Biggest NCAA Football Betting Match ups for Week 3

Posted by Alex Murphy on Thursday,September 17, 2015 11:00, EDT in

In years past, these intra conference weeks tended to see power teams taking on cupcakes in order to pad their win totals. Now that strength of schedule is even more important than ever, though, you’re seeing more and more schools from Power 5 conferences taking on other strong teams. That’s why we saw #7 Oregon had to #5 Michigan State in Week 2. Now that conference play is opening for some teams, the match ups are even getting better. Here are some thoughts about match ups – and their College Football Lines and odds.

Analyzing the Biggest NCAA Football Betting Match ups for Week 3

#14 Georgia Tech (-2) at #8 Notre Dame

If Malik Zaire were healthy for this game, then I’d be all about the Fighting Irish in this game. However, his broken ankle means that the Irish are without their top-shelf quarterback as the Yellow Jackets come to town. Georgia Tech hasn’t played anyone yet, though, as they have still been following the Cupcake Plan. I like the Irish to hold on by at least a field goal here. After all, it’s not like their backup quarterback didn’t just heave a bomb to win the game last week, and their running game remains strong.

#15 Ole Miss (+7) at #2 Alabama

I’m not a big believer in the Rebels. Yes, they had an impressive 2014, being one of only a few teams to beat Mississippi State all year long. However, they also beat Alabama last year, and you have to believe that Nick Saban will have his troops primed for revenge. I see Alabama winning this in blowout fashion.

Stanford (+9.5) at #6 USC

The Cardinal did a fine job against Central Florida. USC has only seen Arkansas State and Idaho this year. This is a huge line – and USC is overrated. I’d probably stay away from this game, but if you feel the need to put your money down here, I would take Stanford and the points. USC might win, but they won’t win by more than a touchdown.

South Carolina (+17) at #7 Georgia

It’s true that South Carolina already has a home loss to Kentucky and barely scraped by North Carolina, but they haven’t fallen to Georgia by this much since 2006. The SEC is a gauntlet, week in and week out. I would take South Carolina with the points here.

Northern Illinois (+32.5) at #1 Ohio State

Remember – the Buckeyes played on Monday night in a tough tilt. They could cover again, but they might not be as interested as they were in picking apart Hawaii. After all, they would win by four touchdowns and still not cover the spread. I might think about picking against this line.

Southern Methodist (+37) at #3 TCU

Remember that SMU hung with #4 Baylor through the first half and would have been tied 28-28 if the team hadn’t committed an odd clock management mistake. However, SMU did go on to lose 56-21 (or by 35 points). The Mustangs did show some impressive offense against the University of North Texas, winning 31-13 in a game that they probably could have cracked 50 on if the turnover bug hadn’t bitten them. TCU did win 70-7 last week, but SMU isn’t Lamar. It’s hard to give TCU THAT many points in this one.