College football picks, predictions, odds: LSU-South Carolina, Oregon-Oregon State among best bets in Week 3

It turns out I had the wrong double-digit underdog for my Upset of the Week last week. Northern Illinois stunned the college football world when it beat Notre Dame in South Bend, 16-14. The Irish were favored by 28.5 points. The teams barely combined to score that many.

This week features a couple of rivalry games that used to get played at the end of the season. Washington and Washington State face off in the Apple Cup, while Oregon travels to Corvallis to take on Oregon State in the Civil War. One of those games is featured below.

Each week, I will use this space to tell you what I think are a few of the best bets heading into the weekend. I will also throw in an upset of the week, which will be a team that is at least a touchdown underdog that I am picking to win outright.

I will also give you picks on other games involving potential College Football Playoff teams. This early in the season, just about everybody is technically a CFP candidate. For the first few weeks of the season at least, I’ll go with the current AP top 12.  With the expanded playoff this season, I’ll go deeper into the rankings once we get a few games under our belts.

Games against FCS opponents are not considered. We have reached the point of the season when most of those games are gone now. However, there are three teams that will finally play their first FBS opponents of the season: Ball State, Louisiana Tech and Purdue, which hosts what figures to be a pretty angry Fighting Irish.

Odds via SportsLine consensus

Week 3 picks

No. 9 Oregon (-16.5) at Oregon State: The Beavers are half of what remains of the Pac-12, and they are off to a good start. The Ducks figure to be a much tougher test than daho State and San Diego State, but maybe not. Oregon has struggled…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-picks-predictions-odds-lsu-south-carolina-oregon-oregon-state-among-best-bets-in-week-3/

Author : Jerry Palm

Publish date : 2024-09-11 16:19:58

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