After surviving an upset scare against Purdue where they blew a 27-3 lead in the second half, the No. 22-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini will host the No. 24 Michigan Wolverines on Saturday in a Big Ten on CBS matchup. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET and the defending national champions are favored by 3.5 in the Week 8 college football odds via SportsLine consensus. It's one of three ranked vs. ranked matchups on the Week 8 college football schedule.
No. 1 Texas is a 5-point home favorite over No. 5 Georgia in an SEC battle with clear College Football Playoff implications, while No. 7 Alabama is a 3-point road favorite against No. 11 Tennessee. It's another loaded slate and there are plenty of opportunities to find value as you craft your Week 8 college football parlays. Before locking in any Week 8 college football picks, be sure to see the top Week 8 college football expert picks, predictions and best bets from Thomas Casale.
A frequent guest on national radio and TV shows to discuss college sports, Casale has been sports betting -- and winning -- for more than 30 years. Over the past two college football seasons, Casale is 122-92-5 (57%) overall on his college football picks and 26-8 (76.4%) in bowl games -- all publicly documented. He's heating up this season, going 6-3 in his SportsLine best bets column over the past three weeks. Anybody who has followed him is way up.
Now, he has turned his attention to the Week 8 college football odds and is sharing his top three betting picks. If you parlay these college football betting picks, you could be looking at a return of around 6-1. Get his top college football picks at SportsLine.
Top Week 8 college football expert predictions
One of Casale's top Week 8 college football picks: He is backing Cincinnati at -5 against Arizona State in a noon ET kickoff on Saturday. The Sun Devils are an unlikely 5-1 after being picked by Big 12 media to finish last in their first year in the conference, but Kenny Dillingham's squad has had some troubles on the road.
They lost 30-22 as 4.5-point underdogs against Texas Tech and had to grind out a 31-28 victory at Texas State. Arizona State was outgained by 53 yards in that contest and benefitted from a 3-1 victory in the turnover battle. This will be another hostile environment for the Sun Devils and it will feel like a 9 a.m. ET kickoff for the visitors from Tempe, which is something the program rarely dealt with as members of the Pac-12.
Meanwhile, Cincinnati has been dynamic offensively this season. The Bearcats are averaging 460.5 yards and 31.0 points per game on the season. Quarterback Brendan Sorsby is completing 66.2% of his passes and averaging 8.6 yards per attempt on the season. He's also thrown for 13 touchdowns and added four more on the ground while throwing only three interceptions, and his command of the offense is a big reason why Casale is backing Cincinnati at home. See what other picks Casale likes at SportsLine.
How to make Week 8 college football picks
Casale has also found two other college football picks he loves, including a must-see pick in the massive Georgia vs. Texas matchup. You can only see his picks at SportsLine.
What are the best bets for Week 8 of college football, and what is the best bet for Texas vs. Georgia? Visit SportsLine now to see Thomas Casale's college football best bets, all from a proven college football handicapper who has gone 26-8 on bowl games the past two seasons, and find out.