Clay Travis Serves Up His College Football Picks For Week 3

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We went 6-5 last week with an easy win on the blood bank guarantee with Tennessee destroying N.C. State and upon further review, we went 6-8 the previous week, not 6-9. (There were only 14 picks up last week, not 15). What’s all this mean? We are dead even at 14-14 on the year and poised to leap into positive territory with all the winners coming this week.

I’ll be in Madison, Wisc., with my family for my first trip to watch the Badgers as they host Alabama.

I can’t wait for the trip. 

But until then, I’ve got 15 winners for all of you. 

As always, get rich kids and let’s roll. 

UNLV +7.5 at Kansas and the over 57.5

Very quietly, Barry Odom has been winning a lot of games at UNLV. Last year the team posted nine wins, this year they are 2-0 and scoring some points in those wins. 

Now UNLV gets Kansas coming off a tough loss to Illinois and you get a Missouri grad and coach in Odom, who still hates Kansas. 

What happens? UNLV surprises Kansas, scores a bunch of points, the over cashes, and it’s a field goal game late. 

Meaning we’ve got two wins on Friday night before we even hit the kickoffs on Saturday morning.

Alabama at Wisconsin +16.5 and the under 50.5

The Tide rolls into Wisconsin and the Badger faithful are just hoping they can keep it close. 

This Wisconsin offense has been unimpressive so far, posting just 28 points against Western Michigan and 27 against South Dakota. 

I feel confident Wisconsin is going for under 20 against Alabama. 

But this Tide offense hasn’t been consistently explosive in the passing game and stunk for much of the day against South Florida. Plus, I feel like Wisconsin will be able to have some success stopping the Bama run, which means the Tide will have to make plays in the passing game. 

What’s that mean? A relatively low scoring Alabama win.

Give me the Tide 28-17, meaning you cash a double win on the Big Noon Kickoff game, with the under and a Badger cover. 

LSU at South Carolina, the under 49.5

The South Carolina defense really, really impressed me on the road at Kentucky, completely taking over that game and dominating the Wildcat offensive line on the road in Lexington. 

So far LSU’s defense has been mediocre and the offense has been mediocre too. 

I think that continues in South Carolina. Combine that with the Gamecock offense being virtually nonexistent and barring defensive or special teams scores, this one should be low scoring and tight late, I’m rolling with the under. 

Boston College at Missouri, the over 53.5

This, wildly, is the only game featuring two top 25 teams all day. 

Mizzou has surged all the way up to sixth in the nation on the strength of wins over Murray State and Buffalo. 

Yeah, hard to know what to think about this team. 

While much of the attention at Mizzou is often focused on Brady Cook and Luther Burden III on the offensive side of the ball, deservedly so, it’s actually the defense that has been the biggest story so far in Columbia. Mizzou hasn’t given up a point yet, and they’ve held Murray State to 85 total yards and Buffalo to just 169 total yards. I know, I know, the quality of competition hasn’t been elite, but that’s still really impressive against any offense. 

Meanwhile BC is riding high, winning on the road against FSU and last week taking down Duquesne.

Mizzou is a big favorite here — too big to take a chance on covering, I think — but I do believe this number is too low for two pretty good offenses. 

Give me the over in Columbia. 

West VIrginia at Pittsburgh, the under 63.5

Just a hunch, but in big-time rivalry games — and these teams historically hate each other — I often like to take the under, especially when the number is pretty highly inflated. 

I think both teams come out overhyped and struggle to execute early. 

In a bit of a slog, neither team cracks thirty and y’all thank me for delivering the under win. 

Texas A&M at Florida, the under 46.5

This is a quietly massive game for both teams. 

If the Gators lose again at home, Billy Napier may not finish October as head coach. But if he can rebound and get this win, he’ll cool his seat just a touch. 

On the other side, Notre Dame losing to Northern Illinois has Aggie fans fuming. It’s one thing to lose a home opener to a good team, but what if the Fighting Irish are mediocre and made your offense look that bad? That’s not good for Mike Elko either. 

