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It was a great run, and its end was inevitable. I hope everyone made a bit of money along the way. But we can't look back, we must move forward, and so we're back at it again this week to seek out our next winning week on the horizon.
This Saturday, we're going to try and keep the wins coming with bets on Notre Dame, Clemson, and TCU.
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Take a look below for our seven best bets of the Week 9 college football slate (* indicates home team).
California is a 21-point underdog to Utah on Saturday. The over/under of this game is listed at just 36.5, meaning the implied score that Las Vegas has put on this game is roughly a 28-7 Utah victory.
Normally, games with a spread this wide have a higher total — not many teams win by 21 points when they're only expected to score 28. It's a bit of a leap of faith, but let's back the Golden Bears and hope they can manage more than a touchdown.
Notre Dame (-1) over Michigan*
Jim Harbaugh doesn't win big games. It's as simple as that. As ESPN's Peter Burns noted, Harbaugh is 1-10 against Top 10 opponents since taking over as head coach at Michigan, along with a few more damning stats with regard to his lack of success against good competition.
Until Harbaugh shows he can win a big game, I'll be fading Michigan against each and every good team they face.
Clemson* (-34.5) over Boston College
Ever since their scare against North Carolina earlier in the season, Clemson has once again been cruising. Last week, the Tigers beat Louisville 45-10. Earlier in the season, Boston College lost to Louisville 41-39.
By the transitive property of college football equality, Clemson should take this one 45-8.
TCU* (+1) over Texas
In one of the most heavily bet games of the weekend so far, the Texas Longhorns are garnering nearly 80% of the tickets against TCU. When the world zigs, we zag, so we'll back the Horned Frogs and hope the rest of the betting public got a bit ahead of their skis on this one.
LSU* (-10.5) over Auburn
LSU might be the best team in football. Last week I made the mistake of betting against them and ruining the hottest streak of my gambling career. It's a mistake I won't make again. Auburn is solid up front, and will certainly present problems the Tigers haven't faced yet this season, but this game is in Death Valley, where dreams come to die.
Ohio State* (-14.5) over Wisconsin
I would normally say this is a bounce-back spot for Wisconsin after their brutal loss to Illinois last weekend, but I just have no idea how the Badgers are going to move the ball against the Buckeyes.
There's losses that make a team dig in further and fight tooth-and-nail to comeback, and there's losses that make you realize it's simply not your year. Taking the L against the Fightin' Illini feels like the latter.
Temple* (+10.5) over UCF
UCF doesn't look like the Group of Five powerhouse they've been in years past, and Temple already has a few impressive wins on the season. The Owls defense should be one of the best that UCF has faced so far this year, so we're backing Temple to keep things close.
Now check out our best bets for this week's NFL slate...
