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Notable Line Moves For Week 9

Top Picks for Winning Bets in Week 9

The college football season moves into Week 9 with a lot of teams still searching for an identity and consistency. You can look at the three games below and easily conclude that with one exception out of the six teams listed, they are all still trying to play their best football.

They haven’t done so in 2021. This is why there are substantial line movements and noticeably strong opinions about how good – or bad – various teams are. Let’s look at these three line movements and explain why they are happening.

college football
Andy Lyons/Getty Images/AFP

Boston College Eagles at Syracuse Orange

Line Movement: Syracuse -4½ to Syracuse -6½

This NCAA odds move is a product of the fact that Boston College just lost to Louisville 28-14. The Eagles have gone on a steady downhill decline since their loss at Clemson a few weeks ago.

Boston College is just not able to score much with former walk-on Dennis Grosel filling in for injured star quarterback Phil Jurkovec. Boston College would have been in much better shape with Jurkovec, perhaps strong enough to compete for the ACC Atlantic Division championship.

This has been brutal luck for the team and head coach Jeff Hafley, who are simply not working with a full deck of cards. Meanwhile, Syracuse won on the road at Virginia Tech last week.

The Orange have increasing reason for optimism in this game and in the remainder of the season. Syracuse almost beat Clemson and ACC leader Wake Forest.

The Orange have been knocking on the door all season long and finally broke through at Virginia Tech. That confidence can carry over into this game, and the public is clearly betting that it will.

Colorado Buffaloes at Oregon Ducks

Line Movement: Colorado +26½ to Colorado +24½

The Ducks are obviously the better team, but the those who bet online knows that Oregon can and will play down to its competition. Oregon barely beat Fresno State at home. Oregon struggled with Stony Brook for a quarter and a half. Oregon barely beat California a few weeks ago.

The Ducks are a really good team and likely to win this game, but a lot of people seem to think the Ducks will jog through this game instead of being supremely focused and putting a major beatdown on Colorado.

That view is supported by plenty of evidence, so it’s not as though this thought process is bizarre or coming out of nowhere. It’s actually very reasonable.

Florida State Seminoles at Clemson Tigers

Line Movement: Over-Under From 46 to 47½

This is an interesting line move, because Clemson’s offense has been terrible this season. D.J. Uiagalelei has struggled to throw the ball, make reads and do the other things a quarterback ought to do.

He was expected to be a great quarterback but has played scared the whole season. If the line is moving upward, it’s because people perceive that Florida State’s defense is so weak that Clemson will finally be able to unleash its best weapons on offense.

They might be the best option for college football picks.

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