College football expert Chris Fallica, nicknamed “The Bear,” shares his best bets and predictions for Week 8 of the 2023 season. Coming off a 3-4 record last week, Fallica is 21-26-1 on the season but looks to bounce back with several underdog plays. This week he highlights matchups including South Carolina-Missouri, Pittsburgh-Wake Forest, Northwestern-Nebraska, and Ole Miss-Auburn.
Chris Fallica’s Week 8 Picks:
- South Carolina (+7) at No. 20 Missouri (-7)
- Pittsburgh (-1) at Wake Forest (+1)
- Northwestern (+11.5) at Nebraska (-11.5)
- No. 13 Ole Miss (+6.5) at Auburn (-6.5)
Underdog Plays
- South Carolina +230
- Auburn +210
- Connecticut +110
- Rice +135
- Georgia State +130
South Carolina @ No. 20 Missouri
The Gamecocks blew a double-digit, fourth-quarter lead last week against Florida, but their passing attack was on point. At the very least, quarterback Spencer Rattler will keep South Carolina within striking distance, and if the pass rush doesn’t fall apart like it did against Florida’s Graham Mertz, it can go to Missouri and pull the upset.
Pittsburgh @ Wake Forest
The Panthers played to the script last week by upsetting undefeated Louisville and that, of course, means they will go to Winston-Salem and lose to a Wake Forest team which has scored 16, 12 and 13 points the past three weeks, with a pair of two-touchdown losses to Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech in which it turned the ball over eight times.
The Demon Deacons have quarterback issues, but this is just a play against what he expect to be typical bizarro Pitt.
Northwestern @ Nebraska
The Wildcats have been blasted by Rutgers and Duke in their two road games, and if the Cornhuskers have done anything consistently well this year — other than turn the ball over with Jeff Sims — it is doing a good job against bad offenses.
Minnesota scored 13 points, Northern Illinois 11, Louisiana Tech 14 and Illinois seven against the Cornhuskers.
This will probably be a bit of an uncomfortable grind to get there, but it feels very 27-10-ish.
No. 13 Ole Miss @ Auburn
The Tigers were torched for 563 yards and 48 points in Baton Rouge last week and now get to deal with Jaxson Dart, Lane Kiffin and the Rebels offense.
There isn’t much there to think the Tigers can pull the upset, but we saw Georgia have to rally in the second half at Jordan-Hare Stadium and if there’s one thing the Auburn offense hasn’t done in SEC play (besides be trusted to score points), it is not turning the ball over (one in three games).
This game just has weird written all over it, and he’s grab the points as a result.