NCAA Football Week 8 Odds Lock Picks

Posted by Tony Newborn on Tuesday,October 14, 2014 8:56, EDT in

This past week in College Football might have been one of the strangest in a long time. UCLA, as a home dog, couldn’t stop Oregon’s offense even though Oregon had lost the previous week to Arizona. Neither Florida State nor Notre Dame could cover what looked to be easy spreads and Alabama failed to beat Arkansas by more than a single point in what should have been a big bounce back game for the Crimson Tide. Below are our three lock college football betting picks for Week 8. Hopefully, the craziness has subsided and things have gotten back to normal.

Reviewing the best NCAA Football Week 8 Lock Picks

No. 6 Michigan State Spartans at Indiana Hoosiers

When: Saturday, Oct. 18 at 3:30 pm ET
TV: ESPN
Betting Line: Michigan State -13.5

Analysis: The Spartans are probably kicking themselves for losing the lead against Oregon in Week 2 and losing 27 to 46. There were ways for Michigan State to keep it together versus the Ducks in that game. If MSU had pulled out the victory, they’d be ranked number one in the nation right now.

Sparty has a shot to get back into the good graces of the Selection Committee. They’re going to have to be much more impressive than they have been, though. It starts by blowing out Indiana, a team that is 3-9-1 ATS in its last 13 Big Ten contests. The Hoosiers are also allowing 417 yards and 31 points per game while Michigan State’s defense is still ranked in the Top 12 overall.

Pick: Michigan State -13.5

Missouri Tigers at Florida Gators

When: Saturday, Oct. 18 at 3:30 pm ET
TV: ESPN 2
Betting Line: Florida -4.5

Analysis: Missouri laid one of the biggest, smelliest, eggs of the season in Week 7 when they lost 0 to 34 to Georgia at home. Georgia was without their Heisman Trophy running back and they still spanked the Tigers. Florida showed a lot of grit when beating Tennessee 10 to 9. The Gators also played very well against LSU, losing to that superior team by only 3 points, 27 to 30. Florida is going to employ 2 quarterbacks, Treon Harris and Jeff Driskell, this week against Mizzou.

Missouri could bounce back, though. The Tigers are a scintillating 7 and 1 ATS in their last 8 road games and 13 and 3 ATS in their last 16 games following an against the spread loss. Some teams just excel on the road. Mizzou might be one of those squads.

Pick: Missouri +4.5

Washington Huskies at No. 9 Oregon Ducks

When: Saturday, Oct. 18 at 5:00 pm ET
TV: Fox Sports 1
Betting Line: Oregon -21

Analysis: Is Oregon a better football team than Washington? Sure, the Ducks appear to be but the best team doesn’t always win straight up and the best team definitely doesn’t always cover three touchdown spreads. The thing about Washington is that it looks like they’ve finally found a groove. New head coach Chris Petersen, he of Boise State fame, took his time getting his team familiar with his system. It all came together in Washington’s last game, a 31 to 7 road victory over Cal.

The Huskies have gone 3 and 1 ATS in their last 4 games while Oregon has gone 1 and 3 ATS in its last 4 contests. Yes, Oregon beat up UCLA 42 to 30 in Week 7, but was that more due to Oregon playing tough defense or, as my friend put it, UCLA QB Brett Hundley giving his “best Jamarcus Russell impersonation”?

Pick: Washington Huskies +21