The Week 8 college football schedule includes an early dose of Pac-12 action on Thursday night when the Arizona State Sun Devils host the Stanford Cardinal at 9 p.m. ET. Stanford can keep pace with Washington in the North Division with a victory, while the Sun Devils will take a needed step toward bowl eligibility if they pull off the upset. Stanford opened as a three-point favorite, but is laying 2.5 in the latest Stanford vs. Arizona State odds. The over-under, or total number of points Vegas thinks will be scored, has shot up over a touchdown from 51.5 to 59. Before locking in your Stanford vs. Arizona State picks, listen to what SportsLine expert Emory Hunt has to say.

Hunt is the founder and CEO of Football Gameplan, which has been supplying analysis of all levels of football since 2007. The former running back joined SportsLine in 2016 and has put his stamp on college football. 

His expertise has earned him the nickname "The Czar of the Playbook," and Hunt already has spent endless hours breaking down the rosters of FBS clubs. With his Thursday night selection, he is looking to build on an incredible 8-1 mark on spread picks involving either Arizona State or Stanford. Anyone who has followed him is up big. 

In Week 2 Hunt advised SportsLine members to back Stanford as a six-point favorite against rebuilding USC. The Cardinal defense led the way to a dominating 17-3 victory, and anyone who followed Hunt's advice picked up an easy winner. 

Now, Hunt has scrutinized Stanford vs. Arizona State from every possible angle to reveal a strong point-spread pick that he's sharing only at SportsLine. 

Hunt knows that in the early going, Stanford benefited from attacking defenses that were prepared to limit the effectiveness of Heisman Trophy hopeful Bryce Love. The Cardinal took advantage of single coverage and quarterback K.J. Costello made several big plays in the passing game. Costello is fourth in the Pac-12 with 1,611 passing yards and is completing 62.6 percent of his attempts. 

But Stanford has been hampered by the lingering ankle injury to Love, who was limited in the loss to Notre Dame and sat out last week's loss to Utah. Without Love, the Cardinal mustered just 42 rushing yards against the physical Utes. Love is listed as questionable for Thursday night's game.

Stanford beat Arizona State by 10 last year, but that doesn't guarantee it will cover Thursday against a Sun Devils club that is looking for a turnaround of its own.

Hunt also knows many observers questioned the offseason hiring of former NFL coach Herm Edwards to lead ASU, but he did a lot to silence doubters in the early season. In Week 2, the Sun Devils knocked off Big Ten contender Michigan State 16-13 as a six-point home underdog. That same Michigan State team beat Penn State on the road last Saturday.

In its last outing, Arizona State (3-3) took previously-unbeaten Colorado to the wire before the Buffaloes prevailed 28-21.

We can tell you Hunt is leaning toward the Under, but he has identified the crucial X-factor that makes one side of the spread a must-back. He's only sharing it at SportsLine. 

Who covers in Stanford vs. Arizona State? And which crucial X-factor causes one side of the spread to hit hard? Visit SportsLine now to see which side you should jump on Thursday, all from a seasoned expert who is 8-1 on his picks involving these teams.