College Football Week 8 Best Bets: Undefeated Indiana on Surprise Alert?

We’ll cover the Alabama-Tennessee and Georgia-Texas games in detail later this weekend, but for now our best bets for Week 8 include the following matchups (both ET):

• Nebraska vs. No. 16 Indiana (12 p.m., FOX)
• No. 24 Michigan vs. No. 22 Illinois (3:30 p.m., CBS)
• Colorado vs. Arizona (4 p.m., FOX)

Nebraska (+6.5) vs. Indiana

Indiana (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) has been one of the biggest surprises of the season this year.

Under first-year head coach Curt Cignetti, the Hoosiers not only win games, but do so with style. IU has outscored its first three Big Ten opponents this year by a score of 125-60. In fact, Indiana has scored at least 40 points in each of its last five games following an opening 31-7 win over FIU.

The catch is that the competition wasn’t good.

FIU and Charlotte both rank outside the ESPN SP+ top 100, while Big Ten opponents UCLA (SP+ No. 79) and Northwestern (SP+ No. 71) also weren’t impressive. The best team Indiana has ever played was Maryland (SP+ No. 52) in Week 5, and IU committed four turnovers and led by just one score entering the fourth quarter of that game.

There are legitimate questions about how this team will fare against better competition, and we should get some answers to them on Saturday. Nebraska (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) is unranked and has had a difficult first year under Matt Rhule, but the Huskers continued to be excellent defensively in 2024 after dominating on that side of the ball a year ago .

Nebraska’s only loss this year came in overtime against No. 22 Illinois on Sept. 20. The Huskers’ stingy defense — which ranks seventh in the country at just 11.3 per game and No. 1 according to SP+ — has 10 gave up points or fewer in five of six games this year, including a dominant 28-10 win over top-ranked Colorado.

If veteran Indiana QB Kurtis Rourke – who completed 118 of 160 passes for 1,752 yards, 14 TDs and 2 interceptions as a Hoosier after transferring from Ohio in the offseason – can light up Nebraska, it will officially be time for the Look to start with the Hoosiers as Big Ten contenders.

This week, however, we expect Indiana to struggle against Nebraska, whose defense makes it a strong game as it’s almost a touchdown underdog, especially if star freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola can take care of the football .

Best bets:

• Nebraska +6.5 (-105 at bet365, DraftKings) 1 unit
• Nebraska Moneyline (+200 at bet365, DK) 0.5 units

Michigan vs. Illinois (+152)

Another Big Ten matchup, another ranked team facing a surprise defeat. The reigning national champions are only slight favorites in this duel. Yet this sentence still feels disrespectful to Illinois.

The Illini (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) have lost just once this season, on the road to No. 3 Penn State in a night game that ended in a 7-7 halftime tie on Sept. 28. Bret Bielema’s team is rock-solid and should be able to compete with a Michigan squad that barely resembles the squad we saw win the national championship a year ago.

The Wolverines (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) have already lost two games this year, a huge home loss to Texas and an ugly 27-17 loss to Washington. The loss to the Huskies was particularly concerning since UW has lost to Washington State, Rutgers and Iowa.

Michigan shouldn’t be putting up so many points against Illinois’ Luke Altmyer, one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the country. Despite facing two of the best defenses in the country this year (Nebraska and Penn State are both in the top 5 according to SP+), Altmyer has completed 67.7 percent of his passes for 1,426 yards, 14 touchdowns and just 1 interception this year.

Don’t be surprised if Illinois wins a low-scoring battle outright in the biggest game in ages in Champaign, Illinois. If you’re not quite ready to trigger the Illini on the moneyline, they’re also a good value play at +4 (-110) on the spread.

Best bet: Illinois Moneyline (+152 on FanDuel) 1 unit

Colorado vs. Arizona (over 58)

Both the Buffaloes and Wildcats entered the 2024 season with high hopes thanks to their high-octane QBs and WRs. Midway through the campaign, Arizona’s Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan and Colorado stars Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter were all but advertised.

Arizona (3-3, 1-2 Big 12) beat Utah in Week 5, and Colorado (4-2, 2-1 Big 12) has won two of its first three conference games, most recently a near-upset against Kansas State Saturday night. However, both teams are giving up a lot of points, which is why they are only a long way from winning the completely open Big 12. Colorado is currently at +2000 to win the league and Arizona is at +6000 entering Week 8.

The combination of strong offense and weak defense means there’s a good chance of a high-scoring shootout Saturday night.

Colorado’s last three games included a 38-31 win over Baylor, a 48-21 win over UCF and a 31-28 loss against Kansas State (all three of those results would have clinched a win for Colorado-Arizona this weekend). ).

Arizona has participated in several shootouts of its own this year, including

• Week 1 vs. New Mexico: UA 61, New Mexico 39
• Week 6 vs. Texas Tech: TT 28, UA 22
• Week 7 vs. BYU: BYU 41, UA 19

We like this game to be over 58. We’re also recommending that Colorado surpass its team total against a Wildcats defense that has given up 28 or more points four times this year.

Best bets:

• Over 58 (-110 at bet365, DK) 1 unit
• Colorado team overall score over 34.5 (+220 at FD) 0.5 units

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