College Football Week 9: Wild Wagering Trends

Week 8 of the college football season continued to provide fans and bettors with great storylines and upset wins. Michigan and Michigan State remain unbeaten and face off this week in East Lansing. Oklahoma State wasn’t so lucky as they dropped their first game of the season to Iowa State. Meanwhile, Penn State was handed its second loss of the year by unranked Illinois.

So, what wild and unexpected outcomes can bettors hope to see in Week 9? Let’s take a look at three of the more interesting betting trends heading into Saturday and find out. 

Clemson is 0-7 ATS

The Clemson Tigers do not look like the team we all expected to see entering this season. They still rank second in the ACC Atlantic Division but with a 4-3 record it’s hard to see how. They have been bested this season so far by Georgia, NC State, and Pittsburgh. But, as they head into Week 9 as 10-point favorites over Florida State at WynnBET, the team has yet to cover a single game this season. 

The Tigers have been favorites in all but one game this year but, when they win, they don’t win by much. Their lone game as an underdog was last week in a 10-point loss to Pitt as 3.5-point underdogs. 

This certainly does not look like the same team that has beaten Florida State three times in a row by a combined 97 points. At this point, how can you trust a team to cover that hasn't failed to fail in seven weeks?

The road team has covered the last four games between Boston College and Syracuse

This Week 9 game at the Carrier Dome sees 4-4 Syracuse hosting 4-3 Boston College. While Syracuse is the favorite to win with a spread of 5.5, the trends suggest this game could be an ATS loss for the Orange. 

The last four games between the two have ended in an ATS win for the visiting team. This would go against Syracuse’s 6-1 ATS record at home and 7-1 mark of the season. But, it appears that these two ACC Atlantic rivals get up for games on the road against one another. Furthermore, Boston College is 13-5 ATS in their last 18 road games and would love to spoil Syracuse’s chance at gaining bowl eligibility. 

The OVER is 5-0 in Michigan's last 5 road games and 4-1 in Michigan State’s last 5 home games

No matter which way you slice it, this is the game to watch this weekend. I mean, how does it get better than two unbeaten interstate rivals fighting for the Big Ten title and a chance at the playoffs? 

Both of these teams will be chomping at the bit to get to each other and I think that jitters might lead to some early defensive mistakes. The total for this game currently sits at 50.5 points and looks very beatable based on these home/away splits.

On top of the over/under record, consider that the combined average points per game between Michigan and Michigan State work out to be 72. That is 21.5 points higher than the predicted score for this game.