Let's close Week 8 with a bang.
USC vs. Notre Dame. Texas vs. Kentucky. Utah vs. BYU.
Our staff of college football betting experts has content on all of those games and more in our college football best bets and NCAAF picks for Saturday night on October 18.
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College Football Best Bets, Picks for Saturday Night
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
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  | 7:30 p.m. | |
  | 7 p.m. | |
| 7 p.m. | |
  | 8 p.m. | |
 | Evening | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our NCAAF Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | ||
USC vs Notre Dame Pick
Injuries are a concern for the Trojans heading into South Bend, not only missing Waymond Jordan in the backfield, but potentially others in the trenches.
Anchor left tackle Elijah Paige didn't play against Michigan, as substitute Tobias Raymond posted a poor run blocking grade. Center Kilian O'Connor also missed the win over the Wolverines and doesn't have an estimated return date.
The good news for Notre Dame is that USC's blueprint run concepts revolve around zone read and power, not the man blocking schemes that have haunted the Irish defense.
The USC defense may be hard-pressed to stop Jadarian Price and Jeremiyah Love out of the backfield. Both running backs will mix inside and outside zone read concepts, an area the Trojans have struggled to defend.
If the USC defense forces Notre Dame into passing downs, the Irish rank fourth nationally in efficiency and 21st in converting third downs.
Mother Nature will have her say in this game, as South Bend could see thunderstorms all day Saturday. The weather could change in the time between writing and kickoff, but keep an eye on winds expected to gust at more than 20 MPH.
The Notre Dame offense will have no issues running against the Trojans' defense, considering the run concepts at play and the possibility of a wet field.
With USC's injury issues on the offensive line, combined with poor historical travel in Big Ten territory, investments on the Notre Dame team total and rushing props are in order.
Read Collin's full USC-Notre Dame breakdown and more in his full Week 8 card:
Pick: Notre Dame TT Over 35.5 (-105, DraftKings)
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Texas vs Kentucky Pick
By Stuckey
On the surface, this is a tough spot for the Longhorns, who will travel to Kroger Field following an emotional season-saving victory over Oklahoma.
They will also catch a Kentucky team fresh off a bye, looking for a season-defining win after coming up just short vs. Ole Miss in their most recent home game.
While head coach Mark Stoops has struggled after the bye historically, I do believe this one came at the perfect time, considering the Wildcats made a quarterback change midseason.
The extra time should really help improve the timing and decisiveness that the young Cutter Boley has struggled with in 2025.
He can at least draw on a very productive second-half performance on the road against a much better Texas team last season after he relieved Brock Vandagriff.
Most importantly, I'm still not sold on Texas and certainly have no issues forcing it to win by a significant margin in a tough situational spot.
I do wholeheartedly believe last week's result had more to do with a clearly compromised John Mateer, who threw three interceptions in a 23-6 Texas victory in which the Longhorns also had a 75-yard punt return touchdown to blow the game open in the fourth quarter.
The Texas offense still has major issues with an offensive line that has taken a major step back and a wide receiver room that can't get the same separation as last season, in addition to Arch Manning's struggles with accuracy and consistency.
Among 134 signal-callers with at least 100 dropbacks, Arch ranks 91st in Adjusted Completion Percentage with more Turnover-Worthy Plays (11) than Big-Time Throws (10) despite a 12:5 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
If you remove the blowout win over Sam Houston — arguably the worst team in the country — Texas has averaged only 21.8 offensive points despite getting plenty of help from its defense with countless short fields.
In those five contests, the Longhorns have only put together four touchdown drives of at least 60 yards in non-garbage time, and that includes home games against lowly UTEP and San Jose State.
Kentucky will play plenty of zone coverage in order to take away the explosive play, forcing Manning (who has struggled to read coverages this season) to work it methodically down the field and actually capitalize with touchdowns in the red zone — an area that has plagued head coach Steve Sarkisian in recent seasons, even with much better offenses.
Ultimately, I just haven't seen enough yet to trust him to do that consistently in order to really put up a big number here.
After all, this is an offense that has converted third downs (a little less than 40%) at an almost identical clip to Kentucky, which has played the tougher overall schedule.
I believe this is a great opportunity to buy low on the Wildcats following back-to-back road losses across one of the nation's five most difficult schedules to this point.
The 'Cats will do everything they can to shorten this game by leaning on their run game, while doing everything they can to take away the explosive play when on defense.
They also do at least feature an elite special teams unit, which certainly doesn't hurt in what will likely be a lower-scoring game where I can't pass up having 13 points in my back pocket.
Check out all of Stuckey's situational spots for Week 8:
Pick: Kentucky +12.5 (-110, bet365)
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Texas vs Kentucky Player Prop Pick
By Doug Ziefel
Let's head to Lexington, where one of the worst passing attacks in the country faces off against an elite defense.
Kentucky's passing game has been horrid as they rank 127th nationally in completion percentage and 108th in yards per pass. Those struggles are only amplified by ranking 100th in sack rate.
Pitting those numbers against a Texas defense that ranks ninth in yards per pass allowed, 34th in opponent completion percentage, and is riding high fresh off shutting down Oklahoma in a rivalry game is a big sign of trouble for the Wildcats.
It's clear we have to fade this Kentucky passing attack, and one of the best targets to fade is tight end Josh Kattus. Kattus is not heavily involved in the offense as he's fourth on the team in targets, averaging 3.2 per game.
However, his 56% catch rate is troublesome, and in a matchup like this, it will take one big play to go over this total. Although his target volume makes the chances of that very minimal, the Longhorns have held opposing tight ends to an average of 25 yards in SEC play.
Pick: Josh Kattus Under 25.5 Receiving Yards (-115, Caesars)
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Utah vs BYU Pick
This game triggered one of our Action PRO systems, powered by Evan Abrams:
In college football, normal rest contrarian dogs are teams that have had a full week or slightly longer to prepare, yet still face significant betting line movement against them.
When the spread shifts multiple points from open to close, it often signals strong market confidence in the favorite.
However, these dogs, playing in the heart of the season from September through November or into the postseason, benefit from preparation time and game planning.
With spreads in the moderate to large range, they are capable of upsetting inflated odds, especially when the market’s perception has tilted too far, creating hidden value on the moneyline.
Anything can happen in the Holy War, and quarterback Bear Bachmeier has been playing at an elite level (0.16 EPA per Play). Plus, BYU's rush offense has been explosive this season (top-20 nationally in Rush Explosiveness and EPA per Rush), which could be the difference against a Utah defense that's stout but can give up chunk gains on the ground (102nd in Rush Explosiveness allowed, 86th in EPA per Rush allowed).
Pick: BYU ML (+150, bet365)
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BBOC G5 Deep Dive's Full Action App Card
Did you forget to listen to the Group of 5 Deep Dive this past week? No need to fear, we track all of Duck and Breese's picks from the pod on the Action Network App!
Additionally, if you haven't already, make sure you download the free award-winning Action Network App to track all your bets and tail all of your favorite experts:
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