College football rolls on with another huge slate of games for Week 3. Even with just a few weeks passed, the National Title picture is starting to unfold, and some teams are already in desperate need of a marquee win. Although this slate doesn’t have as many top-end matchups as last week, we still have plenty of games to choose from in the betting market. Dive into our college football betting strategy guide to help you uncover sharp bets on your own! Now let’s break down our college football expert picks for Week 3s Saturday games.
One important note: there are so many games on Saturday that it’s crucial to stay on top of news and line movement as best as you can. Capturing some closing line value or staying on top of information can make the difference between winning and losing weeks. If you’re looking for a way to do just that, the Tails by OddsShopper and specifically my Discord channels can help. We have a great community all working toward a common goal, which is uncovering value and cashing tickets. It’s a fun way to enjoy the games, and if you haven’t seen it for yourself, hop in with the code JAZZRAZ50 for 50% off your first week or month. With that in mind, let’s dive into the Saturday CFB schedule and see who belongs on the betting card.
College Football Expert Picks Today for Week 3: Saturday, Sept. 14
Best Game: Boston College at Missouri | College Football Expert Picks Today
As I mentioned, there aren’t many ranked-on-ranked matchups this week, but one surprise is 24th-ranked Boston College heading into SEC territory to take on 6th-ranked Missouri. The Tigers are 16.5-point home favorites, which is deserved, even if I believe it’s too many points. Since it’s only Week 3, we have more questions than answers, but digging into the game, there’s a lot to notice.
Let’s start with Boston College, who went into Tallahassee and handled what might just be a bad Florida State team, then demolished FCS opponent Duquesne. They have a dual-threat QB, a coach with loads of experience, and a tempo that is already in the bottom five in terms of seconds per play. This is a key component when you’re getting points of this magnitude, as possessions could be at a premium.
Missouri is an awesome team, having scored 89 points and allowed 0 on the season. Now, Murray State and Buffalo aren’t juggernauts, but you can’t argue with that success. They have experience at QB in Brady Cook, who gets the luxury of throwing to one of the best WR corps in the country. All of this is a problem for Boston College, but defensively I do have some questions. The defensive line lost some key pieces, and so far, they haven’t been tested. The Boston College rushing attack can, and I believe will, move the ball and chew up the clock at a difficult rate.
As much as I like Missouri, I’ll call for Boston College to make this a competitive game and cover the 16.5-point spread.
Live Dog: Florida Gators +132 vs Texas A&M
I wanted to find a much bigger live dog, but honestly, looking at the board, I simply didn’t see one. Something may emerge, and I’ll add it in Discord, but right now, I think Florida makes sense if you want a plus-money ticket, as they are at home with A&M coming to town. Both teams suffered tough losses to start their season, then crushed FCS opponents last week.
I could sum this game up quickly: I view it as a complete coin flip, so give me plus money on the home dog. I don’t trust Conner Weigman on the road to lead this Texas A&M offense, which puts tremendous strain on the defensive side of the ball. He was 12-30 for 100 yards and 2 INTs against Notre Dame at home and clearly has to do better than that. Although Florida’s defense isn’t up to Notre Dame’s standards, I think they’ll cause issues here.
Offensively for the Gators, they now have two QBs in the fold as their highly-touted freshman is taking some reps. They started their season getting crushed at home by Miami, but I have the Hurricanes as one of the best teams in the country. Florida is going to have plenty of losses on their impossible schedule, but I don’t think this will be one of them.
I’ll call for Florida to move to 2-1 on the back of quality defense and enough playmaking from their 1-2 QB punch.
Best College Football Expert Pick: Indiana -3 (-110) DK
Heading to the Big Ten here with a conference game that feels nothing like one, as Indiana heads to California to take on UCLA. The realignment is going to create all sorts of travel issues, but I’m fully on board with Indiana being up to this challenge. They started their season with a thrashing of a Florida International squad we actually backed and cashed as a live dog last week. The Hoosiers followed that up with a Friday night 70+ point win over FCS Western Illinois. So not only did they get to rest everyone, they have an extra day to prep for a West Coast trip. This squad under Cignetti looks ready to go, and the infusion of transfers is already paying dividends.
For UCLA, I don’t have much to say as they’ve only played one game and then had a bye in Week 2 of the season. Their lone game wasn’t exactly impressive, as they won 16-13 in Hawaii against a hobbled Rainbow Warriors QB. The losses on defense, I think, will be fully exploited here as some of their key personnel, including their DC, are all now with USC.
It’s never a bad thing to have an extra week to prep, but I have a ton of questions about how effective UCLA is on either side of the ball.
To me, this is a game where Indiana is getting too heavily taxed on the apparent travel issues and hitting the road.
They’ve answered the call in the first two games against inferior opponents, but I still think talent-wise, there’s a gap here.
The spread sits at -3, give or take, across the industry, so make sure to shop around if you can find a rogue -2.5 sitting out there.
I’ll call for Rourke and this Indiana offense to really cause problems, and I don’t think UCLA will be able to keep pace in this one.
