Red Flags: 5 college football teams on upset alert in Week 3

  • Could UNC find itself in trouble again?
  • Two SEC teams caught in bad spots
  • Ohio State could shock the world in the wrong way
Youngstown State v Ohio State
Youngstown State v Ohio State / Lauren Leigh Bacho/GettyImages
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When you look at the Week 3 college football slate, it's easy to quickly start eyeing next week when there seems to be nothing but Top 25 matchups on the schedule. But that's when the craziness always happens. That's when we see the patented college football upsets that make the sport so great go down -- when everyone is lulled to sleep by a seemingly innocuous schedule of games.

And to be sure, the Week 3 college football schedule doesn't move the needle on paper. No ranked team plays another ranked team this week. There are big-name programs playing on the road, but in most cases, not in spots where they should be in real danger. Frankly, there is the making of a lot of blowouts on this slate.

That, however, won't be the case for the college football teams who have red flags waving fiercely for Week 3. Those five teams that we're about to talk about, we're putting them on upset alert, even if they don't know it's coming yet.

2023 Upset Picks Record: 4-6
Note: All lines are courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook. For more college football odds, picks and predictions, visit BetSided.

College football upset picks: 5 teams on upset alert in Week 3

5. Ole Miss Rebels

Opponent: Georgia Tech | Time: Saturday, Sept. 16, 7:30 p.m. ET (SECN) | Spread: MISS -18.5

Ole Miss picked up a big win at Tulane last week and moved up in the AP Top 25 after doing so. In a spot that could've been tricky, Lane Kiffin's Rebels got the job done. It also might've included quite a bit of fool's gold.

For starters, Ole Miss picked up the win against a Tulane team playing without Michael Pratt. That's akin to an NBA team boasting about beating the 2007 Cavalier while LeBron was out. Pratt is one of the best quarterbacks in the country, so his absence was felt. And yet, the Green Wave still were in this game for quite a while until the Rebels took advantage of mistakes late.

Make no mistake, Georgia Tech is not a great football team. However, the Yellow Jackets look far better than many expected, particularly on offense as Haynes King has been far better than expected since arriving in Atlanta. They can test a Rebels defense that could very well also be looking ahead...

And that's the biggest factor here. Ole Miss has Alabama on deck for next week, a game that Lane Kiffin and the Rebels are surely viewing as their Super Bowl. They are likely taking Georgia Tech for granted in this matchup, which could be dangerous given the fight the Jackets have put up to this point.