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It is time to continue our college football odds series with an Arizona-UCF prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Arizona-UCF.
The UCF Knights were part of one of the more interesting and noticeable college football betting storylines of Week 9 of the season. UCF has had a bad season and owns a losing record. BYU entered Week 9 as an unbeaten team in charge of the Big 12 Conference race with an inside track to the Big 12 Championship Game. Logic would have suggested that BYU should have been favored at UCF, probably by at least 3.5 points if not 4.5. The expectation should have been that BYU had a decent chance of winning the game by at least a touchdown. Yet, at kickoff time, UCF was the betting favorite, by 2.5 to 3 points in various markets.
BYU hammered UCF in a game which was never particularly close. Both the initial odds and the closing line were way off. Logical people will occasionally look at a line and say it makes absolutely zero sense, but in those kinds of situations, it is sometimes the case that Vegas was on to something. The weird betting line is validated, and the insider's take is affirmed.
Not this time. The weird betting line did not hold up. Anyone who felt BYU was an easy call as a moneyline favorite made out very well. With that in mind, you should treat the spread for this UCF-Arizona game with an open perspective. Don't treat this line as some sort of Gospel truth or a bedrock indicator of how these two teams stack up.
One other very important note: UCF head coach Gus Malzahn, clearly under fire in the midst of a bitterly disappointing season, fired defensive coordinator Ted Roof. UCF will have a new voice leading its defense heading into this week, which is a wild card and something which will create a lot of discussion over the proper betting angle to take in this game. There's a lot to consider.
Here are the Arizona-UCF College Football odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Football Odds: Arizona-UCF Odds
Arizona: +6.5 (-114)
Moneyline: +180
UCF: -6.5 (-106)
Moneyline: -215
Over: 56.5 (-110)
Under: 56.5 (-110)
How to Watch Arizona vs UCF
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT
TV: FS1
Stream: fuboTV (Free Trial)
Why Arizona Could Cover The Spread/Win
Arizona has struggled this season and has been one of the bigger disappointments in college football, but this is the right time for the Wildcats to face UCF. The Knights are an even bigger mess than the Wildcats and are still somehow a favorite of nearly a touchdown. Should UCF even be favored for this game, let alone by this many points? Why does UCF continue to get the benefit of the doubt from the oddsmakers? Being skeptical of Arizona is fine, even logical, but the weight being given to UCF is simply way over the top and makes no sense. If you thought the BYU line was off one week ago, the Arizona line is off this week for a UCF home game.
Why UCF Could Cover The Spread/Win
UCF might have been grossly overvalued in a betting context against BYU, but BYU is an unbeaten team ranked in the top 10, having a great season. Arizona is something very different, laboring through an underachieving season with a bad offensive line and a flawed roster under a first-year head coach, Brent Brennan, who is struggling to find answers. UCF just has to win by a touchdown — seven points — to cover. That's actually not an unreasonable scenario. Not at all.
Final Arizona-UCF Prediction & Pick
We are going to join the chorus and say that yet another betting line involving UCF seems way off. We'll ride with Arizona. The Wildcats might not win, but they are likely to keep this game close.
Final Arizona-UCF Prediction & Pick: Arizona +6.5
