College Football Week 8 Picks and Predictions: Best Bets for Saturday’s Top Games

Are you a fan of SEC football? If so, you’re going to have an amazing Saturday. 

If not, at least you’ll still have two all-time rivalries in USC vs Notre Dame and the Holy War. I missed on two separate picks by half a point last week, and also had my worst bet of the season by taking the under and betting against USF in their whomping of North Texas. 

It’s time to rebound and find some winners.

#10 LSU (5-1) vs #17 Vanderbilt (5-1) -2.5 Total: 48.5

I hate this game. These two teams might be the most overrated duo in the country. I’ve been complaining about LSU’s ranking every week this season, but unfortunately, they’re going to beat Vandy.

I don’t trust any unit in this game outside of LSU’s defense. As bad as the Tigers’ offense has been, the defense still has the athletes to will them to victory. I don’t think Deigo Pavia is a strong enough passer to beat LSU with his arm, and I trust their run defense to keep him in check. I think this game is very low scoring, but the Tigers do enough to pull off the “upset” on the road.

Pick: LSU (+2.5)
Lean: u48.5

#5 Ole Miss (6-0) vs #9 Georgia (5-1) -7.5 Total: 54.5

Ole Miss struggled at home against a subpar Washington State last week, but I’m not selling any stock in them. That’s mainly because I am insanely low on Georgia. After the Tennessee game, I was starting to believe my original thoughts on Gunnar Stockton were incorrect. However, I now feel far more confident in my take that he’s not very good.

More importantly, he’s not very good, and he doesn’t have the normal Georgia-level talent around him to make up for that. Trinidad Chambliss is easily the best quarterback in this game, and that will show in this one. Another key is that Lane Kiffin doesn’t have Mike Bobo as an offensive coordinator like Kirby Smart. I think that will be the downfall for the Bulldogs, as they won’t be able to keep pace late in the game with the Rebels. I’m not putting Ole Miss moneyline on my card, but I would take that as Ole Miss is my lock of the week.

Pick: Ole Miss +7.5
Lean: o54.5

#11 Tennessee (5-1) vs #6 Alabama (5-1) -7.5 Total: 59.5

Every week, I look at the total for the Alabama game and think it’s the easiest over of the week. It continually misses, but I won’t stop betting it. That’s why I will be betting the over one more time.

However, this week makes the most sense. Tennessee’s defense is terrible, but quarterback Joey Aguilar has shown that he can move the ball against anyone in the country. The battle between him and Ty Simpson will be the best thing we see this weekend, and I think this game will easily turn into a shootout. I don’t love the spread in this game, as I believe Alabama is the better team, but I hate how they’re a two-score favorite. I’ll just stick with the over in this one.

Pick: o59.5

#20 USC (5-1) vs #13 Notre Dame (4-2) -9.5 Total: 60.5

Notre Dame has the two best losses in college football, and has looked great since those two losses, but their ranking makes zero sense. Their best win since those losses might be against Boise State? USC stumbled against a decent Illinois team, but since then, they've bounced back with a nice win over Michigan.

This game has no business being this heavily favored for Notre Dame. USC’s defense is not as bad as usual, and I think they can at least slow down the Irish offense. Also, Jayden Maiava is the best quarterback in this game, and I don’t like CJ Carr’s ability to win this game for Notre Dame when USC can slow down Jeremiyah Love. I really like USC and the under in this one.

Pick: USC -9.5 and u60.5

#23 Utah (5-1) -3.5 vs #15 BYU (6-0) Total: 49.5

The Holy War is the most underrated rivalry in all of sports. I don’t think any two teams in sports hate each other like Utah and BYU. Having a ranked matchup with these two teams in the same conference is precisely what college football needs.

I don’t have a great feel for this game, so my pick comes down to one thing. In a big-time game, would you rather have Devon Dampier or Bear Bachmeier as your signal caller? The answer is obviously Dampier, and that’s why I’d lean toward the Utes in a low-scoring afair.

Pick: u49.5
Lean: Utah -3.5

2025 Record
Picks: 31-22
Leans: 13-18