Week 8 of the NCAA betting season kicks off in a few days with a nationally broadcast game of UCLA Bruins vs. Oregon Ducks on Thursday night. Some great games will follow this one on Friday night and Saturday and we have some great picks to go along with them.
UCLA Bruins @Oregon Ducks (-21 ½)
Thursday, October 21 – 9:00 PM
Oregon comes into this game as the heavy favorite, and rightfully so. The Ducks are now an impressive 6-0 on the season and with Alabama and Ohio State losing last week, have moved up to the number 2 position in the country. The Ducks had the week off for a bye, but the team has been dominant in all of its games up to this point. QB Darron Thomas has averaged roughly 205 yards per game while LaMichael James is projected to rush for 150 yards. The Ducks have outscored opponents 326 to 98 this season and show no signs of slowing down with a healthy bench.
UCLA has a very slim chance of upsetting the Ducks in this game. The Bruins come in with a 3-3 record with losses to Kansas St, Stanford, and California. They did, however, manage a huge upset over then #7 Texas Longhorns with a 34-12 win, so the possibility of beating the Ducks is still open. QB Kevin Prince has had a terrible season thus far with a quarterback rating of 44.8 and just 384 yards and 3 TD’s complimented by 5 interceptions.
Betting Trends
UCLA is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games and 5-14 SU in its last 19 games on the road. When playing Oregon the Bruins are 3-5-1 ATS in its last 9 and 2-7 SU. Oregon is 6-0 SU in its last 6 games and 13-1 SU in its last 14 games at home. They are just 1-3-1 ATS when playing UCLA.
WE MEET OR BEAT ANY BONUS BetOnline.com
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-6 ½) @Navy Midshipmen
Saturday, October 23 – 12:00 PM
The Fighting Irish will travel to the Turf of Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium to take on the Navy Midshipmen in a classic rival. The sportsbooks are dogging Navy by 6 ½ points due to losses against Maryland and Air Force. Notre Dame QB Dayne Crist has been playing excellently this season with 1855 yards passing, 14 TD’s, and a quarterback rating of 132.95. RB Armando Allen Jr. has also been doing his part with 448 rush yards and 2 TD’s. If these two can continue average the type of games they have been playing, they will come out with a solid win.
Navy is looking to repeat last year’s victory over the Irish which marked only the second time in 46 years that Navy beat Notre Dame. Although Navy has a strong defense, their offense is lacking power and scoring ability. QB Ricky Dobbs has just 657 yards passing and 4 TD’s on the year and also leads the team in rush yards with 379. FB Vince Murray comes in a close second in rushing yards with 283 and 1 TD. However, Murray is out for the Notre Dame game with a knee injury, which my put a major stunt in Navy’s offense.
Betting Trends
Notre Dame is 2-2-2 ATS in its last 6 games and the total has gone UNDER in 5 of the last 7 games. They are 2-4 SU in the last 6 games on the road and have gone 3-6 ATS in the last 9 against Navy. The Midshipmen are 4-1 SU in their last 5 games but 1-6 ATS in the last games playing at home against Notre Dame.
Penn State Nittany Lions (-9 ½) @ Minnesota Golden Gophers
Saturday, October 23 – 12:00 PM
The Golden Gophers have only one win this year, which came at the expense of Middle Tennessee in the first game of the year. The Gophers have gone 0-5 since then and do not look like they will be making any headway this week when Penn State rolls in to butt heads. Minnesota is ranked 50th overall in passing and 76th in rushing. QB Adam Weber has actually been playing well with 1662 pass yards and 14 TD’s but the defense has had too many problems in shutting down opposing offenses.
The Nittany Lions are just 3-3 this season but their defense markedly better than the Gophers’ offense. The defense is ranked 21st in the nation allowing just 18 points against per game. The defense will be the key to this victory for the Nittany Lions. In their 3 wins this season they have allowed just 27 total points. However, in their 3 losses they have allowed 81 points to be scored against them. Penn State needs to be careful not be caught off guard this week against the Gophers. Although their record indicates otherwise, the Gophers are not that terrible of a team and have lost several close games. Penn State has Michigan, Northwestern, and Ohio State in the weeks after this game, so it may be easy for them to get distracted and overlook this game.
Betting Trends
Penn State is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games, but 14-5 SU in its last 19. The total has gone UNDER in 4 of State’s last 5 games and the Nittany Lions have gone 9-4 SU in their last 13 games on the road. They are also 3-6 ATS in the last 9 games against Minnesota. Minnesota is 0-5 in its last 5 games and 0-5 in its last 5 home games.
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