College Football Betting: Week 9
The following article contains information that is not representative of the opinions of CommRadio. It solely expresses the opinions of Antonio Fondacaro.
With just five weeks left, the college football season is flying by. Now that teams have had plenty of time to show us their identity, we’ve got you covered on what picks to take.
TCU (-7.5) vs. West Virginia
The No. 7 ranked TCU Horned Frogs travel to Mountaineer Field to take on the 3-4 West Virginia Mountaineers.
TCU has impressed everyone this season, after statement wins against two ranked teams in Oklahoma State and Kansas state; The Horned Frogs have a resume that could put them into contention for the playoffs.
West Virginia has been less than impressive. Quarterback JT Daniels has been serviceable with 10 passing touchdowns and six interceptions thrown.
The Balanced Approach of the West Virginia offense would work well if they didn’t make so many mistakes. It doesn’t help they are coming off a 48-10 beatdown loss to Texas Tech, which has a less dynamic offense.
The WVU pass protection hasn’t been great either, which is bad against a stout TCU defensive front.
TCU does everything the right way. Quarterback Max Duggan has only thrown a single interception all season; and the horned frogs are one of the least penalized teams in college football.
TCU and West Virginia run a very similar offensive scheme, but TCU is more efficient in every category of offense. The horned frogs defense is a great mismatch against a balanced WVU offense.
The spread for this game should be much bigger, I think TCU wins and by A LOT.
My score prediction is 40-25 TCU, take that -7.5 TCU spread for an easy payday.
Prediction: TCU (-7.5)
Notre Dame at Syracuse (-2.5)
Another surprise team of the 2022 college football season makes my list.
Syracuse is 6-1? With a chance to win the ACC? No one saw that one coming.
The Syracuse orange are coming off a depressing loss in a close game against Clemson.
Syracuse proved that they are a legit contending team after mopping NC State at home 24-9. They have not yet lost a game at home.
Notre Dame has been less than impressive, they struggled to win at home against Cal early in the season.
After failing to get it done against a gritty Stanford team, the Irish won a bounce back game against UNLV.
Don't let names fool you, Syracuse is a significantly better football team than Notre Dame. I expect a beatdown from the jump.
Take the Syracuse spread.
Prediction: Syracuse (-2.5)
No. 20 Cincinnati vs. UCF
Last year's playoff bound Cincinnati Bearcats opened the season to a demoralizing loss at Arkansas. Since then, it’s been smooth sailing winning six straight after the season opener.
The 6-1 Bearcats look to keep that streak going, but it won't be easy against a gritty 5-2 UCF team.
The Cincinnati defense has carried the load in closing out games. The offense simply scores enough points to get the win.
The UCF offense has been struggling, especially lately. Quarterback John Rhys Plumlee threw 3 interceptions and zero touchdowns in last week's 34-13 loss to East Carolina.
This game will come down to one thing, defense. I believe Cincinnati will keep the UCF Knights kicking field goals for the entire game.
As long as Quarterback Ben Bryant and the Bearcats backfield can do enough, Cincinnati should coast to their 7th straight win.
Prediction: Cincinnati ML
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Antonio Fondacaro is a second-year studying broadcast journalism. To contact him, email adf5400@psu.edu
