NCAAF Picks: Our Top Week 8 College Football Favorites

You may be familiar with our weekly moneyline underdog article.

Well, we decided last year we needed to show love for the other side by also sharing our two favorite college football favorites, which we share weekly on the "Big Bets on Campus" podcast.

We affectionately refer to them as "overdogs," thanks to one of our beloved callers.

Last week, Collin cashed with the always reliable Utes at home, but I let us down with South Carolina blowing a 10-point lead late in the fourth quarter after a trio of Florida fourth down conversions.

After three straight splits, our record is 9-5 (64.3%) on the season. For Week 8, we're both riding with a pair of prime-time Power 5 favorites laying close to a touchdown at home. Hopefully, we can find the brooms again this weekend.

Wilson: Kansas State -6.5

A rematch of the Big 12 Championship comes between two teams with plenty of roster turnover since last December.

TCU started the season with Chandler Morris at quarterback, the starter of the 2022 season who got injured in the opening game, which opened the door for Max Duggan to take over and lead the Horned Frogs to an improbable run to the national title game.

Fast forward to this season, and another injury to Morris has paved the way for Josh Hoover to take over under center.

The Horned Frogs dominated BYU last week in a game they led 31-8 at the half. Hoover finished with 439 yards and four touchdowns, cementing a spot as the starting quarterback for the foreseeable future. Do we have another case of Morris starting the season once again as the less talented quarterback?

It's possible, but I'm not ready to anoint TCU after one home win against a bad BYU team. Plus, the Cougars played plenty of Cover 3, which TCU has had success against this season.

However, it won't have that luxury this week against Kansas State under defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman, who runs a high frequency of quarters and very minimal Cover 3. That may not bode well for the Horned Frogs, who have struggled against quarters all season.

Meanwhile, Kansas State had an offensive revelation of its own in Week 7 with freshman sensation Avery Johnson taking snaps under center and running for five touchdowns against Texas Tech.

Starter Will Howard will share duties with Johnson with the duo looking to replicate the success of 2022 when Howard shared snaps with Adrian Martinez.

Kansas State has plenty of run concepts that could shred TCU's 3-3-5 defense, which has struggled against the run and fallen outside the top 50 in defending rush explosives.

I like the matchup on both sides of the ball for Kansas State and love the added element that Johnson brings to the offense. He was just the spark the Wildcats needed. I think they win this game by at least a touchdown in Manhattan on Saturday night.

Stuckey: USC -7

After a disastrous showing in South Bend, I'm backing the Trojans to bounce back in a big way in a double-revenge spot against the Utes, who won both meetings last season.

Despite a 5-1 start, I haven't been impressed by a Utah team that has no passing offense to speak of without quarterback Cam Rising and tight end Brant Kuithe, who I assume will both remain out again this week as rumors swirl of both taking a redshirt ahead of the transition to the Big 12.

Utah also just lost new starting tight end Thomas Yassmin to a season-ending injury.

Utah remains a very formidable team at Rice-Eccles with one of the best home-field advantages in college football.

However, when the Utes have hit the highway, they've looked like a completely different team. They were dominated at Oregon State and really should've lost on the road against a bad Baylor team with a backup quarterback making his first career collegiate start.

The defensive metrics look elite, but they have certainly benefited from an easy schedule of opposing offenses and inexperienced quarterbacks.

Plus, the Utes won't have the services of star safety Cole Bishop in the first half. That could prove problematic for a pass defense that already ranks outside the top 100 in explosiveness against a very explosive USC offense.

Meanwhile, we should get a fully focused effort from the Trojans after an embarrassing loss at Notre Dame that really fell on the shoulders of quarterback Caleb Williams and an offense that turned the ball over five times. I'd expect a much sharper effort from the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.

More importantly, the defense showed it can load the box to stop the run, as it held the Irish to just 125 yards on 29 carries — an average of 4.3 yards per attempt.

Notre Dame, which has a much better quarterback and offense than Utah currently features, finished with only 251 total yards, so it was certainly a building block and an encouraging sign for the much-maligned USC defense, which can get absolutely gashed on the ground when it has to respect its opponent's aerial attack.

However, that won't be the case against a Utah offense that's one of only 14 teams in the country averaging under 5.0 yards per play. In comparison, USC's offense ranks third nationally at 7.8 yards per play.

There's a very good chance USC jumps out to an early lead against an undermanned Utes offense that simply can't keep up.

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