Compared to last weekend, Week 9 of the college football season does not carry much sex appeal. “Must Watch” games are at a premium Saturday. Only five teams in NBC Sports Top 25 are playing games with Spreads of 10 or fewer points.
The good news for bettors is the lack of heavyweight battles does not equate to a lack of opportunity. The boys from Bet the EDGE broke down a handful of the weekend’s games on today’s episode.
Pittsburgh (2-5) @ Notre Dame (6-2)
Spread: Fighting Irish -20.5 (-110)
Its Homecoming for Notre Dame and this game will be broadcast on NBC.
Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper) is willing to lay the points and back the Irish.
“Pittsburgh…I don’t even really know what they do well. They are atrocious offensively. On the defensive side of the ball, their run defense is slightly better than average, but it’s not going to be good enough to keep them in this game. I think Notre Dame can get out to a lead and I think they can win by margin. They can basically pick their number here.”
Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports) sees two ways to attack this game.
“This (the play) could either be a quick start from the Fighting Irish at home and so Notre Dame first quarter -4.5 is worth a look. I also don’t think Pitt’s going to score more than a touchdown in this game so the Panthers Team Total Under is in play for me.”
Join in the college football conversation Saturdays at 11AM ET. From sides to totals to props, get ready for the weekend of college football with the NBC Sports College Football Betting Q&A.
#18 Duke (5-2) @ #21 Louisville (6-1)
Dinsick is hesitant to play this one until he sees an injury report.
“I don’t have news or information yet on the availability of their quarterback Leonard. He matters. If he is ultimately going to go, I think this is probably going across three. The fact that it’s sitting at four and there’s been no nibblers suggests there’s probably going to be no Leonard. I’m planning for the backup here for Duke. I’m looking at Under or Pass as brutal as it was to lose that Under against Florida State last week.”
The Under makes sense for a number of reasons but primarily because no Riley Leonard was a struggle last week in the second half for the Blue Devils against Florida State.
“I don’t have a lot of faith in Duke’s offense here and I think fatigue is partially why they started falling apart in the second half…A lot of good teams in a row for Duke that are all physical, conference games and that catches up with you.”
Ironically, Duke is in a similar position to where Notre Dame when they took the field against Louisville. Like the Blue Devils, the Irish had played a lot of football against good teams consecutively for a handful of weeks leading up to the Louisville game. They looked gassed and the Cardinals took advantage. Rinse and repeat this week for Louisville against Duke?
Other games discussed on today’s episode of Bet the EDGE: Oregon @ Utah, Colorado @ UCLA, Indiana @ Penn State, and Ohio State @ Michigan.
Enjoy Week 9 and enjoy the sweat.
*all odds courtesy of BetMGM
Bet the Edge is your source for the day in sports betting. Get all of Jay Croucher and Drew Dinsick’s insight Tuesday through Saturday at 6AM ET right here or wherever you get your podcasts.