College GameDay Week 9 Picks & Predictions, Location & Guest Picker (Oct. 31)

• College GameDay sets up at Showalter Fountain for Minnesota at No. 4 Indiana on Halloween
• Isiah Thomas guest picks Saturday, October 31, with the show airing 9 AM to noon ET
• Keep reading for the Week 9 GameDay picks, college football odds and my best bets

Bloomington gets the Halloween show, and the matchup is more interesting than the spread suggests. Indiana is 7-1 after a 13-6 overtime win at Michigan, with Josh Hoover scoring the deciding touchdown himself and the defense piling up 11 tackles for loss.

Minnesota arrives at 5-2 and has already beaten two ranked teams this season, including Iowa 13-10 last week. The Gophers also own the series history, leading 40-26-3 all-time with wins in the last four meetings.

Kickoff is 3:30 PM ET on CBS, a few hours after College GameDay wraps. Below you’ll find the Week 9 picks tracker, Saturday’s featured games and my betting card.

College GameDay Week 9 Location, Time & Guest Picker

This is Indiana’s third time hosting the show and its ninth GameDay appearance overall. The pit opens at 6:30 AM on a first-come basis, and the digital preshow starts at 8:20 AM ET.

Thomas is a Basketball Hall of Famer and a member of Indiana’s 1981 national championship team, which makes him a natural fit for a Bloomington set. GameDay confirmed him Friday.

Rece Davis hosts with Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Nick Saban. Curt Cignetti appears live, Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita joins from the field, and Saban turns 75 on Saturday.

College GameDay Picks Today: Week 9 Crew Predictions

The crew’s straight-up College GameDay picks are pending until the final segment. The games below are provisional rows and will be adjusted once the panel sets its board.

Week 9 College GameDay Superdog Picks

Superdogs are GameDay picks against the spread, a separate bet from the straight-up winners above. These selections are pending until the segment runs.

How the Week 8 GameDay Picks Finished

Saban led the panel at 7-3 in Salt Lake City, and the whole desk missed on Iowa-Minnesota. Howard and McAfee both finished under .500.

Herbstreit shows nine selections because he did not pick Ole Miss-Texas. The Superdogs went 2-3-1, with Howard’s Cincinnati +11.5 and McAfee’s West Virginia +10.5 both winning outright and Stanford Steve’s Michigan +7 landing on the number for a push.

My own card went 1-2. The Indiana-Michigan under cashed easily at 13-6, but Ole Miss +3.5 and Houston +6.5 both came up short.

Week 9 TV Schedule & College Football Odds

Here is Saturday’s featured board with kickoff times, networks and the current numbers. Compare the rest of the college football odds before you bet anything.

BetMGM odds. Compare prices across College Football betting apps before placing a bet.

My Week 9 College Football Best Bets

Two unders and a big underdog this week. All three are BetMGM numbers.

Minnesota vs Indiana Prediction: Gophers +20.5

• My Pick: Minnesota +20.5 (-108 at BetMGM)

Minnesota has beaten two ranked teams already this season, including Iowa 13-10 last week on a 46-yard field goal as time expired. Asking this group to stay within three touchdowns in the GameDay feature game is a much smaller ask than asking it to win.

Indiana’s defense is why the Hoosiers are 7-1, but the passing game has gone quiet. Hoover went 8-of-18 for 81 yards at Michigan while banged up, and Cignetti said Monday he expects him fine and better this week.

Wisconsin vs Iowa Pick: Under 36.5

• My Pick: Under 36.5 (-111 at BetMGM)

My Wisconsin vs Iowa under starts with the Hawkeyes’ defense. Iowa ranks eighth nationally in scoring defense at 14.3 points allowed and fifth against the run at 82.9 yards per game. The Hawkeyes’ last game finished 13-10, which is the kind of score this Big Ten matchup tends to produce.

Wisconsin just held USC to seven points, so two defenses playing well arrive at the same time. The total is already low in the mid-30s, and I’m fine taking the under at this number.

Ohio State vs USC Best Bet: Under 51.5

• My Pick: Under 51.5 (-118 at BetMGM)

BetMGM reports that Julian Sayin has a shoulder injury expected to end his season, with freshman Luke Fahey expected to take over. That is the version of this Ohio State-USC matchup I’m handicapping, so confirm the quarterback situation before you play it.

If that transition holds, I think the Buckeyes lean on a line-of-scrimmage game plan rather than trading scores in the Coliseum. I’d rather be on the total than lay points with an offense in that spot.