College football fans, get ready for another thrilling Saturday packed with SEC action as Week 9 brings some of the season’s most anticipated matchups, including (8) Ole Miss at (13) Oklahoma, (15) Missouri at (10) Vanderbilt, and (3) Texas A&M at (20) LSU.
All three SEC games have major College Football Playoff implications, so we know we’re getting the best players on the field. This should lead to more competitive games than the rest of the slate, which should lead to more accurate predictions on prop bets.
From early kickoffs to primetime showdowns, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Below, you’ll find our expert picks and detailed predictions for the top games in CFB Week 9. We’ll break down key matchups, offer insights into what to watch for, and provide our favorite bets to maximize your Saturday winnings.
Let’s dive into the best bets and make the most of this exciting college football on Saturday!
What are the Best Bets for CFB Week 9 Games on Saturday?
John Mateer (Oklahoma): Over 39.5 Rushing Yards (-115)
Mateer was a Heisman favorite at one point, but has since dropped to having only the 13th-best odds (+8000) of any CFB player. Well, the broken bone in his throwing hand certainly didn’t help things, and you can see that Oklahoma has essentially been keeping him in bubble wrap since.
This is a massive game for Oklahoma, and it’s the first of five straight upcoming games against Top-25 opponents. Look for the Sooners to finally unleash Mateer, and that will lead to him getting more yards on the ground. Over the last five games, Ole Miss has allowed three different QBs to notch 50+ rushing yards.
Diego Pavia (Vanderbilt): Over 1.5 TD Passes (-110)
I like the odds more than anything here for Pavia, which we’re essentially getting at even money. On Saturday, he will face a Mizzou defense that has been pretty good at limiting rushing yards to opposing QBs. But that’s alright, Pavia will just have to do it with this arm.
One of the very appealing parts about Pavia in this prop bet is that he’ll be playing at home, so if he has to make any adjustments at the line, the odds will be in his favor. Pavia has thrown multiple TDs in four of seven games this season, including a five-spot back on Sept. 27 against Utah State! The Mizzou-Vandy total is also trending upwards, giving us more optimism towards seeing an extra TD, which could wind up being a Pavia TD.
Marcel Reed (Texas A&M): Over 1.5 TD Passes (+120)
If you thought the odds for Pavia were great, then wait til you get a load of this one. Typically, the road environment is too much for opposing teams coming into Death Valley, but this Texas A&M team is not built like the ones that came before them – largely due to the NIL.
I am taking this bet and airing it out across the different sportsbooks this week. Reed has the fifth-lowest Heisman odds (+1000), and a win/big game here on Saturday could catapult him atop the list. Reed is getting phenomenal protection from the A&M O-line, only getting sacked multiple times once in seven games; he wasn’t sacked at all in four games, and has only gone down once in the last three.
Reed is also coming off a solid game with 3 TD passes on the road at Arkansas, making that 2+ TD passes in both of his road games this season.
