Friday Night Pigskin: NCAA Football Expert Picks & Predictions (10/9)

Nate Hornung

Written by: Nate Hornung

Published: Fri Oct 09, 2026, 9:47 am ET

Read Time: 5 minutes

Bear Bachmeier and BYU are a perfect 4-0 straight up and against the spread this year - NCAA Football Expert Picks

ncaaf

Iowa State Cyclones logo
Today10:15 pm ET
BYU Cougars logo

Iowa State Cyclones
Odds

Spread

Total

Moneyline

+11.5

-110

47

-110o

+365

BYU Cougars
Odds

Spread

Total

Moneyline

-11.0

-110

46

-104u

-450

See Picks & Statistics For The Game

Friday brings us five college football games to watch and wager on, including two teams with little numbers by their names, indicating a top 25 ranking. Three of our Power Four conferences have head to head contests today: Florida State vs. Louisville in the ACC, No. 20 Iowa vs. Washington in the Big Ten, and finally Iowa State vs. No. 8 BYU in the Big 12. The Pac-12 and Mountain West also have league battles, as Washington State takes on Utah State, and San Jose State hosts Wyoming. Keep reading for our expert NCAA Football picks in some of these matchups tonight.

Check out the best odds on the market and tons of picks for the NCAA Football Season.

NCAA Football Expert Picks: Friday's Best Bets – October 9

Friday's have seemed to be tricky for me. We haven't had too much luck, and it's probably best if we save our coin for Saturday. However, today is Day 9 of 61 straight with football to bet on. We've got to find something, and I think I found a cute little two teamer that should help us double our money.

Florida State vs. Louisville NCAA Football Expert Picks

Heavy Lean: Louisville -3.5 (-110) BetOnline

To me, this feels like the perfect bounce back spot for the Cardinals, which might be my famous last words. The Cardinals have now dropped two straight games, losing to Wake Forest and NC State. I'm sure they would like to have those two games back, but all they can do now is look forward and try to win out.

I am still not convinced that Florida State is a good team. Sure they manhandled Virginia, but I think that speaks more to the Cavaliers not being the team we saw in Week 0. The Cardinals have lost three games, each by just three points. Tonight at home they can certainly pick themselves up and get a big ACC win.

However, instead of taking them to cover, I'll just put their moneyline in a parlay.

Iowa State vs. #8 BYU NCAA Football Expert Picks

Heavy Lean: BYU 1H -7 (-110) BetOnline

I do think BYU covers. Iowa State is coming off a huge emotional win at home over West Virginia, and now they head to Provo for their toughest test of the season so far. This is going to be a wake up call for the Cyclones. Even though BYU is missing their stud RB LJ Martin, the rest of the offense is more than capable of stepping up, and the defensive side of the ball will make it much easier to cover.

But, there is the worry of BYU looking ahead. They have the Notre Dame Fighting Irish coming to town next Saturday, so I would think they'd like to build a big lead, and call off the dogs in the second half. Although I am not betting on this first half spread, this is the way I would attack this game with a straight bet.

Friday's NCAA Football Expert Picks & Predictions

Lincoln Keinholz leads the Cardinals at home against the Seminoles tonight - NCAA Football Expert Picks

Lincoln Keinholz leads the Cardinals at home against the Seminoles tonight

Best Bets: Louisville/BYU ML Parlay (+101) BetOnline

Instead of laying the number with either of these teams, I'll just take them both to win on Friday Night at home. It's a lot less pressure on either team, who should win fairly easily anyways.

Like I said, I'm not sold on Florida State, and Louisville has much more motivation. Jeff Brohm's teams typically play up or down, depending on their competition. We've seen it this year, playing Ole Miss and SMU tough, while losing outright to Wake and the Wolfpack. This is a matchup that you wake up for.

As for the Cougars, it's really as simple as the best team in the conference taking on one of the worst. All we need is a home win from both teams to double our money.

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Nate Hornung
Nate Hornung

Nate has been a recreational sports bettor for about 5 years. In that time, he has grown to love the pursuit of winners and sticking it to The Man. Nate loves data and uses his understanding of numbers to help him be a more profitable sports gambler, however he will be the first to tell you this game is about more than just stats.

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