Bold Predictions for Week 9 - 2024 College Football

After a two-week dry spell, my Week 8 bold predictions finally started to hit again. I was way off on Nebraska over Indiana, but Tennessee over Alabama and Illinois over Michigan both held true.

Week 9’s slate again has the potential for some wild results. After hours of mulling through the slate, I have crafted three bold predictions throughout the weekend that will shake up the college football landscape once again.

Let’s dig into this week’s bold predictions.

Syracuse Hands Pitt Its First Loss

The Pitt Panthers have had a chaotic, under-the-radar season full of last-second wins and not a single loss. This week, they welcome a solid one-loss Syracuse team on Thursday night. The Orange have had a wild season of their own, with their sole loss coming on a game-winning field goal against Stanford.

Pitt HC Pat Narduzzi on SU's Kyle McCord:

"If you're not a Pitt fan, if you're not a Syracuse fan, you should get your tickets now because that guy's going to play in the NFL...he will be the best quarterback that's walked in to face us in this stadium in a while." pic.twitter.com/xtxKYdU8Kl

— Ashley Wenskoski (@AshleyWenskTV) October 21, 2024

Both quarterbacks, Eli Holstein and Kyle McCord, have played well this season. McCord has more big-game experience after a season under center at Ohio State. These wild, last-second wins for Pitt have to flip the other way at some point. I predict that it will happen this Thursday night.

UCF Over BYU to Create Chaos

BYU barely avoided an upset loss last Friday night while UCF narrowly missed out on an upset win on Saturday night. I’ve got the narrative flipping this week.

ROCCO BECHT SCORES THE TD AND IOWA STATE TAKES THE LEAD!!!!! 😱🙌 @CycloneFB pic.twitter.com/K4ZbrE7JPP

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 20, 2024

The Knights may be 3-4, but their rushing attack is one of the most lethal in the country behind quarterback Jacurri Brown and running back R.J. Harvey. BYU was just gashed on the ground by Oklahoma State, a team that hasn’t been able to get their rushing attack going all season. I like the Knights to upset BYU coming across the country.

Spartans Upset Michigan

After successfully picking against Michigan last week, I had to go back to the well. This may not be the smartest bold prediction with the Spartans coming off of a big win over Iowa and Michigan coming off of a devastating loss, but we’re going with the gut here. Let the national championship hangover keep hitting.

Michigan State has a lot of young talent, is well-coached behind Jonathan Smith, and can hold a limited offense like Michigan’s as shown last week against Iowa. Plus, this is a rivalry game. We’ve seen crazier upsets. Give me the Spartans to continue their season turnaround with a massive rivalry win.

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