Welcome back to another week of CFB picks and college football best bets as we take a look at Week 3 odds. This weekend's college football schedule isn't as loaded with marquee matchups, but we still have some intriguing spots to target for our CFB bets. The Tennessee vs Florida SEC tilt should be a competitive one with plenty of scoring to go around. We also break down picks for the Texas Longhorns and Colorado Buffaloes games with both teams riding high right now. Enjoy these CFB picks and college football predictions as you tune into the Week 3 games. Plus, keep an eye out for the CFB DFS Playbook for top Week 3 college football daily fantasy picks. Let's now get to the college football best bets and CFB betting picks for Saturday, September 16th.

If you want some free CFB picks, check out the Bettor Sports Betting show from this past Thursday:

 

College Football Week 3 Best Bets 

Tennessee at Florida 

Saturday, 7 pm ET

When Tennessee and Florida met up last fall, we saw a 38-33 win for the Vols with over 1,100 combined yards between the two offenses. Of course, it was Anthony Richardson and Hendon Hooker headlining that matchup and both are now in the NFL. Still, we should see a high-scoring game in this rematch as the Gators and Volunteers open up SEC play. 

Tennessee boasted college football’s best offense last year, averaging 46.1 points and 525.5 yards per game (both led the nation). Even though Hooker, Jalin Hyatt, and Cedric Tillman are all gone, this offense still runs at a fast pace and will light up the scoreboard as long as Josh Heupel is calling plays. QB Joe Milton has plenty of weapons at his disposal with Bru McCoy, Ramel Keyton, Squirrel White, and Dont’e Thornton in the talented WR corps while Jabari Small and Jaylen Wright make up a dynamic 1-2 punch in the backfield. 

The Vols put up 49 points in Week 1 against Virginia but really could’ve scored more. The same goes for last week’s 30 points vs Austin Peay in a major lookahead spot. Tennessee should come out strong and set the tone on offense this weekend against a questionable Florida defense. The Gators’ D was a major issue last season, allowing 411 YPG (97th) and 28.8 PPG (87th). The unit struggled against multiple high-powered offenses like Tennessee (38 points allowed), Georgia (42 points), LSU (45 points), and Florida State (45 points). After losing the top five tacklers from that defense, it’s hard to imagine Florida being much better. 

The Gators haven’t been truly tested yet this season to see if any improvements have been made on the defensive side. In Week 1, they played Utah without its starting QB Cam Rising as the Utes went with a run-focused offensive game plan. In Week 2, they faced McNeese State from the FCS – enough said. Now, Florida has to jump into a matchup against an uptempo, pass-happy Tennessee attack with Milton slinging it all over the field. 

On the other side, we should see Florida have some success of its own on offense to contribute to the over. The Gators struggled on the road at Utah in the opener, but that’s expected. Plus, even though they scored just 10 points, QB Graham Mertz threw for 333 yards and the offense was inside Utah’s 40-yard line multiple times but couldn’t capitalize. In Week 2, Florida took advantage of an easy matchup vs McNeese with 49 points scored and 327 rushing yards.

Meanwhile, the Tennessee defense also hasn’t faced the toughest competition yet. The Vols got an inexperienced quarterback and a subpar Virginia offense in Week 1. Then it was a cake matchup vs Austin Peay last weekend. Like the Gators, the Tennessee defense struggled at times last year – allowing 405.3 YPG (92nd). While the Vols do have talent and depth in the front seven, the secondary can be exploited against talented quarterbacks. Mertz and the Florida WR corps have enough firepower to score in this matchup and add to the total going over.

Pick: Tennessee/Florida Over 58.5 (-110 on DraftKings)

Wyoming at Texas

Saturday, 8 pm ET

Texas is fresh off an impressive road win at Alabama to prove all the doubters wrong. As promising as that victory was for the Longhorns’ national title and College Football Playoff hopes, this is a prime spot to fade them. You can call it letdown potential after exceeding expectations last week and winning by double-digits on the road as underdogs vs the Crimson Tide in primetime. It’s also a lookahead as Texas begins Big 12 play on the road next week against in-state rival Baylor. Put the situations together and it’s a classic sandwich spot against Wyoming as large favorites. 

