College Football Week 8 Best Bets: Composite Ratings Picks The Winners

The Composite is ready to help you enjoy a profitable and successful weekend.

We’ve reached the business end of the season.

We’ll start to get clarity on which conference races matter and who’s a real contender for the College Football Playoff, but what really matters is who’s rounding in form for you at the window.

So, who can you really trust as Against The Spread (ATS) stalwarts?

 The following teams are 80% or better against the spread this season ( no team is undefeated):

  • Syracuse
  • Kentucky
  • Bowling Green
  • UTSA
  • Michigan State
  • Coastal Carolina
  • Cincinnati
  • UNLV
  • Michigan
  • Pitt
  • Charlotte

Most of those teams are great so far straight-up (SU), in addition to ATS. Charlotte, UNLV, Bowling Green and Syracuse aren’t exactly elite squads, yet they're hard to pin down by the books.

You know what they say: Good teams win, great teams cover.

Last week: 24-26-1 48%
Season: 169-195-4 46.5%

Check out the odds at SI Sportsbook

LSU flags fly at the Tigers' game vs. Florida
Scott Clause/USA TODAY Network

COMPOSITE BEST BETS

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The process behind the picks is briefly explained in my Week 1 column. Most of the time, the computer spits out something within one or two points of the real line (and at that point, sharp plays and whale plays are what’s moving the line anyway). But if the computer gives something more than three points, it’s worth a second look.

Favorites

-San Jose State (-5) over UNLV
-Wake Forest (-3) over Army
-Eastern Michigan (-3) over Bowling Green
-Buffalo (-11) over Akron

Dogs

-Miami [OH] (+4.5) over Ball State
-Colorado (+9) over Cal
-LSU (+9) over Ole Miss

The Big Dogs

-UMass (+36) over Florida State
-Illinois (+24) over Penn State
-New Mexico (+20) over Wyoming
-ECU (+13) over Houston
-Tennessee (+25) over Alabama
-Indiana (+21) over Ohio State
-South Carolina (+21) over Texas A&M 

Check out the odds at SI Sportsbook

More Betting & College Football:

Week 7 Early Line Movement
TNF Broncos-Browns Player Props
NBA Futures and Props Betting Guide
• Washington State's Coaches Can Only Blame Themselves

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Published
Richard Johnson
RICHARD JOHNSON

Richard Johnson is known for his college sports expertise. He co-hosts the “Split Zone Duo” podcast and co-authored The Sinful Seven: Sci-fi Western Legends of the NCAA. Richard was the 2022 winner of the Edward Aschoff Rising Star Award, and previously appeared as an analyst on the SEC Network show “Thinking Out Loud.” He established an early career with ESPN and SB Nation before joining Sports Illustrated in 2021 and lives in Brooklyn.