We've reached the midway point of the college football season and one of the few things we can feel confident in knowing is that Alabama is still quite good at football.

How good? Well, the Tide are 16.5-point home favorites this week over an undefeated Texas A&M team that's currently ranked sixth in the country. That game, which is this Saturday's SEC on CBS game of the week, leads the way in our early look at lines and game odds for Week 8.

Lines you need to know

No. 6 Texas A&M (+16.5) at No. 1 Alabama: This is so many points for a top-10 team to be getting. I can't remember seeing a line this wide for a top-10 matchup, especially one this late in the season. Every fiber of my being wants to take the Aggies plus the number here -- just off of principle alone -- but Alabama is good enough to scare me off of it. Wagering against Alabama is a surefire way to be be nervous and miserable for four hours on a Saturday.

No. 17 Arkansas (+9.5) at No. 21 Auburn: The second of three top-25 matchups in the SEC West this weekend will take place on the Plains, where the Razorbacks are nearly a double-digit dog to the Tigers. Auburn has looked much improved over the past few weeks, but the oddsmakers are putting an awful lot of faith in the Tigers with this line.

Miami (Fla.) (+4) at Virginia Tech: The prime-time Thursday night ACC showdown looked a lot better on the schedule before this past Saturday when both the Hurricanes and Hokies lost to conference foes. Even so, this is an old rivalry that dates back to the Big East days and still could have serious implications for the ACC Coastal champ. One team will get a big bounce-back win while the other will see its season take a nose dive.

These may raise eyebrows

No. 2 Ohio State at Penn State (+18.5): I know Penn State got hammered by Michigan on the road, but to be a near 20-point home dog seems like an awful lot for the Nittany Lions. The Buckeyes looked a bit off on the road last week at Wisconsin -- which admittedly boasts a much better defense than Penn State. I'm not in love with Penn State here, but the number seems a little bit off.

No. 10 Wisconsin at Iowa (+3): Iowa laid the hammer down on Purdue last week, which resulted in the firing of Purdue coach Darrell Hazell. However, let us not forget that this is an Iowa team that struggled to beat Rutgers, lost to North Dakota State at home and its best win is a 14-7 snoozer against Minnesota. Wisconsin has lost twice as well, but those were in one-possession games to two of the nation's best teams and this defense is absolutely filthy. This is a spot where the Badgers, even on the road, should probably be laying close to a touchdown.

Syracuse (+5.5) at Boston College: Wait just a minute. Boston College is favored in an ACC game by nearly a touchdown. The Eagles have lost 11 consecutive ACC games. Their last conference win was Nov. 29, 2014 (fittingly against Syracuse). Syracuse just beat up on Virginia Tech and has looked sneaky competitive in a few other contests this year as Dino Babers has the Orange playing hard. I can't imagine what it would take for me to lay 5.5 with the Eagles in conference, but this certainly does not meet the criteria.

Consider staying away

No. 23 Ole Miss (+6) at No. 25 LSU: That looks like a juicy number for the Rebels, but this is LSU in Death Valley at night. I'm not totally sure whether the Tigers are for real or if the past few weeks have been fugazi, but Coach O has them playing some inspired ball. I don't trust them enough to lay a touchdown (sans extra point) here, but I wouldn't bet against the Tigers in this spot either.

Oregon (+3) at Cal: Don't bet this game -- except for maybe the over depending on what that monstrosity of a number is. Just enjoy it for the garbage defense contest it will be. You really, really, really don't want to be sweating this one out as both teams run up and down the field for scores, trying to figure out how miserable the backdoor (or frontdoor) beat is going to happen.

Mississippi State (-3) at Kentucky: Don't. Just, don't. This game is going to be an awful lot of sadness and there's no good reason to want to put yourself on either side of this.