over Ohio State, losing to Stanford (albeit with OC Joe Moorhead missing the game) and struggling to beat Cal last week. UCLA has lost twice (Fresno St. and Arizona St.) since beating LSU early in the season. I'm not sure why the Bruins are favored here, but I don't see Chip Kelly getting his first win over his former team this Saturday.

Cincinnati (-28) at Navy -- The Bearcats are vying to be the first mid-major team to make the CFP. They took their first step towards that goal when they beat Notre Dame. Now all they have to do is win out, and some style points along the way won't hurt. Navy has been uncharacteristically bad this year, and this one could get real ugly, real quick.

LSU (+9) at Ole Miss -- If Matt Corral were healthy, this would be a different story. The Tigers found their running game last week, while the Rebels survived an insane night in Knoxville. I expect the LSU players to rally around dead coach walking Ed Orgeron and keep this one close. Neither team is particularly interested in playing defense, so this one should be entertaining.

Note: All games are Against the Spread. Odds are taken from the MGM Sportsbook.