College football odds, lines for Week 8: Oregon opens as underdog, Michigan a road favorite

It's never too early to check out the early lines and prepare your investments

By Barrett Sallee

Oct 14, 2018 at 5:32 pm ET • 3 min read

Week 8 of the college football season features games between ranked teams in the Big Ten, Pac-12, ACC and SEC. There will be a lot on the line for a lot of top-tier teams, and the loaded slate could mean that there's a lot on the line for your bank account.

Lines for Week 8 were released Sunday afternoon. Let's check out what the oddsmakers think of the matchups.

Lines you need to know

No. 16 NC State at No. 3 Clemson (-18.5): The defending ACC champions will host the upstart Wolfpack in a critical ACC Atlantic showdown in Death Valley. Both squads were off last week, so they should be fresh for a game that could decide division supremacy and give the winner the inside track to the ACC Championship Game. Clearly, the oddsmakers are counting on the public not loving an NC State team that has quietly gone about its business in 2018.

No. 6 Michigan at No. 24 Michigan State (+6.5): Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh has lost two of his three games against the Spartans, and will enter East Lansing fresh off an emphatic win over Wisconsin. The Spartans went to Penn State and stunned the Nittany Lions last week, and seem to have found a spark after sputtering out of the gate. It will be interesting to see how this line moves throughout the week after Michigan vaulted back in the College Football Playoff picture.

No. 22 Mississippi State at No. 5 LSU (-7): The Tigers held serve at home last week against Georgia, and host a Bulldogs team that was relaxing at home during the bye week. The Bulldogs gained confidence last time out in a win over Auburn, and should be fresh as they head to the SEC's version of Death Valley. If home field counts for three points, oddsmakers clearly think that this one will be a four-quarter battle.

No. 9 Oklahoma at TCU (+9): The Horned Frogs fell to Texas Tech last Thursday, and the Sooners had a week off to lick their wounds after the loss to Texas. It seems that the TCU buzz has died down, but there are still concerns from the folks in the desert about where the Sooners actually are as a team in 2018.

No. 12 Oregon at No. 25 Washington State (-1.5): The Ducks won the battle at the line of scrimmage in a massive Pac-12 North win over Washington last week, and will head to the Palouse this week against a Cougars team that has only one conference loss. It looks like Vegas is expecting a bit of a letdown for the Ducks, and this game to be one of the most exciting matchups of the week.

Consider staying away

No. 1 Alabama at Tennessee (NL): Alabama's lines are incredibly high, and bettors end up sweating meaningless scores in garbage time every week. This week has a little bit of a wrinkle, as the status of star QB Tua Tagovailoa is up in the air after re-aggravating a knee injury last week vs. Missouri. That's most likely the reason why there's no line on this game yet. But no matter what it is, stay very, very far away from Alabama games unless you enjoy stressful blowouts.

Maryland at No. 19 Iowa (-12): Nate Stanley has been awesome under center for the Hawkeyes, and it seems like oddsmakers have caught on. But 12 points against a Terrapins team that hasn't been bad save for the blowout loss to Temple seems a little aggressive. Something might be up in this one.

No. 20 Cincinnati at Temple (-3): Lincoln Financial Field isn't exactly intimidating for college football, and the Bearcats come into this one unblemished and off of a bye week. The Owls have quietly played well, but there's something curious about a ranked team that's under the radar being an underdog to a team that isn't exactly high-profile.

Stanford at Arizona State (+3): The Sun Devils are home underdogs to a Stanford team that has struggled to run the football all season. Both teams were off last week, so they've had plenty of time to prepare for this Thursday night throw down. These teams have been hit-and-miss all year, and there's too much uncertainty in this one.

Auburn at Ole Miss (+3.5): It's incredibly hard to trust Auburn at this point, and its defense just got torched by Jarrett Guarantano and Tennessee. Now the Tigers are road favorites against QB Jordan Ta'amu and the high-flying Rebels aerial assault. The wrong team is favored here.