Chris “The Bear” Fallica’s 2024 College Football Week, 8 “Bear Bytes”

College football Week 8 is here and I couldn’t be more excited.

This means the next few days will be exciting for fans who love football and bettors looking for fun ways to bet a few bucks.

I’ve already given you my best bets for the Week 8 games, but now it’s time to have a little fun with my Bear Bytes.

These little “bytes,” as I call them, are just nuggets that will give you some fun topics of conversation to draw from while watching the football festivities with friends and family or chatting around the water cooler with your co-workers. Here are the biggest takeaways that stood out to me in my research.

(All times ET)

#5 Georgia @ #1 Texas

Home teams have won eight of the last nine top-five regular season games, with the only loss being Ohio State’s loss to Michigan in 2022.

No. 6 Miami @ Louisville

Miami has failed to cover the week ahead of Florida State in the last three years. The Canes have been the favorite in every game, losing to North Carolina State last year and winning by two and three, respectively, against Virginia and Georgia Tech in the previous two seasons.

#7 Alabama @ #11 Tennessee

This is the first time since 2008 that Alabama is not favored by at least one touchdown against Tennessee. That year, the Tide beat Tennessee 29-9 as a 5.5-point favorite.

Tennessee has been a home underdog six times under Josh Heupel. The Vols pulled off a surprise: a 52-49 victory over the Tide in 2022.

Kalen DeBoer was involved in 12 games as Power Four head coach with a margin of +7/-7. His teams are 10-2 in those games (8-1 in the regular season).

Ball State @ Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt hasn’t been this big of a favorite against an FBS team since 2013 against Massachusetts (-30).

No. 12 Notre Dame @ Georgia Tech

Under Brent Key, Georgia Tech was an underdog 17 times. The Yellow Jackets have won 10 times overall and are 13-4 ATS. Half of Tech’s 10 wins came while still in double digits.

#17 Kansas State @ West Virginia

In its last 26 games as an underdog against a ranked opponent, West Virginia has pulled off an upset, coming in 2021 when it defeated No. 22 Iowa State in Morgantown by a 7.5-point margin. The Mountaineers lost to Iowa State 28-16 in that role last week.

USC @ Maryland

Since 2021, Lincoln Riley has been the favorite away from home 15 times. His teams have won 10 of 15 games but are just 3-12 ATS (2-9 at USC).

Nebraska @ #16 Indiana

Matt Rhule’s teams have been underdogs against ranked opponents 20 times. They won twice straight, both times at Temple. Since then, his teams are 0-13 as underdogs against a ranked opponent.

Chris “The Bear” Fallica has been covering sports for nearly three decades. While his focus has been college football, he also enjoys playing in the NFL, soccer, golf, tennis, MLB, NHL and horse racing, betting on such events “occasionally.” Chris recently won the inaugural Circa Football Invitational and finished in the top 10 of the Golden Nugget Football Contest. He has qualified for the NHC Handicapping Championship multiple times. Remember: “The less you bet, the more you lose when you win!” Follow him on Twitter @Chrisfallica.

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