With the Ohio State Buckeyes losing last week to the Penn State Nittany Lions in a big upset, the Michigan Wolverines, Clemson Tigers and Washington Huskies are all unbeaten teams fighting for the No. 2 seed in the first edition of the 2016 College Football Playoff rankings, to be released next Tuesday.
They will all get an opportunity to state their case as the second-best team by winning tough road games in Week 9 of the college football season.
The Wolverines (7-0) are 21.5-point road favorites against the Michigan State Spartans (2-5) in their annual intrastate rivalry game. While this Big Ten matchup does not look difficult on paper, Michigan has lost seven of the past eight meetings straight up, and failed to cover the spread in each of them.
The Tigers (7-0) visit the Florida State Seminoles (5-2) as 4.5-point chalk, and they will be looking to win on the road for just the second time in 11 meetings at Doak Campbell Stadium. Clemson does have a couple positive trends in its favor though, going 8-3 ATS in the last 11 matchups with Florida State and winning nine in a row on the road overall.
Finally, the Huskies (7-0) are 10-point road favorites visiting the Utah Utes (7-1), who are just 2-8 ATS in their last 10 games as underdogs. Washington is 7-3 ATS in its previous 10 road games, but Utah has gone 10-1 SU in its last 11 games played in Week 9.
Other college football Week 9 odds and betting trends . . .
Auburn (-3) at Ole Miss
Auburn is 15-5 SU in its last 20 games against Mississippi.
Ole Miss is 0-7 SU in its last seven at home after consecutive road games.
Nebraska at Wisconsin (-8)
Nebraska is 1-4 ATS in its last five games against Wisconsin.
Wisconsin is 5-0 ATS in its last five games against its conference.
Baylor (-3.5) at Texas
Baylor is 5-1 ATS in its last six games against Texas.
Texas is 1-10 ATS in its last 11 at home after winning their two most recent home games.
Tennessee (-13) at South Carolina
Tennessee is 8-1 ATS in its last nine games on the road against South Carolina.
South Carolina is 2-11 SU in its last 13 games against its conference.
Florida (-7) vs. Georgia (EverBank Field)
Georgia is 8-2 ATS in its last 10 games after a loss.
Florida is 0-4 ATS in its last four games after consecutive wins.
