{"id":368193,"date":"2025-09-09T15:16:37","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T19:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/?p=368193"},"modified":"2025-09-09T15:16:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T19:16:37","slug":"college-football-picks-week-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/college-football-picks-week-3\/","title":{"rendered":"College football Week 3 picks and predictions: NCAAF best bets on South Florida vs. Miami, Ohio vs. Ohio State"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A pair of top-five NCAA Division I programs are featured in this week&#8217;s four-pack of college football picks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The pregame narrative:<\/strong> The No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes host a plucky Ohio Bobcats squad that should push the defending champs a bit. Meanwhile, the No. 17 South Florida Bulls put their impressive start on the line against the No. 5 Miami (FL) Hurricanes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-6c37cb08-cf64-44cf-857a-d9409b9361a5\">Check out the best college football Week 3 picks, featuring an over\/under pick for the Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. California Golden Bears matchup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"block-c42e5bcd-3d78-44a9-a94a-015d114981be\">College football picks Week 3<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Best bet: South Florida\/Miami under 56.5 points (-110)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>South Florida has two top-25 upset wins in as many weeks. If the Bulls are going to have a shot at a third one, I think they&#8217;ll need to muck things up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Bulls were in a rock fight last week in The Swamp, trailing 9-6 at halftime in a battle of field goals before eventually upsetting then-No. 13 Florida, 18-16.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In the week before, South Florida bottled up the Ashton Jeanty-less Boise State Broncos in a 34-7 win.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>USF has forced six fumbles and corralled four turnovers through two weeks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Miami has looked strong with Carson Beck under centre so far, but both of the Hurricanes&#8217; games went under this total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both defences rank in the top 50 in the country in EPA per play, according to Game On Paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Hurricanes hung 50 points on the Bulls last year, but that was with Cam Ward under centre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A lot has changed since then, and USF&#8217;s performance against D.J. Lagway and Florida has me bullish \u2014 sorry \u2014 on the visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key stat:<\/strong> Unders are 6-1-1 when South Florida is an underdog since the start of last season, per Team Rankings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarbets.com\/sportsbook\/sports\/american_football\/competitions\/11489\/matches\">Full NCAAF betting markets<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">No. 1 Buckeyes face in-state Bobcats<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ohio +31.5 (-112):<\/strong> I know Ohio State is the defending national champion \u2014 and I might be <em>slightly<\/em> biased as an Ohio University graduate \u2014 but this is a lot of points to give the Bobcats after an encouraging start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ohio fell just short of a comeback against Rutgers in Week 1, losing 34-31 as a 15.5-point underdog.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This past Saturday, the Bobcats beat the West Virginia Mountaineers, 17-10, as 3.5-point dogs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Fifth-year senior quarterback Parker Navarro gives the Bobcats poise and experience under centre. After rushing for 1,046 yards and 18 touchdowns last year, he has accounted for 666 passing\/rushing yards and four total TDs through two games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Remember, he&#8217;s putting up those numbers against Power Four programs \u2014 not FCS doormats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking of which, Ohio State did post a 70-0 win last week over Grambling State (FCS). But this week&#8217;s pay game should be much, much punchier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ohio is 6-2 ATS as an underdog since the start of last season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"block-c1e817ca-a7f4-4be8-8332-7ac0c6f20f4b\">More college football best bets<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>UAB -11.5 (-110):<\/strong> I faded the UAB Blazers last week, and it didn&#8217;t work out. Though they were blanked in the second half, the Blazers were tied with Navy at halftime and comfortably covered a hefty underdog spread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, UAB is rightfully favoured against the truly atrocious Akron Zips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Akron is still looking for its first points of the season. The team has been outscored 78-0 through two games.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Zips are 5-11 ATS in non-conference play over the past four seasons. Last year, they lost all three of their D-I non-conference games by 32+ points.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The Blazers at least know how to drum up some offence. Quarterback Jalen Kitna \u2014 son of ex-NFL QB Jon Kitna \u2014 has thrown for 551 yards and four TDs on 10.0 yards\/attempt through two games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Akron ranks dead last in D-I in net EPA per play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarbets.com\/sportsbook\/sports\/american_football\/competitions\/11489\/matches\">Full NCAAF betting markets<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Minnesota\/California over 43 points (-110):<\/strong> It&#8217;s time to learn the name Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Hawaiian-born QB, who originally committed to Oregon, was the No. 7 quarterback in 247 Sports&#8217; class of 2025. He&#8217;s been solid through two games, throwing for 493 yards and three TDs while adding a score on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cal scored 34 and 35 points, respectively, in its first two games. I think Sagapolutele can help the Golden Bears contribute to this low total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then there&#8217;s Minnesota, a team that put up 59 points in the <em>first half<\/em> last week before calling off the dogs. Sure, that was against Northwestern State (FCS), but it&#8217;s an exciting stat line for P.J. Fleck&#8217;s crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Minnesota&#8217;s offence ranks 27th in success rate and 29th in EPA\/play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>College football picks made at 2 p.m. on 09\/09\/2025.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A pair of top-five NCAA Division I programs are featured in this week&#8217;s four-pack of college football picks. The pregame narrative: The No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes host a plucky Ohio Bobcats squad that should push the defending champs a bit. Meanwhile, the No. 17 South Florida Bulls put their impressive start on the line [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":368179,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sidebar_plugin_meta_block_field":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[452,77],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-368193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-com","category-college-football","tag-college-football-betting"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>College football picks Week 3: Prop predictions &amp; best bets | NSB<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Check out our college football Week 3 picks, props and predictions. 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