It's time. The late-night college football slate is finally upon us.
It doesn't matter if it's Pac-12 After Dark or a little Mountain West action on the Island where the sun is still shining bright — there's something truly special about the final games that wrap up an all-day Saturday college football slate.
That's exactly what we have tonight.
Our college football staff has three best bets for Saturday's late-night kickoff window, including picks for Oregon State vs. Arizona, Nevada vs. New Mexico and San Jose State vs. Hawaii.
So, let's soak in all of this college football magic before it's too late. Check out all three of our late-night college football best bets for Week 9 below.
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Late-Night College Football Best Bets
The team logos in the table below represent each of the matchups that our college football betting staff is targeting from Saturday's late-night slate of games. Click on the team logos for any of the matchups below to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 10:30 p.m. | |
  | 10:30 p.m. | |
  | 11:59 p.m. | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our NCAAF Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | ||
Oregon State vs. Arizona
Put some respect on the Wildcats’ name.
All Arizona does is continue to take the field and be a covering machine, yet it still feels like one of the most underrated teams in the country.
The Wildcats may just be 4-3, but they’re 6-1 ATS and have yet to lose by more than a touchdown. That includes games against Washington and USC.
Arizona now returns to action fully rested after a week off to play an Oregon State team that is very much in the Pac-12 title race.
The Wildcats have shut down three straight high-flying passing offenses led by Michael Penix Jr., Caleb Williams and Cameron Ward, but the Beavers are a different animal with their run-heavy offense.
That said, the Wildcats defense is no pushover defending the run, ranking fifth nationally in EPA per Rush.
Aside from Arizona’s improved defensive play, this season has seen the emergence of quarterback Noah Fifita.
In Fifita’s three starts this year in place of an injured Jayden de Laura, he’s averaging 292.3 yards passing per game and has thrown eight touchdowns to two interceptions. Crucially, he avoids the mistakes that de Laura often handicapped the offense with.
While Fifita has shined, the Wildcats are actually a balanced offense, with both the run and pass game ranking in the top 10 nationally in Success Rate.
Oregon State, meanwhile, is poor against the run, ranking 108th in Rush Success Allowed, and it allowed 240 and 286 yards rushing, respectively, in its two most recent games.
The Beavers are yet to record even a decent win on the road this season, with their best win being a high-scoring affair over conference bottom-feeder Cal. Their only other true road test came in losing fashion against Washington State, a team Arizona starched 44-6 in Pullman.
Hop on the Arizona bandwagon now before it gets too full.
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New Mexico vs. Nevada
By Brett Pund
When the openers were released on Sunday, I started to scan through the board to see what jumped out to me, and Nevada being a favorite against anyone was something I didn’t agree with.
I won’t try to sell you too much on New Mexico being a great team either. However, the Lobos have at least shown they can be effective on offense.
In fact, this is a team that sits inside the top 50 on the offensive side of the ball in multiple categories, including Pass Success (19th), Finishing Drives (31st) and Rush Success (46th).
On the flip side, Nevada is outside the top 100 in both Rush and Pass Success on defense. The Wolf Pack are also 112th in Line Yards and 124th in Defensive Havoc.
As for the offense, head coach Ken Wilson’s team is pretty much one of the worst units in the country across the board. So, they won’t be able to take advantage of New Mexico’s weak defense.
Yes, Nevada did get a win over San Diego State last week, but this is the same team that lost to Idaho by 27 points earlier this year. Meanwhile, the Lobos have beaten the weaker opposition on their schedule in UMass and Hawaii.
I trust New Mexico’s offense much more to consistently move the ball in this game, and I think the wrong team is favored.
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San Jose State vs. Hawaii
I’m used to small programs getting bulldozed by elite competition in college basketball. Teams aggressively schedule in the non-conference and then have 20 games to bounce back during conference play.
But you rarely see it play out to such an extreme in college football.
San José State faced three ranked opponents (USC, Oregon State, Air Force) in September and added in tricky road trips to Toledo and Boise State by October 7. The result was a 1-5 start and an empty bandwagon.
Well, allow me to adjust my conductor hat before welcoming bettors back on board. In the last two weeks, SJSU boatraced New Mexico and Utah State by a combined score of 94-45.
Its defense, which was buried in the 110s in nearly every meaningful metric, has rebounded. Brent Brennan’s defense has forced seven turnovers and generated 15 TFLs in the past three games.
And now the Spartans are facing a Hawaii offensive line that has failed to protect Brayden Schager (121st in sacks allowed). The Rainbow Warriors have also struggled to consistently open holes for their running backs (118th in Rushing Success Rate).
Defensively, the ‘Bows are a mess. They’ve given up 40+ points in four of their last five games, and that included favorable matchups against San Diego State and New Mexico. Kairee Robinson and company are going to run wild on this defense.
And it wouldn’t be a late-night, break-glass-in-case-of-emergency Hawaii game without this little nugget. Dating back to 2003, Hawai’i is 66-67-5 ATS at home. There’s no Big Island factor at play, so play SJSU with confidence.
