College Football Picks Week 3: Final Predictions on Odds for Top 25 Matchups
College fantasy football may not be the most popular thing on the planet, but fans can still get their fix on Saturdays and make the most meaningless contest and even garbage-time touchdowns important by throwing some coin on the table in the odds department.
Spreads at the collegiate level are much more volatile than the pro game, too. This certainly applies to the Top 25 this week, as only a single game between ranked opponents resides on the slate.
The other top programs in the country (for now at least) have mostly booked uninteresting matchups made noteworthy thanks to massive spreads that may or may not turn out to be accurate.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Below, let's look at the entire slate and break down a few of the lesser-known games.
2014 College Football Week 3 Top 25 Odds
| 1 | Florida State Seminoles (38) | -- | -- | -- |
| 2 | Oregon Ducks (16) | Wyoming | ORE -43 | ORE, 50-10 |
| 3 | Alabama Crimson Tide (1) | Southern Miss | ALA -49 | ALA, 58-20 |
| 4 | Oklahoma Sooners (2) | Tennessee | OU -21 | OU, 42-23 |
| 5 | Auburn Tigers | -- | -- | -- |
| 6 | Georgia Bulldogs (1) | at No. 24 South Carolina | UGA -3 | UGA, 45-35 |
| 7 | Texas A&M Aggies (2) | Rice | A&M -30 | TAM, 63-7 |
| 8 | Baylor Bears | at Buffalo | BAY -27 | BAY, 52-3 |
| 9 | USC Trojans | at Boston College | USC -20 | USC, 38-21 |
| 10 | LSU Tigers | Louisiana-Monroe | LSU -28 | LSU, 46-16 |
| 11 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | Purdue | ND -29.5 | ND, 35-28 |
| 12 | UCLA Bruins | at Texas | UCLA -6 | UCLA, 34-20 |
| 13 | Michigan State Spartans | -- | -- | -- |
| 14 | Mississippi Rebels | Louisiana-Lafayette | -- | MISS, 42-15 |
| 15 | Stanford Cardinal | Army | SU -27.5 | SU, 38-20 |
| 16 | Arizona State Sun Devils | at Colorado | ASU -13.5 | ASU, 24-13 |
| 17 | Virginia Tech Hokies | East Carolina | VT -11.5 | VT, 28-21 |
| 18 | Wisconsin Badgers | -- | -- | -- |
| 19 | Kansas State Wildcats | -- | -- | -- |
| 20 | Missouri Tigers | Central Florida | MIZZ -9 | MIZZ, 42-23 |
| 21 | Louisville Cardinals | at Virginia | LU -10 | LU, 30-24 |
| 21 | Ohio State Buckeyes | Kent State | OSU -26.5 | OSU, 31-23 |
| 23 | Clemson Tigers | -- | -- | -- |
| 25 | BYU Cougars | Houston | BYU -14 | FINAL -- Thursday, Sept. 11 -- BYU 33, Houston 25 |
Note: All odds, updated as of 8 p.m. on Sept. 12, are courtesy of Odds Shark. AP poll via The Associated Press.
Breaking Down Underrated Matchups
No. 20 Missouri Tigers (-9) vs. UCF Knights
One of the closer spreads this week is laid out as such for good reason.
Missouri has been explosive through two games this season, but question marks remain as Gary Pinkel's side gets ready for a potential run in the SEC.
Maty Mauk seems comfortable under center as the starter, throwing a total of eight touchdowns in Missour's first two wins against South Dakota State and Toledo. Pinkel is impressed with his sophomore signal-caller, to say the least.
"He's a very poised guy," Pinkel said, per STATS LLC, via ESPN.com. "Plus he's a great competitor and that's what great quarterbacks are made of. He's only going to get better and better with more experience."
The concern for the Tigers, then, comes on the defensive side of the football. The unit gave up 365 total yards to the Jackrabbits, then turned around and gave up 410 and 24 points to the Rockets.
Luckily for Pinkel's team, UCF has questions of its own.
The Knights are 0-1 to start the season, mostly because a matchup against Penn State was a bad draw and—more importantly—the team had to travel a ridiculous amount, the game being in Dublin and all.
Pete DiNovo was the starter for the Knights before getting benched in the eventual 26-24 loss. Justin Holman is now the man under center, and his versatility—he threw for 204 yards and added a score with two more touchdowns on the ground—is enough to give a shaky Tigers defense fits.
The saving grace for Missouri is that this contest comes at home and there is now plenty of film to digest when it comes to Holman. Without his surprise entrance that the Nittany Lions had to deal with, Mauk should be able to help his side cover the spread.
Prediction: Missouri 42, UCF 23
Stanford Cardinal (-27.5) vs. Army Black Knights
David Shaw's teams have never been known as offensive juggernauts. He loves to employ a dominant defense and control the pace of the game in gritty, low-scoring affairs. So the spread here is worthy of skepticism.
Especially given the circumstances.
Last week, at home no less, the Cardinal were downed by USC, 13-10. Shaw's team struggled to get going on the ground, averaging just 3.4 yards per carry, and his offense gave the ball away twice and missed two field goals.
The potential for a letdown is obvious, especially with Army coming to town. Jeff Monken's team will surely give any and all programs fits because of a potent triple-option attack. Last week the approach willed Army to a 47-39 victory over Buffalo, racking up 466 yards in the process—341 of which came on the ground.
To his credit, Shaw seems well aware of the task at hand despite the potentially season-crippling loss less than a week ago. Andy Drukarev of Rivals.com captured his feelings on the matter early in the week:
"We have to get ready for the triple option,.We have to get ready for the ball going a bunch of different directions. Last year's experience I think helps us but this is a different coaching staff, it's kind of a different deal offensively for them. They've added some things, they've subtracted some things. It's going to be a good week for the defense to really prepare for these guys.
"
Army rushed for 284 yards on a 4.7 per-carry average last season but still lost 34-20.
Bettors should worry a bit about the wealth of blown opportunities that ruined the Cardinal last season. If Army can run that effectively again this time around, plus get a few breaks from Shaw's relatively young squad, the spread is out of the question.
Prediction: Stanford 38, Army 20
Stats and information via ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
