What We Learned as CFB Bettors in Week 8

The fascinating 2021 college football season continues on, with two College Football Playoff contenders rounding into form over the weekend, while another preseason CFP candidate continues to tumble down power rankings.

Before turning the page to Week 9, let's take a look back at some takeaways from Week 8.

Ohio State is Back, and the Market Can't Catch Up

Before heading to Bloomington on Saturday night to play on a sloppy turf against Indiana, Ohio State had been on a tear. The Buckeyes had won four straight by a combined 161 points after losing to Oregon at home, and proceeded to dismantle the Hoosiers, 54-7 in a statement game.

Ohio State closed as three touchdown favorites against 2-4 Indiana and covered without fail.

Now, the team heads home for a matchup against Penn State who couldn't beat lowly Illinois in nine (!) overtimes at home. Sure, the Nittany Lions were just inside the top 10 rankings, but it's clear that this team doesn't have the explosiveness to hang with Ohio State's receivers or budding star, running back TreVeyon Henderson.

I'm on the Buckeyes at -18.5 against Penn State, which is available at WynnBET Sportsbook, and think this line continues to climb towards three touchdowns again. Ryan Day has his team on a mission to get back to the College Football Playoff, and they destroy another Big Ten foe here.

Alabama Will Be Just Fine

Alabama lost a heart breaker to Texas A&M two weeks ago, but took their frustrations out on Mississippi State, 49-9 and then followed it up against Tennessee last Saturday, winning 52-24.

While the cover wasn't sealed until late, the Crimson Tide were 25.5-point favorites, this was a second straight dominant performance from Nick Saban's team, who are on a collision course with Georgia in SEC Championship.

The margin for error is slim with Bama at this point to make the CFP, but the team is starting to look similar to what we expected them to be. Alabama ran 38 more plays than the Vols on Saturday night and outgained them by more than 200 total yards.

The game flow is interesting and something to keep an eye on from a betting perspective. The Tide have pulled away in dominant fashion over the past two games, covering double digit second half spread with ease in both games. For reference, Bryce Young and company scored four touchdowns in the fourth quarter to cash the full game and second half spreads.

While the team is on a bye this week, keep an eye on Alabama second half bets moving forward.

It's That Bad for Clemson

Clemson entered Pittsburgh as an underdog, the first time they have been an ACC dog for the first time since 2014 if you wanted to get a sense for what is going on with the Tigers this season.

Well, it was that bad for Clemson, who were out-gained by more than 130 yards and completed only 46% of their passes in a 10 point loss to fall to 4-3 on the year.

It got so bad for the team that head coach Dabo Swinney benched D.J. Uiagalelei in the second half.

Get this, two teams are yet to cover this season, per TeamRankings.com: Clemson and Missouri. They are 0-7 against the spread!

This team is overvalued week after week and guess what, I'm betting against them this week again! I'm on Florida State +10 in Clemson. Keep going to the ATM that is betting the team playing Clemson.