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2020 GRT picks: Week 9

Against Vegas opening spreads last week, the GRT Statsy Preview Machine went 20-24 (45.45%) overall, 7-14 (33.33%) (oof!) in Category 2, and 5-8 (38.46%) (oof!) in Category 3. For the season, the SPM is now 89-97 (47.85%) in Category 1, 38-43 (46.91%) in Category 2, and 20-20 (50%) in Category 3. The SPM’s overall record for the week was the same (20-24; 45.45%) using the spreads that SP+ uses.

In the same games and using the same spreads, SP+ was one game better than the SPM, going 21-23 for the week. Connelly’s official results: 20-24 (45.45%) for the week and 96-89-2 (51.89%) for the season.

Below are the GRT Statsy Preview Machine’s picks for Week 9 of the 2020 college football season. As always, if you’re wondering why we do this or what I mean when I refer to “confidence” and when I place game predictions into different categories, check out this post. Also, keep in mind that spreads matter.

GRT SPM 2020 Week 9 Picks

Here’s what the machine is thinking this week:

Away Home Favorite Spread SPM Favorite SPM Spread Favorite...
South Alabama Georgia Southern Georgia Southern -6.5 Georgia Southern -6.6 Covers
Iowa State Kansas Iowa State -28.5 Iowa State -28.3 Doesn't Cover
Hawai'i Wyoming Hawai'i -1 Hawai'i -1.2 Covers
Purdue Illinois Purdue -5 Purdue -5.2 Covers
Virginia Tech Louisville Virginia Tech -3 Virginia Tech -3.2 Covers
UTSA Florida Atlantic Florida Atlantic -6.5 Florida Atlantic -7.6 Covers
UCF Houston UCF -3.5 UCF -2.3 Doesn't Cover
Western Kentucky BYU BYU -28.5 BYU -29.9 Covers
Nevada UNLV Nevada -10 Nevada -11.5 Covers
Missouri Florida Florida -11.5 Florida -9.6 Doesn't Cover
Temple Tulane Tulane -1 Tulane -3.2 Covers
Louisiana-Lafayette Texas State Louisiana-Lafayette -16.5 Louisiana-Lafayette -19.1 Covers
Michigan State Michigan Michigan -23.5 Michigan -20.7 Doesn't Cover
UAB Louisiana Tech UAB -9.5 UAB -12.3 Covers
Navy SMU SMU -16 SMU -13.2 Doesn't Cover
Appalachian State Louisiana-Monroe Appalachian State -31.5 Appalachian State -28.6 Doesn't Cover
LSU Auburn LSU -3 LSU -6.2 Covers
Mississippi State Alabama Alabama -32 Alabama -27.6 Doesn't Cover
Oklahoma Texas Tech Oklahoma -15.5 Oklahoma -19.9 Covers
Rice Southern Mississippi Southern Mississippi -3.5 Rice -1.3 Doesn't cover
East Carolina Tulsa Tulsa -18.5 Tulsa -23.4 Covers
Kansas State West Virginia West Virginia -3.5 Kansas State -1.7 Doesn't cover
Northwestern Iowa Iowa -3.5 Northwestern -2.2 Doesn't cover
Boston College Clemson Clemson -31.5 Clemson -25.3 Doesn't Cover
Indiana Rutgers Indiana -13 Indiana -6.2 Doesn't Cover
Georgia Kentucky Georgia -14.5 Georgia -21.4 Covers
Texas Oklahoma State Oklahoma State -3 Oklahoma State -10.6 Covers
Arkansas Texas A&M Texas A&M -11.5 Texas A&M -3.9 Doesn't Cover
San Diego State Utah State San Diego State -7 San Diego State -15.1 Covers
Minnesota Maryland Minnesota -17.5 Minnesota -8.6 Doesn't Cover
TCU Baylor TCU -2.5 Baylor -6.8 Doesn't cover
North Carolina Virginia North Carolina -7 North Carolina -16.3 Covers
Colorado State Fresno State Fresno State -1.5 Colorado State -8.5 Doesn't cover
Boise State Air Force Boise State -10 Air Force -0.4 Doesn't cover
Wake Forest Syracuse Wake Forest -9 Wake Forest -20.4 Covers
Memphis Cincinnati Cincinnati -6 Cincinnati -18.3 Covers
Ohio State Penn State Ohio State -5.5 Ohio State -18.6 Covers
New Mexico San Jose State San Jose State -9.5 San Jose State -23.6 Covers
Mississippi Vanderbilt Mississippi -17 Mississippi -31.6 Covers
Coastal Carolina Georgia State Coastal Carolina -1.5 Coastal Carolina -16.3 Covers
Troy Arkansas State Arkansas State -5.5 Troy -10.1 Doesn't cover
Notre Dame Georgia Tech Notre Dame -20 Notre Dame -37.2 Covers
Charlotte Duke Duke -11 Charlotte -11.4 Doesn't cover

There are 7 Category 3 games (plus one more on each side that only barely didn’t make the cut) that the SPM likes particularly well this week.

What are you favorite games this week?