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College Football Picks Against The Spread Afternoon September 23, 2017

ByMike Marteny|
DURHAM, NC - SEPTEMBER 16: Quay Chambers
DURHAM, NC - SEPTEMBER 16: Quay Chambers
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TAMPA, FL – JANUARY 7: The National Championship Trophy during the College Football Playoff National Championship Media Day on January 7, 2017 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images)

College Football Picks Against The Spread Afternoon September 23, 2017

I had a solid week in week 3 of the college football season. I am now 11 games above .500 for the season. It took me until early November to hit that mark last year, so I am mostly happy with the results. I am also up 32 betting points. Hey, I’m ahead of the casino. That’s all that counts!

More from College Football Odds

For those of you that are new here, I put myself out there every week. For the last six years, I have picked every single college football game. Sounds easy, right? I thought so too. So I have picked them all against the spread. That significantly increases the degree of difficulty.

I take the average of the odds from the six major Vegas casinos and round that to the nearest half point. There will be no ties here. Ties are for the other football.

Some sites will sell you top ten picks for a fee. Some will even give you a couple of free picks to lure you in. This is every game picked, all for free.

This contains the picks for FBS vs. FBS games only. It is too hard to get an accurate spread on games that involve 1-AA teams.

I will assign a point value “bet” on each game, between one and five points. That way you can see just how confident I am in each pick. Look for those at the end of each line. I am up 27 points after the first two weeks so far.

This is for entertainment purposes only! I cannot be responsible for you losing any of your worldly possessions, significant others, or limbs to a loan shark. I am a simple person. I cannot have that on my conscience.

We are down to 60 games this weekend, but 56 of them are FBS vs. FBS machups. So even though there are less games, this is my largest week of picking so far. 19 of the 52 Saturday games kick off between 3:30 and 7pm eastern. Let’s get to those!

college football
NORMAN, OK – SEPTEMBER 16: The Oklahoma Sooners take the field before the game against the Tulane Green Wave at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on September 16, 2017 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated Tulane 56-14. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***

(1)Alabama(-19.5) at Vanderbilt(2): Vanderbilt is likely better than they have been since Jay Cutler was under center. The problem here is that Alabama is a well oiled machine. Even if Vandy keeps it close for a while, Bama pulls away. Give me Alabama.

Boston College at (2)Clemson(-33.5)(2): This has the makings of a letdown game for Clemson. I see the Tigers coming out a little flat, but they still win going away. I don’t see a scenario where the Eagles hit double digits, so give me Clemson.

(5)USC(-17.5) at California(2): This line keeps rising, so I may wait to bet in until right before kickoff. Cal has impressed me a lot more than USC has. The Trojans have yet to really find a rhythm, and that defense isn’t as good as advertised. Give me Cal. They wont win, but the Bears stay close. Those were big time wins at UNC and against Ole Miss.

(16)TCU at (6)Oklahoma State(-12.5)(4): This line highlights just how large the gap is between the top and the middle, and I still think it’s low. I’m a big believer in this Oklahoma State offense. Cowboys by at least two touchdowns.

Toledo at (14)Miami(FL)(-13.5)(1): Like a lot of the Florida teams, I expect the Hurricanes to come out a little flat. Kinda like you do in the first game. You know, when you haven’t hit someone from another team in a while. They have been watching the rest of the college football world, yet can’t do anything themselves. This Toledo offense is impressive, but I would rather this line be a touch higher taking the Rockets. I’m still going Toledo, but I do have questions about that defense.

Rutgers at Nebraska(-11.5)(2): Nebraska is on high alert with the dismissal of Shawn Eichorst. Honestly, this firing came at least two years too late. Eichorst was never the right fit there, and I think Nebraska knew it early, but they stuck with it. Just because it wasn’t Steve Pederson. Now the program is crumbling because of a terrible offensive line and a vanilla offense that makes too many mistakes. That isn’t changing, but Nebraska’s defense has stepped up enough that I don’t see Rutgers touching the end zone except on touchbacks. Nebraska somehow covers this, but it may be the last one they do.

Georgia Southern at Indiana(-23.5)(3): Even the mighty Buckeyes had trouble with this offense for two and a half quarters. Georgia Southern doesn’t have much of a chance here. Give me the Hoosiers.

Wake Forest(-5.5) at Appalachian State(4): Yeah, this looks low. Wake thumped Boston College at home, and handily beat a decent Utah State team. Wake by double digits.

Duke(-1.5) at North Carolina(5): I know this is a rivalry that spans all sports here, but that North Carolina defense didn’t suddenly get better last week. They just faced a team with far less talent. That isn’t the case with Duke. Duke wins by at least a touchdown.

Louisiana Tech at South Carolina(-8.5)(3): The Gamecocks got embarrassed on their home field last weekend, and were worse at home last year as well. I don’t quite get that, but this isn’t a high flying La Tech team this time around. The Carolina defense makes the difference here. Cocky by double digits.

Miami(OH)(-1.5) at Central Michigan(3): This line is backwards. The Chippewas aren’t losing this one at home.

Cincinnati at Navy(-11.5)(2): I don’t quite know what to make of this. The line has been bouncing all week, with a flurry on Navy heading into today. I’m not overly impressed with the Cincinnati offense, but they defense is pretty solid up front. Still, it is tough to face an offense if you aren’t used to defending one. Give me Navy.

(8)Michigan(-10.5) at Purdue(3): I was hoping for a higher line, but I’m sold on Purdue. They may not win this outright, but they come damn close. Give me the Boilers!

Louisiana-Monroe at Louisiana(-6.5)(2): Well, home field is supposed to be worth seven points, so I’ll take the Cajuns.

Nevada at (18)Washington State(-28.5)(3): I don’t like that half, but hanging with a stagnant Northwestern offense is one thing. The Cougars are an entirely different animal (well, maybe not. Technically a cougar is a wild cat). I have to go with Wazzu.

Akron at Troy(-16.5)(2): Troy has only come close to bucking one spread this year, and that was in the opener at Boise. This is a huge line again, and I really don’t think they cover here either. I’ll take the Zips.

Georgia State at Charlotte(-1.5)(1): Charlotte has been pretty terrible this year. Not that the Panthers have been a ton better, but hey. At least they played Penn State. This line opened with Georgia State favored. It should have stayed there. Give me the Panthers.

(3)Oklahoma(-27.5) at Baylor(4): Baylor has not stayed within a spread this year. It wont start here against the high powered Sooners. Oklahoma wants revenge for the beating put on them in Waco a few years back. You can bet Baker Mayfield remembers that. BOOMER!

UAB at North Texas(-12.5)(1): That’s quite a few points here. The Mean Green looked solid in Iowa City, which has driven this line up. I don’t think they cover here though. UAB is eager to prove they belong here again. Give me the Blazers.

Next: ESPN College Pick em Picks Week 4

Stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for the last of the picks of the week against the spread, and our daily picks for MLB. We also have NFL DFS picks for week 2 and picks for the EPL!