DraftKings released its look-ahead numbers Wednesday night for Week 9 in college football.
The games start Tuesday in a battle that’ll go a long way toward deciding who makes the Conference USA Championship Game. Liberty (7-0 straight up, 3-4 against the spread) is poised to take its unbeaten record to Bowling Green, KY., where it’ll face Western Kentucky.
As of Thursday morning, DraftKings had the Hilltoppers installed as 1.5-point home favorites. However, by Friday afternoon, the Flames were 1.5-point road ‘chalk.’
Western Ky. (4-3 SU, 3-4 ATS) will be in bounce-back mode after losing 20-17 at Jacksonville St. this past Tuesday as a 7.5-point road favorite. The Gamecocks beat the ‘Tops on a walk-off field goal as time expired.
The defeat dropped Tyson Helton’s team to 2-1 in league play. Meanwhile, Liberty improved to 5-0 in C-USA games with Tuesday’s 42-35 win over Middle Tennessee as a 16.5-point home favorite.
DraftKings has Tennessee listed as a 3.5-point road favorite at Kentucky. This is a great spot for the Wildcats, who have two weeks to prepare for the Volunteers.
Kentucky (5-2 SU, 4-3 ATS) has lost back-to-back games at Georgia (51-13) and vs. Missouri (38-21) since starting the year with a 5-0 record. The Wildcats have covered the spread in six straight games as home underdogs, and they’re 7-1 ATS with four outright wins in their last eight games as home ‘dogs. They lost 45-42 to the Volunteers in Lexington two years ago before getting drilled 44-6 in Knoxville last season.
Tennessee (5-1 SU, 4-2 ATS) takes a three-game winning streak both SU and ATS into Tuscaloosa this weekend. The Vols, who are off a 20-13 home win over Texas A&M last weekend, will fall into a natural letdown scenario at UK coming off their rivalry game against the Crimson Tide. It won’t help their cause that they’ll also have to travel for a second straight week.
DraftKings opened Ohio St. (6-0 SU, 3-2-1 ATS) as a 12-point favorite at Wisconsin last night, but that number had moved to -13 by Thursday morning The Buckeyes face their toughest test of the year when they host Penn St. in Columbus in Week 8.
Wisconsin (4-2 SU, 2-4 ATS) was the preseason favorite to win the Big Ten West, but that’s no longer the case after the Badgers lost 15-6 at home vs. Iowa last week. Making matters worse, they lost starting QB Tanner Mordecai to a fractured hand that required surgery earlier this week. The transfer from SMU is out indefinitely.
This is only the second time Wisconsin has been a home underdog in the past decade and the first time since 2016. That’s when the Badgers covered the number in a 30-23 loss to Ohio St. as 10-point home ‘dogs.
Georgia (7-0 SU, 4-3 ATS) is installed as a 14-point favorite vs. Florida (5-2 SU, 3-3-1 ATS) next Saturday in Jacksonville. The Bulldogs, who were favored by 21.5 to 22.5 points depending on the book back in August, have won five of the last six head-to-head meetings in this bitter border rivalry.
They’ll be without their best player, TE Brock Bowers, who is out indefinitely with an ankle injury that required surgery this past Monday. The Gators are 6-3 ATS in nine games as underdogs during Billy Napier’s tenure.
In UGA’s 42-20 win over UF last season, Bowers was the catalyst with five receptions for 154 yards and one TD.
DraftKings has Oregon listed as a 3.5-point road favorite at Utah. The Utes are on an 18-game home winning streak at Rice-Eccles Stadium, and they haven’t been home underdogs since their 2020 season opener.
Kyle Whittingham’s team is a seven-point road underdog tomorrow at USC, while the Ducks are 20-point home ‘chalk’ vs. Washington St. They’re 5-2 ATS in seven games as road favorites during Dan Lanning’s tenure.
Oregon St. (6-1 SU, 5-2 ATS) is a five-point road favorite at Arizona. Both teams are off this weekend and have two weeks to prepare for their first head-to-head meeting since 2019.
The Beavers are 3-6 ATS in nine games as road ‘chalk’ during Jonathan Smith’s six-year tenure. Arizona (4-3 SU, 6-1 ATS) is 4-0 ATS as an underdog this year and 6-4 ATS as 10 games as a home ‘dog on Jedd Fisch’s watch.
The Wildcats’ three defeats have all been one-possession games, including a 31-24 overtime loss at Mississippi St. and a 43-41 triple-OT setback at USC. They went on the road last week and destroyed Washington St. 44-6 as 7.5-point road underdogs.
UCLA (4-2 SU, 3-3 ATS) is listed as a 15.5-point home favorite vs. Colorado. The Bruins are off a 36-24 loss at Oregon St. going into tomorrow’s game at Stanford.
Colorado (4-3 SU, 3-3-1 ATS) has an open date this weekend to attempt to shake off a 46-43 home loss to Stanford in double overtime. The Cardinal rallied from a 29-0 halftime deficit to win outright in Boulder.
Fresno St. is installed as a seven-point home favorite vs. UNLV. The Bulldogs bounced back from their first loss of the year at Wyoming on Oct. 7 by winning 37-32 at Utah St. last week. They have two weeks to prepare for the Rebels, who are hosting Colorado St. in Week 8.
UNLV takes a 5-1 record and a four-game winning streak into its home game against the Rams. The Rebels have lost five games in a row to Fresno St. and the ‘over’ is on a 4-0 run in this rivalry.