College Football Week 9 Early Lines: Odds & Predictions (2024)
We’re fresh off of a 3-0 sweep with my College Football Week 8 Early Lines, Odds, and Predictions piece, so let’s ride this momentum and continue earning units with three more matchups on tap for Week 9. Here’s a brief recap of how we fared in Week 8:
Indiana (-6.5) routed Nebraska 56-7 to improve to 7-0, Tennessee (+2.5) rallied in the second half, scoring 24 points to beat Alabama 24-17 after being down 7-0 at halftime, and Georgia (+3.5) bullied Texas 30-15, building an insurmountable 23-0 halftime lead.
We’ve got an early week ACC matchup on deck, Notre Dame on the road against undefeated Navy, and a top-15 SEC showdown between LSU and Texas A&M in the Week 9 edition of this article. Make sure to follow me on X @Matt_MacKay_ for all of the latest college football betting insights, picks, and analysis throughout each week of the 2024-25 college football season.
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College Football Early Line Movement: Week 9
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
| Away | Home | Open Spread | Current Spread | Open Total | Current Total | Spread +/- | Total +/- |
| Syracuse | Pitt | -3.5 | -5.5 | 60 | 62 | -2 | +2 |
| Notre Dame | Navy | +17 | +13 | 52 | 52.5 | -4 | +0.5 |
| LSU | Texas A&M | -3.5 | -2.5 | 54 | 53.5 | +1 | -0.5 |
Syracuse vs. Pitt (19)
Thursday night football in the ACC sends Syracuse to Acrisure Stadium to face the 6-0 Pitt Panthers. The Orange, led by QB Kyle McCord, only have one loss this season, losing on a walk-off field goal to Stanford back in Week 4.
Pitt just survived a low-scoring grind at home against Cal, 17-15, surrendering a 73 percent completion rate to the Golden Bears and only completing 50 percent of its offensive pass attempts. The Panthers lost the turnover margin (-2) with a pair of interceptions and Syracuse is aggressive in its secondary, giving up big plays but recording one or more interceptions in five of six games this season.
McCord and the Orange offense have recorded three or more passing touchdowns in four of six games, while their run game remains stagnant. Defensively, Syracuse has allowed one rushing touchdown in its last four games played, which means Pitt will need to turn to the air and stray away from the ground game.
Syracuse can score quickly and should be able to keep this game within five points, especially coming off of back-to-back road wins, while exceeding 31 points in four of its six games played in 2024. Let’s take advantage of the point spread moving from +3.5 to +5.5 and back McCord and the offense to do enough to keep Syracuse profitable at +5.5 on the road against a Pitt team that only managed to beat Cal by two points in Week 8.
Pitt beat Cincinnati by one point and West Virginia by four points, easily their best wins. Syracuse +5.5 is a gift ahead of Thursday night.
Best Bet: Syracuse +5.5 (-108)
Notre Dame (12) vs. Navy (24)
Oddsmakers have adjusted the point spread in Navy’s direction ahead of a top-25 matchup between the Midshipmen and Fighting Irish on Saturday afternoon. Notre Dame wound up pulling away from Georgia Tech, winning 31-13 thanks to its stifling defense and relentless rushing attack, averaging 4.3 YPC on 39 carries for three rushing touchdowns.
Navy is among the nation’s best at running the football, as well as stopping opponents from gaining chunk plays on the ground. The Midshipmen have allowed one rushing touchdown in their last three games, while holding opponents to under a 57 percent completion rate. Navy’s schedule has been among the easiest in FBS, ranking 127th compared to 22nd for Notre Dame, but they are built to stop the run.
Notre Dame should contain Navy’s offense as well, allowing three rushing touchdowns all year, surrendering under 4.0 YPC in every single game except for their outlier loss to Northern Illinois back in Week 2. Two teams that run roughly 40 times per game means the clock will bleed and possessions will be limited.
Navy has forced 14 turnovers and Notre Dame has forced 12, both primarily with interceptions, so any attempts at moving the football through the air will be met with resistance. Under 52.5 feels like the right play in this old-school matchup between two programs who funnel their offense through the backfield, while both defenses are equally capable of stopping the run.
Best Bet: Under 52.5 (-110)
LSU (8) vs. Texas A&M (14)
Our marquee matchup on Saturday brings us to Kyle Field in College Station, Texas when the No. 14 Texas A&M Aggies host the No. 8 LSU Tigers in primetime.
Both of these teams are trending up after suffering losses in Week 1. QB Connor Weigman has looked like a different player since falling flat against Notre Dame in Week 1, sparking the Aggies offense and recording 34 or more points in back-to-back wins over Missouri and Mississippi State.
LSU, led by QB Garrett Nussmeier, has been equally potent on offense, scoring three or more touchdowns in six consecutive games, with Nussmeier throwing for over 280 yards in every game except for a dominant 34-10 rout of Arkansas on the road in Week 8. The Tigers’ defense has stepped up too, only allowing more than one passing touchdown once, while holding opponents to one total rushing touchdown in its past four games.
Texas A&M likes to establish the run, bouncing between 36-43 carries per game, which will be met with resistance from an improved LSU run defense on Saturday night. Weigman will have to beat LSU through the air, however, he’s thrown 25 or fewer passes since returning from injury with one total passing touchdown.
The Aggies’ running backs have scored eight rushing touchdowns during their last two games, so this matchup will be decided by LSU’s run defense containing Texas A&M’s rushing attack. Factor in Nussmeier’s passing ability, which has become increasingly good as the season has progressed, and the Aggies’ pass defense that just gave up three touchdowns through the air to the 1-6 Bulldogs in Week 8, and there’s a recipe for LSU to go into a hostile environment and win outright.
Let’s back LSU to win, taking their moneyline odds at +120 before it gets any shorter ahead of this Saturday night SEC tilt on the road at Texas A&M.
Best Bet: LSU Moneyline (+120)
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Matthew MacKay is a featured writer for BettingPros and FantasyPros. For more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @Matt_MacKay_.