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Kansas State vs. Missouri: College Football Week 3 Odds & Picks (2023)

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Gear up for another awesome weekend of college football action with BettingPros! We’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 Saturday’s game: Kansas State vs. Missouri.

Top College Football Odds & Picks: Kansas State vs. Missouri

Kansas State (-4.5) at Missouri

ATL: KSU -7.2

Last season, Kansas State whipped Missouri 40-12 in this game. That improved KSU HC Chris Klieman to 3-0 SU in nonconference games against P5 teams while at K-State. KSU won those three games - against Mississippi State, Stanford, and Mizzou - by an average of 17.3 PPG.

Mizzou QB Brady Cook, who struggled in last season's loss to KSU, was sacked six times last week against a Middle Tennessee team that was taken behind a woodshed by Alabama the week before. The Tigers' offensive line is a huge area of concern.

To state the obvious, if Mizzou's pass-pro isn't cleaned up this week - Mizzou HC Drinkwitz said the following about his offensive line after the MTSU game: “I think there’s a good probability there’s gonna be some personnel changes" - Cook is going to be in for a long afternoon.

Cook could also use some help from his coaching staff. Amongst the bizarre decisions from last week's game: Calling zero designed runs in the second half after RB Nathaniel Peat had over 100 yards from scrimmage on nine touches before halftime.

Heading into the season, Kansas State's rebuilt secondary was a question mark. But KSU sophomore CBs Jacob Parish and Will Lee have acquitted themselves well thus far. The pair was stellar in last week's dominant win over Troy, one of the G5's best teams, and each has a PFF grade of 78.5 or higher.

Parish will draw the key matchup in this game against former five-star Missouri WR Luther Burden. Parish has allowed a mere 33 yards on 16 targets so far, allowing six receptions while breaking up three passes.

This is a game that Kansas State took personally last season, and likely will again. Numerous players on KSU's roster grew up in Missouri rooting for the Tigers. Not all of them got scholarship offers from Mizzou. And the Kansas State roster hasn't forgotten the social media trolling Mizzou HC Eli Drinkwitz did to KSU QB Avery Johnson last year after Johnson chose the Wildcats.

Wildcats roll.

The play: KSU -4.5 (play to -6.5)

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.


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