College Football Odds Week 3: Picks, Score Predictions for Top 25 Teams
College football won't be the first thing on the minds of fans in Week 3.
With Hurricane Florence churning in the Atlantic Ocean, three games involving teams in the AP Top 25 won't be played due to cancellations due to the impending weather.
Three additional games on the college football schedule have been cancelled, and there's the potential for weather to affect other games in the southeastern United States.
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As for the games left on the Saturday slate, there are some involving a pair of ranked teams and a few clashes that could significantly impact the long-term complexion of the College Football Playoff rankings.
Week 3 Schedule and Odds
Saturday, September 15
All Times ET
Georgia Southern at No. 2 Clemson (-33.5) (Noon, ESPN2)
No. 5 Oklahoma (-17.5) at Iowa State (Noon, ABC)
Kent State at No. 13 Penn State (-34.5) (Noon, FS1)
No. 21 Miami (-10.5) at Toledo (Noon, ESPN2)
UC Davis at No. 9 Stanford (No odds available) (2 p.m., Pac-12 Network)
Vanderbilt at No. 8 Notre Dame (-13.5) (2:30 p.m., NBC)
BYU at No. 6 Wisconsin (-22) (3:30 p.m., ABC)
No. 12 LSU at No. 7 Auburn (-9.5) (3:30 p.m., CBS)
No. 17 Boise State at No. 24 Oklahoma State (-2.5) (3:30 p.m., ESPN)
SMU at No. 19 Michigan (-35) (3:30 p.m., Big Ten Network)
San Jose State at No. 20 Oregon (-41.5) (5 p.m., Pac-12 Network)
No. 1 Alabama (-21) at Ole Miss (7 p.m., ESPN)
Middle Tennessee at No. 3 Georgia (-33.5) (7:15 p.m., ESPN2)
Louisiana at No. 16 Mississippi State (-33) (7:30 p.m., SEC Network)
No. 4 Ohio State (-13.5) at No. 15 TCU (8 p.m., ABC)
No. 22 USC at Texas (-3) (8 p.m., Fox)
No. 10 Washington (-6.5) at Utah (10 p.m., ESPN)
No. 23 Arizona State (-5) at San Diego State (10:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network)
Odds obtained from OddsShark.
Picks
Auburn 24, LSU 13
The last two meetings between Auburn and LSU have been decided by five points or less.
While Saturday's game at Jordan-Hare Stadium will trend in that direction, Auburn will pull away late behind Jarrett Stidham.
The quarterback will be driven to beat LSU after one of the worst performances of his college career at Tiger Stadium a year ago.
In the 27-23 loss to Ed Orgeron's team, Stidham was ineffective, as he completed nine of his 26 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown.
A year's experience and a confidence-boosting Week 1 win over Washington will help the 22-year-old as he buries Auburn's first SEC opponent of the season.
In the Week 1 win over Washington, Stidham went 26-of-36 in the passing game for 273 yards and a score. If he produces similar numbers Saturday, Auburn will be in tremendous shape.
LSU found itself a reliable quarterback in Joe Burrow, but its top offensive player Saturday will be Nick Brossette, who is averaging 6.4 yards per carry.
If the running back is able to find holes and get past the tenacious Auburn defensive line for a few 10-yard plus gains, LSU's offense will start to get into a rhythm.
Although Brossette will achieve success in the first half, Auburn will make adjustments at halftime, forcing Burrow to beat it and cause a turnover that turns into a touchdown generated by Stidham.
Auburn's victory will be yet another resume booster, and it will solidify it as a playoff contender, but all of that won't matter if it can't beat Alabama in November.
Toledo 27, Miami 20
The Miami Hurricanes should be on upset alert from the second they land in Ohio.
Miami's voyage up to the Glass Bowl to take on the Toledo Rockets has letdown game written all over it, especially as the Hurricanes enter with maybe too much confidence following a 77-0 shellacking of Savannah State.
The reality of the situation is Toledo comes into Saturday with the same amount of confidence, if not more, knowing it can play with the Hurricanes from their meeting in Miami a year ago.
Why Miami would agree to take a trip into MAC country in the first place is a questionable decision, but it will look even worse once it leaves the field with a defeat.
The mystique of the Miami defense and its turnover chain has worn off, as the Hurricanes lost four of their last five games dating back to last season.
A perfect example for how Miami might perform is the trip to Pittsburgh in 2017. With everything to play for, the Hurricanes laid an egg and fell 24-14 to start their end-of-season spiral.
Although they put up 77 points on Savannah State, the Hurricanes didn't produce a confidence-boosting performance at quarterback, as Malik Rosier only attempted 12 passes after struggling against LSU in Week 1.
Toledo has nothing to lose and everything to gain from hosting Miami, and the Rockets have belief they can knock off the opposition from how tough they played the Hurricanes in south Florida last season.
Add into the mix that the Rockets had Week 2 off to prepare an extra week for Miami, and there's a guarantee they will be ready from the start.
Toledo isn't just a middle-of-the-run MAC program looking for a payday in September, The Rockets went 11-3 in 2017, scored 30 points in Miami and possess a dangerous quarterback in Mitchell Guadagni.
Given all the factors in play, Toledo will enter the fourth quarter with the lead, and it will hold on for one of the more shocking results of the 2018 season.
Other Picks
Clemson 66, Georgia Southern 10
Oklahoma 17, Iowa State 13
Penn State 45, Kent State 17
Stanford 44, UC Davis 9
Notre Dame 36, Vanderbilt 16
Boise State 24, Oklahoma State 17
Michigan 59, SMU 21
Oregon 47, San Jose State 16
Alabama 51, Ole Miss 20
Georgia 51, Middle Tennessee 17
Mississippi State 36, Louisiana 10
Ohio State 27, TCU 17
USC 19, Texas 13
Washington 41, Utah 27
Arizona State 37, San Diego State 24
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from ESPN.com.
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