I went 7-7 with my college football picks last week.
We still don’t have a full slate of potential games this week, but we do see some Big 12 teams joining the ACC and small conference teams.
Notre Dame failed to cover last week against Duke. The Irish face South Florida on Saturday and face an even larger point spread. Can they bounce back and beat South Florida by 26 points?
Not all the games have betting lines as of this writing, but we did find 18 games with betting lines.
We at ‘America’s White Boy’ pick all 18 college football games against the spread in Week 3 of the 2020-21 NCAA Football season (September 19th, 2020).
Miami (FL) at Louisville (-2.5) – My pick is Louisville Cardinals
Miami QB D’Eriq King struggled in his debut with the Hurricanes. He just couldn’t move the ball well against UAB, which is alarming. Louisville had better luck against a solid Western Kentucky squad. Louisville QB Micale Cunningham aired out the ball against the Hilltoppers. The Cardinals were also able to run the ball at will. If King plays at his best, Miami could win this game…but after seeing what he did against UAB, I’m taking Louisville to cover at home.
Charlotte at North Carolina (-30) – My pick is North Carolina Tar Heels
I said this last week and I’ll repeat it again, I’m all-in on UNC QB Sam Howell. He made a couple of mistakes against Syracuse last week, but the Tar Heels still won 31-6. UNC head coach Mack Brown has assembled a great roster of talent. He has surrounded Howell with explosive running backs and receivers with good hands. Charlotte doesn’t stand much of a chance in this one. I’m taking the Tar Heels to cover on Saturday.
UCF at Georgia Tech (+7.5) – My pick is UCF Knights
Georgia Tech is coming off an upset win over Florida State. The Seminoles are a rebuilding team, so who knows if that win will be viewed as a huge upset by the end of the year. I still don’t see a lot of talent on the Yellow Jackets. UCF has QB Dillon Gabriel back and he led the the second-best offense in the country last year. They didn’t lose a ton of talent to graduation and the draft, so I expect another potent offense this year. I’m not impressed with Tech’s upset win. I don’t see it as big as it looks on paper. I am taking UCF to cover in their opener.
South Florida at Notre Dame (-26) – My pick is Notre Dame Fighting Irish
The Irish are coming off a 27-13 win over Duke last week. Irish QB Ian Book did not gain any fans with his play. He was rusty and the whole offense was just stagnant. Duke could be better than we think, so that could be the silver lining in a tough victory. South Florida is coming off a win against The Citadel. The win was expected and there’s not much we can glean from that win. I think the Irish could shake the cobwebs off their offense and will be better prepared this week. They’ve been a pretty solid cover the last two years, so I expect them to bounce back this week.
Boston College at Duke (-6) – My pick is Duke Blue Devils
Boston College is in rebuilding mode with new head coach Jeff Hafley. He was the co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State for a couple seasons after spending some time in the NFL as a positions coach. He will bring in some pedigree, but this is his first head coaching job. BC also has a new quarterback, Notre Dame transfer Phil Jurkovec. Their defense will need the biggest overhaul as they were last in the ACC. If Duke puts up the same effort they had against the Irish last week, they should cover against BC at home.
Houston at Baylor (-7.5) – My pick is Baylor Bears
I’m really leaning hard on covers this week, but that’s just the way these are playing out. Baylor returns QB Charlie Brewer who should carve up one of the worst pass defense in the AAC. Houston got a lot of transfer talent to help out this season, but Brewer is efficient. Baylor has a new head coach, but they are still loaded with talent. They should cover at home.
Tulsa at Oklahoma State (-22.5) – My pick is Oklahoma State Cowboys
Tulsa will be over-matched on both sides of the ball in this game. They just don’t have the speed on defense to defend against OSU RB Chuba Hubbard. Tulsa had issues stopping talent in their conference last year, so facing a top Big 12 offense is almost unfair. Oklahoma State should cover against Tulsa on Saturday.
Syracuse at Pittsburgh (-21.5) – My pick is Syracuse Orange
Syracuse may not be the most talented team in the ACC, but they held their own against North Carolina, albeit for the first three quarters. They were destroyed in the fourth. Pittsburgh will win this game, but 21.5 points is a little bloated. Pitt would need a great game from QB Kenny Pickett to cover this point spread. Too many things would need to go right, so I’ll take the points and hope for a garbage time score late by the Orange.
QUICK HITS
Navy at Tulane (-7) – My pick is Navy
UL Lafayette at Georgia State (+17) – My pick is UL Lafayette
Liberty at Western Kentucky (-14) – My pick is Western Kentucky
Florida Atlantic at Georgia Southern (+2.5) – My pick is FAU
Appalachian State at Marshall (+4.5) – My pick is Marshall
Troy at Middle Tennessee (+3.5) – My pick is Troy
Southern Methodist at North Texas (+14) – My pick is SMU
Louisiana Tech at Southern Miss (-7) – My pick is La Tech
Texas State at UL Monroe (+5.5) – My pick is Texas State
Wake Forest at NC State (-2.5) – My pick is Wake Forest
Sweetbob’s college football picks against the spread record in previous seasons:
2013: 134-79-8
2014: 148-118-4
2015: 149-118-3
2016: 196-145-6
2017: 183-159-13
2018: 177-157-6
2019: 187-141-8
2020: 7-7-0
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About the Author…
Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.