{"id":475872,"date":"2026-10-25T00:34:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T00:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/475872\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T00:34:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T00:34:20","slug":"houston-vs-utah-prediction-college-football-odds-picks-best-bets-for-week-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/475872\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston vs. Utah prediction: College football odds, picks, best bets for Week 8"},"content":{"rendered":"

\tGambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our links. Read our editorial standards<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n

You may not have had this one circled on your calendar at the beginning of September, but Saturday\u2019s nightcap between No. 10 Utah and No. 14 Houston<\/a> could wind up as one of the most important games of the regular season.<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t just take my word for it; \u201cCollege GameDay<\/a>\u201d is in Salt Lake City this weekend.<\/p>\n

After watching BYU stun Notre Dame<\/a>, the stakes have been raised in the Big 12, and that means that Utah (6-0, 3-0) and Houston (6-1, 3-1) need to answer the bell.<\/p>\n

Houston vs. Utah odds, prediction<\/p>\n

Utah hasn\u2019t missed a beat in its first season without Kyle Whittingham under the headset since 2003.<\/p>\n

Only one team, Colorado, has kept the Utes\u2019 margin of victory under 13 points, and only two teams (Colorado, Kansas) have eclipsed the 20-point plateau against Utah.<\/p>\n

It all looks hunky dory in Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n

\"HoustonHouston quarterback Conner Weigman. AP Photo\/Charlie Riedel<\/p>\n

There\u2019s just one problem: Utah\u2019s schedule has yet to present any real challenges just yet. That changes on Saturday against Houston.<\/p>\n

While Utah has been able to coast for most of the season so far, Houston has already played four teams ranked inside the top-40 in SP+, going 3-1, with the only loss coming by two points to Texas Tech in a game that was decided by a failed 2-point conversion.<\/p>\n

If Houston ended up on the right side of that coin flip, they\u2019d likely be inside the top five in the AP rankings.<\/p>\n

Quarterback Conner Weigman gets plenty of praise for being the straw that stirs the drink for Willie Fritz\u2019s Cougars, but the truth is that this is a well-balanced offense.<\/p>\n

The Cougars run the ball effectively, relying on Makhi Hughes and Re\u2019Shaun Sanford II to get them ahead of the sticks, which puts Weigman in good spots to do damage. No team in college football boasts a better conversion percentage on third downs than Houston.<\/p>\n

Get the lowdown on the Best USA Sports Betting Sites and Apps<\/p>\n

The Utes can move the ball, and Houston\u2019s defense has some suspect numbers, but Weigman and the Cougars\u2019 attack should keep the pressure on Utah all night. I like their chances of answering every question that Devon Dampier and Utah throw at them in this tilt.<\/p>\n

Utah is at home and is the better team, but Houston is a battle-tested underdog that won\u2019t be intimidated by the scenes at Rice-Eccles Stadium.<\/p>\n

The backdoor will be open for the Cougars, and don\u2019t be surprised if Fritz\u2019s upstarts pull the upset.<\/p>\n

The Play: Houston +6.5 (-105, DraftKings<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Why Trust New York Post Betting<\/p>\n

Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475873,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[5075,261,5389,56,2742,58,57,154,5390,5958,780],"class_list":["post-475872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-betting","tag-college-football","tag-college-football-betting","tag-houston","tag-houston-cougars","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-sports","tag-sports-betting","tag-sports-picks","tag-utah-utes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}