Two unlikely schools have jumped up the national rankings to put themselves into position to make the four-team College Football Playoff field for the first time ever.
Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
This week, the Wisconsin Badgers (10-0) and Miami Hurricanes (9-0) simply cannot afford to slip up if they are going to stay in contention for one of the CFP spots, and oddsmakers have both of them pegged as big home favorites to remain undefeated.
But unlike Miami, Wisconsin will face its toughest test of the season, hosting the Michigan Wolverines as 7.5-point chalk. The Wolverines have won three in a row by playing strong defense, although they are just 1-8-1 against the spread in the past 10 meetings with the Badgers.
That is likely the main reason Wisconsin is favored by more than a touchdown in this Big Ten matchup for the first time since 2009.
It will be interesting to see if this line closes less than seven points considering Michigan is such a public team. That would obviously mean sportsbooks would need the Badgers again.
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes are 19-point favorites versus the Virginia Cavaliers (6-4) after they clinched the ACC Coastal Division for the first time in school history. Miami is coming off a convincing 41-8 rout of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish last week and saw the Virginia Tech Hokies fall to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to eliminate themselves from winning the Coastal for the fifth time in six years.
The Hokies had won the division five of the first seven years dating back to 2005. Books will likely need Virginia to come through here despite this being a potential letdown spot for the host.
In addition, two schools with more than one loss are still hoping to state their case for invitations to the CFP, as the Ohio State Buckeyes and Auburn Tigers are each 8-2 and ranked in the Top 10 of the AP Top 25.
The Buckeyes blew out the Michigan State Spartans 48-3 last week to bounce back from their surprising road loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes, and they are massive 39.5-point home favorites this Saturday against the Illinois Fighting Illini.
The Tigers are 36-point home chalk versus the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks following their 40-17 blowout of the Georgia Bulldogs. Books will probably need both big road dogs to cover after Ohio State and Auburn have each been bet up from their opening numbers.