It’s hard to imagine the Texas players being amped for this easier opponent, especially coming off that Bama win and with next week’s Baylor matchup looming. Plus, the coaching staff may already be game-planning for the Bears this week and looking a bit past Wyoming. Honestly, who can blame them? A similar thing happened in Week 1 when the Longhorns failed to cover as 35.5-point favorites against Rice, winning 37-10. It’s likely Texas was looking ahead to the Alabama game and didn’t get as convincing a win as it should have.

With all of that in mind, it gives us a chance to back Wyoming to cover as a big underdog here. In Week 1, the Cowboys proved they can play with the big boys. They upset Texas Tech in double-overtime in the season opener despite being 13.5-point underdogs. That’s the same Tech team that played Oregon tough last week and nearly pulled off an upset itself. Wyoming’s offense has a veteran sixth-year quarterback in Andrew Peasley, who also brings some dual-threat ability to the table. He’ll be playing hard and running around until the final whistle, bringing a late backdoor cover into play. The beauty of getting Wyoming as a 28.5-point dog is that it can lose by four touchdowns and still cover. 

Pick: Wyoming +30 (-110 on Caesars)

Colorado State at Colorado

Saturday, 10 pm ET

The public perception and national hype surrounding Colorado are at sky-high levels right now. After upsetting TCU in a high-scoring game in Week 1, the Buffaloes came right back and won by three touchdowns against Nebraska last week. Deion Sanders’ squad is now ranked No. 18 in the latest AP Poll with Shedeur Sanders’ Heisman odds shortening by the day. As impressive as this Colorado run has been, it’s a great time to fade. 

The Buffs offense is clearly exciting with Sanders putting up big stat lines with tons of electric weapons around him. Still, the offensive line has big question marks and prepared defenses will be able to limit Colorado’s effectiveness. Nebraska actually did a good job defensively last week by putting pressure on Sanders in the right spots and limiting explosive plays for most of the afternoon. The Cornhuskers had eight sacks on Sanders, forced him to make a ton of throws on the run, and held the Buffs to 13 first-half points. If Colorado State is smart, it’ll try to follow a similar defensive gameplan to hold Sanders and the dangerous offense in check.

As for Colorado State, it suffered a rough 50-24 loss to Washington State in the season opener. While that result is obviously not great, the Rams had a rare Week 2 bye to recover, move on, and turn their attention to this weekend’s in-state rivalry matchup. Although that first game didn’t offer much confidence, we should expect an improved and motivated Colorado State team with a full week off. 

One key reason to expect a better Colorado State performance this week is an offense under new leadership. During the bye, the Rams made a quarterback change with Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi replacing starter Clay Millen. The CSU offense struggled in the opener against Washington State, scoring only three points with Millen at QB. When Fowler-Nicolosi came into the game, be brought a spark to the offense as CSU scored 21 fourth-quarter points. Meanwhile, the Colorado defense is still a major worry after allowing 40+ points to TCU in Week 1. If Nebraska had a better QB and offense, then the defense could’ve been exploited again last week. 

Finally, we can’t ignore the look-ahead spot here for Colorado. The Buffs have matchups against Oregon and USC in the next two weeks after this game against Colorado State. Don’t be surprised if we get some sloppy play and mistakes on both sides of the ball with Colorado overlooking an easier opponent. 

Pick: Colorado State +23.5 (-110 on FanDuel)

Other CFB Week 3 Bets to Consider

  • Georgia Tech +18.5 (-115 FD)
  • Florida State/Boston College Under 48 (-110 DK)
  • Iowa -28 (-114 BetRivers)
  • Penn State -14.5 (-110 FD)