Week 9 College Football Opening Odds and Spreads

• The opening lines and spreads for Week 9 of college football have been released
• Clemson (-32.5) and Alabama (-31.5) open as the week’s biggest favorites
• Read below for a complete look at opening spreads for all games on the Week 9 slate

Week 9 offers another loaded slate of games to check out and the College Football odds feature a number of matchups that should be attractive to bettors.

With four of the five power conferences back to action now in full swing and the PAC-12 coming next week, it’s beginning to feel like a real college football season.

There’s important games around the country as Texas A&M looks to avoid a slip up against Arkansas, LSU and Auburn both need to build confidence off of their Week 8 wins, and the headliner pits Ohio State against Penn State.

Week 9 College Football Opening Odds and Spreads

Odds taken from FanDuel and William Hill on Oct. 25

Despair in Happy Valley

Two weeks ago, Penn State likely expected a different dynamic heading into its game against Ohio State. The Nittany Lions were a top-ten team, but after learning that star running back Journey Brown could miss the entire season followed by an upset loss to Indiana, this matchup has lost much of its luster.

However, it’s still the only game on the schedule between two teams ranked in the AP Top 25, and has major implications in the Big Ten’s truncated schedule.

Justin Fields is officially back 😤

What a dime

(via @CFBONFOX)pic.twitter.com/bFUA5aUs8j

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 24, 2020

The offense was firing on all cylinders for Ohio State against Nebraska, but the Huskers found some moderate success running the ball against the Buckeyes defense – particularly from the quarterback position. Adrian Martinez and Luke McCaffrey combined for 165 yards rushing, meanwhile, Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford ran for 119 yards and a touchdown in the loss to the Hoosiers.

Making matters worse for the Penn State backfield was running back Noah Cain’s injury after just three carries.

Sophomore Devyn Ford handled most of the game at the position for the Nittany Lions, but only could muster 3.5 yards per carry on 20 attempts. Penn State might have beaten Indiana had Ford taken a knee at the goal line with a minute-and-a-half left in the game, but he instead drifted into the end zone while looking for the signal to do so. The door was left open for IU, and Penn State’s defense couldn’t hold on for the win.

If Cain is unable to play against Ohio State, Penn State’s chances of controlling the pace of the game aren’t great, and trying to keep up with Ohio State in a shootout isn’t what any team wants to do. After giving away the win to Indiana on Saturday, it’s hard to tell where the Nittany Lions will find the motivation to keep things competitive here, and the Buckeyes should roll.

Slimmest of Margins Between Bears and Frogs

The tightest line of the week comes out of the Big 12 with Baylor as a half-point favorite against TCU at home.

The Horned Frogs struggled to get anything going offensively in Saturday’s 33-14 loss to Oklahoma, particularly on the ground. The Sooners defense had given up at least 135 yards rushing in each of its last two games, but buckled down against TCU, and held the Frogs to just 75. Perhaps head coach Gary Patterson can get things back on track against Baylor, who has allowed no fewer than 134 yards rushing in each of its three games this season.

Bears quarterback Charlie Brewer has done his best to keep Baylor’s offense going without much ground support of his own. TCU has struggled to contain opposing running backs, but Baylor has only gained 91 yards rushing combined in its last two games.

Although Spencer Rattler racked up 332 passing yards on Saturday, the Frogs have kept opposing quarterbacks to completing less than 50-percent of their passes over the last three games. This game is essentially a pick ’em, but things seem to set up favorably for TCU to rebound in Waco.