Sam Avellone
Show Bio
College football Week 2 certainly didn’t disappoint, as there were plenty of upsets and come-from-behind thrillers across the college football landscape. SMU, Notre Dame and Kentucky all lost games they were projected to comfortably win, while Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Pitt fought back from early deficits to eventually prevail. A few statements were made too. Texas went into Ann Arbor and destroyed Michigan, Tennessee beat down NC State in a neutral site matchup and Nebraska limited Colorado’s offense to just 260 yards and 10 points.
With Week 2 in the rearview mirror, CFB Week 3 becomes the focus. Let’s take a look at the opening spreads in some of the biggest matchups in Week 3 and try to cap it off with a winning best bet like last week’s play on Nebraska.
College football Week 3 opening odds and lines
Odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook and available at time of publishing.
- Arizona State (-2) vs Texas State
- UNLV vs Kansas (-7)
- Arizona vs Kansas State (-7)
- Arkansas State vs Michigan (-24)
- LSU (-7) vs South Carolina
- Cincinnati (-2.5) vs Miami (OH)
- Memphis vs Florida State (-5.5)
- Alabama (-15.5) vs Wisconsin
- Boston College vs Missouri (-16)
- Notre Dame (-12.5) vs Purdue
- Tulane vs Oklahoma (-13.5)
- Oregon (-14) vs Oregon State
- Texas A&M (-4) vs Florida
- West Virginia (-2.5) vs Pitt
- Washington State vs Washington (-4)
- Virginia Tech (-14) vs Old Dominion
- Vanderbilt (-9.5) vs Georgia State
- UCF vs TCU (-2)
- Colorado (-7.5) vs Colorado State
- Georgia (-23.5) vs Kentucky
- Toledo vs Mississippi State (-9.5)
- Indiana (-3) vs UCLA
- Maryland (-2) vs Virginia
Get our college football picks for all of this week’s big matchups
College Football Week 3 best bet: West Virginia Mountaineers -2.5 (-110) over Pitt Panthers
Laying points on the road this early in the season isn’t the most settling feeling, but this seems like a favorable situation for West Virginia. Pitt just played a difficult game on the road at Cincinnati, where they had to battle back from a 14-point 4th quarter deficit to earn the win. Meanwhile, the Mountaineers had a tune-up game against FCS Albany last week, which gave them an opportunity to get their offense going after struggling so much against Penn State in Week 1. Garrett Greene threw for 236 yards and 3 touchdowns in addition to rushing for 68 yards and another touchdown against Albany, while CJ Donaldson and Jahiem White each scored a touchdown and accumulated at least 100 yards.
These regional rivals played in West Virginia last year, and the Mountaineers won 17-6 despite Greene being knocked out of the game with an injury. With a healthy Greene this time around, the Mountaineer offense should find plenty of success against a Pitt defensive front that just yielded 149 yards to Cincinnati’s Corey Kiner on 20 carries last week. Look for the Mountaineers to win the time of possession battle with a strong rushing attack, propelling West Virginia to a victory and cover over a power conference opponent before Big 12 play starts.
Find out our expert college football predictions throughout the season
