College Football Week 3 Odds, Picks & Predictions (Friday)

by BettingPros Staff |
Sep 15, 2023

Gear up for another awesome weekend of college football action with BettingPros! Weâ€™ll have you covered with all of our top picks for the week along with our projected spreads and totals to help guide your college football bets. Below are our top picks and predictions for Friday.

Top College Football Odds & Picks

Virginia vs. Maryland

These are two teams that have had vastly different results this season. Virginia has struggled on both sides of the ball. They havenâ€™t really been able to run the ball with any success although QB Anthony Colandrea showed some spark against James Madison. This may be enough to put up some points on Maryland, but the Cavaliers will struggle to keep Maryland from scoring. QB Taulia Tagovailoa is one of the most underrated players at that position in the country. Heâ€™s been incredibly impressive in Marylandâ€™s first two games. He should lead the offense to the same kind of success Tennessee and James Madison had against Virginia, posting almost 900 total yards of offense combined. Even if Virginia can keep pace for a while, they wonâ€™t be able to for 60 minutes. Maryland should roll in this matchup.

Pick: Maryland -14.5 (-105)

-Ryan Rodeman

Army vs. UTSA

Frank Harrisâ€™s status is the biggest question in this contest. Heâ€™s been the engine of the Roadrunner offense since 2020 and up until this season, the offense was fierce. Theyâ€™ve lost a lot of talent around Harris and the offensive output so far has not been impressive. Last week against Texas State they managed only 2.9 yards per carry. If Harris is unable to go theyâ€™ll likely look to QB Eddie Marburger who has 34 career pass attempts with only 14 completions. Armyâ€™s offense will look a little different this year with a heavier emphasis on passing, but against UL Monroe in Week 1 it was not pretty. Fifty rushing attempts for only 172 yards was all they could muster, and while they won the time of possession, they lost on the scoreboard. Even if Harris plays, this game will be a low-scoring affair. Iâ€™m targeting the under.

Pick: Under 44.5 (-110)

-Ryan Rodeman

Utah State vs. Air Force

Mountain West play kicks off for these two teams as Utah State travels to Colorado Springs to take on Air Force. Both teams enter the game with a win against an FCS school, while Utah State lost their opener on the road to a tough Iowa team, and the Falcons won a defensive struggle against former FCS powerhouse Sam Houston last week. Like the other service academies, we should see an extremely run-heavy approach from the Falcons, who have run the ball 107 times compared to 6 passing attempts through their first two games. Their defense has been stout as well, surrendering only 10 combined points in those matchups. Utah State has sported a much more balanced attack, though I think they will skew to be a little more pass-heavy, as their 78-28 rout of Idaho State led to many more rushing attempts than their game against Iowa. In that Iowa matchup, they were able to keep the Hawkeyes, which many thought would have an improved offense in 2023, to just 24 points. I think the combination of Air Force's playing style with what we saw from the Aggies against a ranked opponent in Week 1 will keep this game under the total.

Pick: Under 46.5 (-110)

-Austin MacMillan

Best Ways to Bet College Football for Beginners

Game Total

Bettors new to the hobby can be confused by spreads, but game totals are simple. Every football game has a total posted for the combined final score between the two teams. Bettors have the option to choose the OVER or UNDER, generally at -110 odds (risk: $110; win: $100). So if the total is 42 and you take the OVER, you need 43 points to win the bet. If you put a bet down on the over to win $100 and it goes over, you get back the money you initially risked, plus $100. If it stayed under, you would have lost your $110 and that's it. If by chance the game ended with 42 total points, it's called a push; when a game pushes, you get the money you risked back but nothing more.

ie: California vs. Illinois, Over 42 or Under 42

tip: Over bets can be a really fun social event with your buddies. Have everyone throw in a few bucks, then take the over together. Instead of getting pumped when one side scores, everyone is pumped for ANY score, all game.

Moneyline

The moneyline is the easiest way to test your college football knowledge: who will win the game? That's it. The moneyline doesn't use favorites or underdogs, it's totally straight up. That said, the risk-reward can be challenging because they're weighted. Instead of every game being around -110, like game totals and spreads, moneylines vary depending on the matchup.

For our example, California was favored by seven points over Illinois, meaning oddsmakers think the Golden Bears are a touchdown better than the Fighting Illini. If you took Cal on the moneyline, points don't matter, they just need to win the game. But because it's safer to take them straight-up without points, you'll have to risk more when you make the bet - remember, they're seven points better than Illinois in the eyes of the oddsmakers. In this case, Cal is -280 on the moneyline, so if you want to win $100, you have to risk $280. On the flip side, moneyline bets can be valuable when taking the underdog because it's a riskier bet - they're seven points worse than their opponent. In this case, Illinois is the underdog - +220 on the moneyline. You'd win $220 on a $100 bet if you picked Illinois on the moneyline and they pulled off the upset.

ie: California (ML -280) vs. Illinois (ML +220)

tip: Check their history against one another. Keep an eye on the injury report and the weather.

Player Props

Player props are some of the most exhilarating bets you can place during a college football game, but they're also easy to understand. For major conferences, you'll have a wide array of options to choose from. Quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, and sometimes tight ends will have props to choose from. It's simple, fun and easy to follow, and odds on player props don't vary as much as moneylines. Generally, prop bets are in the -110 range like generic spread and total bets.

ie: How many passing yards will Brandon Peters have against California? Over 250 or Under 250

tip: Check how players have performed in the situation they're going to be in. Use split stats on any reliable site to see their numbers at home, on a neutral-site, in December, etc.

Navigate