College Football Week 9 betting preview

College Football Week 9 Betting Preview

One of the most venerable stadiums in college football is Michigan Stadium, otherwise known as “the Big House,” in Ann Arbor. It’s an incredible spectacle to see if ever given the chance to go watch the Wolverines play a game there in front of 100,000-plus regardless of opponent.

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College Football Week 9 Betting PreviewIt might surprise many to know, however, that lights are a fairly new phenomenon at Michigan Stadium and in fact there have been just five prime-time games held there. The Wolverines are 5-0 all-time in them, including a Week 1 easy win over Middle Tennessee. This Saturday in the ABC prime-time game, No. 19 Michigan hosts No. 8 Notre Dame in a non-conference affair in what will be the foreseeable end of one of college football’s better rivalries. There are no scheduled meetings after this season, and that’s a shame. The Wolverines are 1-point favorites and have covered the past four at home in the series.

Staying in the Big Ten, No. 17 Minnesota has been a surprise under Coach P.J. Fleck and the Gophers control their destiny to win the West Division for the first time. They look to stay unbeaten and are 16.5-point home favorites against Maryland at 3:30 p.m. ET. The Terps are 1-6 ATS in their past seven on the road. While Minnesota doesn’t have a loss, it has played a very easy schedule so far with nary a ranked opponent.

From the Big 12, No. 15 Texas renews its rivalry with “little brother” TCU from Fort Worth – where there will probably be more Longhorns fans in attendance for the 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff. It has been a bit of a down season for the Horned Frogs as they lost a lot of talent from last year, while Texas still has a shot at playing in the Big 12 title game but probably needs to win out. UT upset then-No. 17 TCU last year 31-16 in Austin and is -1.5 for this game. The Frogs are just 3-11 ATS in their past 14 Big 12 games.

Expect a defensive battle from the Pac-12 when California visits No. 12 Utah at 10 p.m. ET. These are two of the better defensive teams in the country. The Utes got a dominant win over Arizona State last Saturday to keep their chances of repeating in the Pac-12 South Division alive. Cal likely will be down to its third-string QB due to injury. It’s the first meeting between these schools since 2016. Utah is -21.5 with the home team 5-2 ATS in the past seven meetings.