This Weekend’s Big 5
Todd Gurley and the Georgia Bulldogs begin their SEC campaign with a trip to South Carolina.
Week 3 in college football got underway Thursday night with No. 25 BYU continuing its solid start to the season with a 33-25 victory over Houston.
Football continues Friday through Saturday and Betting Sports has pillaged the schedule to bring you the top five matchups, on paper at least, that you’ll want to keep an eye on.
The early season schedule means finding true gems remains a challenge, but with a number of rivalry games on the schedule, you should find plenty to keep you interested.
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No. 6 Georgia at No. 24 South Carolina
Williams Brice Stadium, Columbia, SC (Sat, 3:30 p.m. ET)
This weekend’s only ranked matchup sees No. 6 Georgia (1-0, 0-0 SEC) kick off the SEC portion of its campaign against No. 24 South Carolina (1-1, 0-1 SEC).
The Gamecocks bounced back from a Week 1 loss to Texas A&M last weekend with a 33-23 victory over East Carolina, a score line that did little to assign any kind of confidence to the team from Columbia, S.C.
The Bulldogs have had a week off after pummeling Clemson on the opening Saturday of the season. They’ll enter this one as a one-touchdown favorite, but could well smash the spread if their performance is in line with two weekends ago.
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No. 12 UCLA vs. Texas
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX (Sat, 8:15 p.m. ET)
After a stunning home defeat to BYU last weekend, Texas (1-1, 0-0 Big 12) has gone from playoff dark horse to unlikely longshot in one fell swoop. The Longhorns chances of making the College Football Playoff aren’t in tatters yet, but a loss on Saturday will change that.
No. 12 UCLA (2-0, 0-0 Pac-12) has begun the season with two wins, but neither looked particularly convincing. On Saturday the Bruins will get a chance to impress with a high-profile game in North Texas, facing a team they’ve had success against in the past. The Bruins are 3-1 against the Longhorns since 1997 and enter the game as the favorite. It was Texas that won the last time these two met though.
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Penn State at Rutgers
High Point Solutions Stadium, Piscataway, NJ (Sat, 8:00 p.m. ET)
With this week’s news that the Nittany Lions’ postseason ban has been lifted, Penn State (2-0, 0-0 Big Ten) all of a sudden becomes relevant again. The woes the Big Ten was put through last weekend means they could be very relevant.
First call of business for James Franklin’s side post-reinstatement is a trip to New Jersey for a Big Ten opener against conference newcomers Rutgers (2-0, 0-0 Big Ten), a team that’s also navigated the first two weeks of the season unblemished.
Meeting for the first time since an 18-year rivalry came to a close in 1995, this one’s expected to be a close one, with Penn State currently favored by a field goal. The Lions are 22-2 all-time against the Scarlet Knights and have not lost a road game in the series.
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Purdue vs. No. 11 Notre Dame
Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN (Sat, 7:30 p.m. ET)
No. 11 Notre Dame (2-0) made a statement in last weekend’s 31-0 demolition of Michigan under the lights in South Bend, which saw bookmakers slash odds of the Fighting Irish winning a national title in the process. They’ll get the chance to put the hammer to another rival on Saturday in Indianapolis.
Let’s be honest about this, Purdue (1-1, 0-0 Big Ten) hardly looks like a threat to Notre Dame’s undefeated streak. The Boilermakers won just one game a year ago, have had just one winning season in the last six, and last week got spanked by Central Michigan. Add to that six straight losses in the head-to-head series and you have one sorry looking football side.
But could the side from West Lafayette, Ind., earn an upset? Probably not. Might it cover the +28 spread? Maybe.
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No. 9 Southern California at Boston College
Alumni Stadium, Chestnut Hill, MA (Sat, 8:00 p.m. ET)
A 13-10 victory over a ranked Stanford side a week ago still left an air of uncertainty around No. 9 Southern California (2-0, 1-0 Pac-12) and its title hopes. The Cardinal had plenty of opportunities slip through the fingers and while the Trojan defense looked solid, the offense spluttered.
Now Steve Sarkisian’s side faces a cross-country trip to Boston College (1-1, 0-1 AAC), a team it should beat but also a team that represents a very real threat. The Eagles have had an extra day of rest having played on Friday night in Week 2, and staring at a 0-4 record in the head-to-head series, they’re also motivated to upset SC.
With a week off next week to prepare for the brunt of the Pac-12 schedule, the Trojans will need to keep focused if they’re to leave Logan International 3-0.
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