Best College Football Picks and Predictions Today for Week 8 (Bet on Stanford to Cover)

Friday night college football provides us with a perfect transitional slate between Thursday Night Football and the huge Saturday college slate.

There are a handful of games set to take place tonight, and while no ranked teams are in action, we still have some great betting opportunities. Let's dive into my three best bets for Friday night lights.

Best College Football Bets Today

Odds via BetMGM Sportsbook

Duke +105 vs. Virginia
Air Force -5 (-110) vs. Wyoming
Stanford +6.5 (-108) vs. NC State

Duke vs. Virginia Best Bet

I think the wrong team is favored in this game, so I'm going to take the Blue Devils to win this game outright.

Duke comes into this week ranked 50th in net adjusted EPA per play, while Virginia ranks 82nd. The Blue Devils also rank 66th in net success rate, compared to the Cavaliers at 79th.

Duke relies on its run game to move the ball downfield, and now they get to face a Virginia offense that ranks 117th in opponent EPA per rush and 130th in opponent rush success rate. The fact that they have one of the worst run defenses in the nation is going to hurt them when trying to stop Nate Sheppard at running back.

Pick: Duke +105

Air Force vs. Wyoming Best Bet

Any game involving a service academy team comes down to how well their opponent stops the run. Fortunately for Air Force, Wyoming has one of the worst run defenses in the country, ranking 129th in opponent EPA per rush and 133rd in opponent rush success rate. Considering Air Force ranks inside the top five in every rushing metric, including ranking first amongst all teams in rush success rate, this game has the makings of a blowout in favor of the Falcons.

The Air Force defense is nothing to write home about, but the Falcons are good enough on that side of the field to let their offense rack up points and secure a convincing win.

Pick: Air Force -5 (-110)

NC State vs. Stanford Best Bet

Neither of these teams are very good, so I'm simply going to back the home underdog that's getting 6.5 points.

These two teams rank 104th and 122nd in net adjusted EPA per play, and 111th and 131st in net success rate. Neither team does anything well on either side of the football. It's an ugly game, but if you're going to give me 6.5 points with the home team in a toilet bowl of a game, I'll take that bet 10 times out of 10.

Pick: Stanford +6.5 (-108)

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