Week 8 College Football Opening Odds and Spreads

• The spreads and odds for Week 8 of the college football season have been released
• Clemson is the week’s biggest favorite at -44.5; Cincinnati/SMU is one of the week’s closest lines between two Top 25 teams
• See the full schedule of games with spreads and odds below

The ever-evolving 2020 college football season gets a little more interesting this week when the Big Ten begins its schedule on October 23. The addition of another conference may be the week’s biggest headline, but several games from around the country should provide plenty of fireworks.

The table, below, shows the Week 8 college football odds for all Power Conference teams and the better G5 games on Saturday (Oct. 24).

Week 8 College Football Odds

Odds as of Oct. 18 at FanDuel.

One of the tightest opening lines this week comes between Oklahoma and TCU in Fort Worth. Horned Frogs head coach Gary Patterson is just 1-8 against Oklahoma since joining the Big 12 in 2012, but 4-5 against the spread during that stretch. Following a bye week at home, he’s 3-2 overall and 4-1 ATS.

TCU quarterback Max Duggan has been on a steady decline in terms of his effectiveness each week this season. That’s welcome news to the Sooners defense, whose numbers are only somewhat respectable because of its season-opening drubbing of FCS-Missouri State. The Horned Frogs also have one of the poorest rush defenses in the country, so Oklahoma should prioritize running the ball with T.J. Pledger and Seth McGowan to take some pressure off of inconsistent QB Spencer Rattler.

Rattler was taken out of the game in the second quarter of Oklahoma’s quadruple-overtime win against Texas in this year’s Red River Rivalry, but returned to lead the Sooners to the victory. TCU has only allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete 55-percent of their passes this season, but the unit has been so bad against the run, it hasn’t been able to take advantage.

Should Syracuse Just Forfeit to Clemson?

No, there aren’t any crazy COVID storylines here, recruiting chicanery or allegations of stealing playbooks. However, after Clemson hung 73 points on Georgia Tech on Saturday, the Orange might want to look into whether or not their plane tickets to South Carolina are refundable.

Heisman Trophy frontrunner Trevor Lawrence had 500 yards passing and seven touchdowns against the Yellow Jackets and the Clemson defense held Tech to just 204 yards of total offense. Syracuse’s only win this season also came against Georgia Tech, and Dino Babers’ team lost again this past week to Liberty, 38-21 at home as 2.5-point underdogs.

Trevor Lawrence at HALFTIME

▪️22/27
▪️391 passing yards
▪️5 TDs pic.twitter.com/nrkQTks9VT

— PFF College (@PFF_College) October 17, 2020

Clemson is the biggest favorite of all the week’s games, laying 44.5 points at home. Syracuse has actually had some relative success defending the pass this season, but not enough to think that Lawrence will have anything to worry about. The Orange are also among the nation’s worst defenses at stopping the run, so Travis Etienne may be the name called most on offense.

Clemson is just 1-3 ATS this season as a favorite of 27 points-or-more, but one of those games was its season-opener and another was a 50.5-point line against The Citadel. This is a hopeless spot for Syracuse as Clemson is chugging full-speed toward another national championship appearance.

Contrasting Styles Meet in Ranked AAC Matchup

Cincinnati’s balanced offense and smothering defense travel to Dallas to take on pass-happy, up-tempo SMU on Saturday night.

The Bearcats are the American Athletic Conference’s highest ranked team since UCF finished as No. 6 in the AP Top 25 in 2017. The Golden Knights finished with the highest-producing offense in the country that season, but No. 17 SMU isn’t far behind their pace. The Mustangs have averaged 42.6 points per game in 2020 — seventh-best in the nation — while Cincinnati has only allowed an average 12.3 points per game; fifth-best in FBS.

Cincinnati hasn’t played since October 3, but the Bearcats have been double-digit favorites in every game they’ve played this season. In those three games, they are 1-2 ATS and have finished under the point total in two of those matchups. Meanwhile, SMU has played five games this season and landed under the total in three of those matchups — including their two home games — despite their production on offense.

Shane Buechele dropping dimes in last night’s OT win for SMU. pic.twitter.com/coOal7rM2g

— Hook'em Headlines (@HookemHeadlines) October 17, 2020

Luke Fickell is sure to want to muck things up and slow the Mustangs down, but SMU enters the game as the more seasoned team. Meanwhile, Cincinnati has one of the softest schedules in the country. One of the Bearcats’ wins came against FCS-Austin Peay and another versus lowly South Florida, so the possibility that Cinci may be a bit overrated isn’t a wild suggestion.

SMU has rewarded bettors’ confidence this season and should be motivated to keep things going at home in their biggest game of the season. The long layoff that proceeded an underwhelming schedule doesn’t appear to favor Cincinnati in this spot, and the Mustangs look like a good upset candidate against the Bearcats.