The NFL has plenty of passionate fan bases – just ask any table in Buffalo – and there’s nothing like playoff series’ in the NBA, MLB, and NHL. For my money though, no sport comes close to matching the intensity of college football week in and week out. Does that mean throw all the stats and past trends out the window in week 8 college football betting and just say, “if you’re at home, you have a chance.”
There are a lot of things that make home field advantage the most prevalent in college football. There’s the youth of the student section, the comradery of alumni coming back to their old stomping grounds, rivalries that span decades and are fairly regional – and also booze. If you don’t think fan bases can get a little intense before, during, and after a win just ask the Tennessee Volunteers’ field goal post.
Home Field Was Clicking In Week 7
It was an amazing day 12 hours of football last Saturday, and home teams were rolling. Michigan dominated Penn State 41-17 at the Big House in what was supposed to be a closer matchup between hte #10 and #5 teams in the country. Of course we’ve got the huge 52-49 victory by Tennessee in Knoxville, beating Alabama for the first time since 2007.
In Ft. Worth TCU also handed Oklahoma State their first loss of the season 43-40 in 2 OT in a matchup of #13 vs. #8 while Utah did the same to USC 43-42 in Salt Lake City as #19 beat #7.
Make no mistake, the “taking the home team” outlier is not perfect. Notre Dame suffered an almost surreal 16-14 loss to Stanford at South Bend when the Cardinal had lost 11-straight games to FBS opponents. Being in the Swamp didn’t help Florida overcome LSU either, with the Gators taking it on the chin in a 45-35 loss.
Big Upsets for Home Teams in Week 8 College Football Betting?
Looking ahead to the week 8 slate oddsmakers have really adjusted their lines after last Saturday to value being at home even more. SMU is giving +3 to #21 Cincinnati which could be an upset alert. Oklahoma State is down 3 spots to #11 despite a hard fought 2OT loss at TCU last week, but they are still +6.5 underdogs when #20 Texas comes to Stillwater on Saturday.
They’re not an underdog, but unranked LSU is just a -1.5 favorite in Baton Rouge with 7-0, #7 ranked Ole Miss coming to the bayou this weekend. 4-2 South Carolina is giving +3.5 to 3-3 Texas A&M in Columbia which could be another home cooking upset on the menu.
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