College Football Picks Week 9: Top 3 Best Bet and Parlays

An exciting slate of games will be offered in Week 9 of the college football season, and YouBet will look to turn a profit with a trio of undervalued underdog plays. All lines courtesy of BetMGM; times listed as Eastern.

View all official college football game odds here.

Navy vs. Notre Dame (12 p.m.): Navy +12.5

One of the top games of Week 9, Navy enters unbeaten behind Blake Horvath, who directs a dynamic offense that averages 44 points and 277.2 rushing yards per game (both third-best nationally). No one expected Horvath to be performing at a higher level than Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard, who relied more upon his legs after throwing a first-quarter interception vs. Georgia Tech.

Since Leonard performed poorly in a shocking upset loss to Northern Illinois, the Irish have leaned on defense and rushing the ball. The lack of a balanced attack may play into the hands of an opportunistic Navy defense that ranks fifth nationally by forcing 2.4 turnovers per game (Navy ranks second with +2 turnover margin) and is allowing touchdowns on less than 45% of opponents’ possessions in the red zone.

The Irish still own a size and talent advantage — we can expect them to have success on the ground at times — but Navy will put up points to stay competitive. Notre Dame will miss starting cornerback Benjamin Morrison (injured last week), and we expect this game to be decided by one score or less.

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Oklahoma St. vs. Baylor (3:30 p.m.): Oklahoma St. +6.5

We love playing Mike Gundy as an underdog in the second half of the season and after losing their identity in back-to-back losses to Kansas St. and West Virginia. Oklahoma St. regained its mojo last week, piling up 269 rushing yards before coming up three points short as an 8.5-point underdog at 13th-ranked BYU. Baylor has yielded an average 189 rushing yards over the last three games.

Baylor’s defense has declined, allowing 37.5 points per game while compiling a 1-3 record over the last four games. The Bears can bring it offensively behind quarterback Sawyer Robertson, who averaged 8.6 yards per completion while throwing for 274 yards, five touchdowns, and no interceptions in a win over Texas Tech, but their ground game is a concern, compiling 63 rushing yards in a close home loss to BYU three games ago and 79 rushing yards at Iowa St. two games back.

Oklahoma St. will continue to push it offensively with its ground game, and Baylor will have success with its passing game. We give the edge to improving Oklahoma St. (13-1 as an underdog in last 14 October games) in a projected close game.

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LSU vs. Texas A&M (7:30 p.m.): LSU +2.5

Texas hadn’t played a quality opponent all season before receiving a wake-up call against Georgia last week, and Texas A&M has defeated a bevy of bad-to-mediocre teams since losing the opener to Notre Dame. Bowling Green’s Connor Bazelak gave the Aggies all they could handle, throwing for 250 yards in a 26-20 loss as 21-point underdogs, and he’s arguably the top passer Texas A&M has faced while winning six consecutive games.

LSU owns a significant edge at quarterback. Garrett Nussmeier outplayed counterpart Jaxson Dart in an overtime win at Ole Miss two weeks ago, throwing for 337 yards, and the improving Tigers showed their balance when easily defeating Arkansas last week, with Caden Durham rushing for 101 yards and three touchdowns.

Texas A&M’s defense will look to wreak havoc, and the Tigers must avoid a slow start that allows them to play downhill, but the Aggies offense is too one-dimensional. Conner Weigman (15-for-25 for 217 yards against Mississippi St. last week) is not a downfield passer, and Texas A&M struggles to get things going when running back Le’Veon Moss is held in check, which Mississippi St. did limiting Moss to 65 rushing yards on 17 carries.

Winning at Ole Miss toughened up LSU, which can keep Texas A&M’s defense off balance in an important road win.