So why take the under? Simple, I’m not sold on either offense performing at a high level. The Gators have quarterback uncertainty and the Aggie offense has been disappointing for several years now. 

A defensive battle ensues in the Swamp and the under cashes, giving us a win in the Swamp no matter which team actually wins.

Oregon at Oregon State +16.5

Oregon has, put simply, stunk so far this season in wins over Idaho and Boise State. 

Especially relative to expectations. 

Now they roll into Corvallis with Oregon State fans aching to put a loss on their arch rival that abandoned them and destroyed the Pac 12. 

I try not to buy into narratives to justify gambling bets, but has there ever been a rival more fired up than this?

Oregon State’s defense is good enough to slow the Oregon offense down and this number just feels way too high for me given how bad Oregon has looked in failing to cover each of the first two weeks. Now you’re asking me to back the Ducks by over three scores? 

I’m not seeing it. 

The Beavers cut wood and get us a cover. 

Washington State +4.5 at Washington

Washington State is coming off a 21 point win over Texas Tech and Washington really hasn’t played anyone yet. 

In the same way Oregon State is going to be gunning for Oregon, Washington State is fired up even more than usual for the Apple Cup.  

The Husky defense has been stout, but the Washington State offense has been firing on all cylinders. So what happens here? Washington State keeps it close and has a chance to win late, covering the 4.5 in the process. 

(By the way, is there a more perfect karmic parlay than Oregon State and Washington State both to win outright in the first year that Oregon and Washington are in the Big Ten? I’m playing this one for fun just to see if college football karma is real.)

Virginia Tech at Old Dominion +15

We took ODU in week one, and ODU nearly pulled off the road upset of South Carolina. 

Now Virginia Tech is on the schedule and ODU, as Hokie fans well remember, has played Tech even of late. 

In fact, in the past four meetings, ODU has gone 2-2 against Virginia Tech. 

ODU is 0-2 with two tough losses and Tech wasn’t good on the road at Vanderbilt before bouncing back with a win against Marshall. 

My thoughts? ODU keeps it close and may win it outright, notching a cover in the process. 

Ole Miss at Wake, the over 63.5

So far this season Ole Miss hasn’t allowed a touchdown and the offense has scored 128 points. . 

Meanwhile, Wake Forest can’t stop anyone from scoring, having just given up 31 to Virginia. 

Which means one thing is for sure, Ole Miss is scoring 40+ at Wake. And I think Wake can score over 20 this week. 

The result? An overpalooza. 

Georgia -24 at Kentucky

I watched Kentucky’s offensive line try to block South Carolina last weekend. 

It’s one of the worst pass blocking performances I have ever seen in my life. I’m far from a football expert, but if you can’t block South Carolina’s front, you definitely aren’t blocking Georgia’s. That’s why, tap the veins boys and girls, my blood bank guarantee this week is the Bulldogs to cruise into Lexington and win by 35+. 

I also don’t think Kentucky can get to double digits against Georgia, not even with their quarterback being a former Dawg and looking for revenge. 

Heck, even when Kentucky has been decent they’ve tended to get dominated by Georgia. There’s more of the same coming Saturday, Bulldogs big. 

Colorado at Colorado State +7.5

Last year’s game between these two teams went to overtime after a somewhat miraculous Colorado late comeback. 

Colorado feels to me a bit like a team that’s trying to drive full speed on a flat tire. Sooner or later the rim starts sparking on the road and the entire car catches fire. I think that happens this weekend. 

The Rams cover and I think there’s a good chance they win outright. 

Kent State at Tennessee -49 

Tennessee has not given up a defensive touchdown in three straight games, two of which have included power conference games against Iowa and N.C. State. 

Meanwhile Kent State just lost to St. Francis.

And gave up 23 points to them. 

Gulp. 

The Vols are going for over 50 in this one, maybe in the first half by itself. 

And I don’t think Kent State scores more than three. 

The math is easy here, Vols win big and cover. 

…

There you have it, boys and girls, we’re going 15-0. 

And I look forward to seeing many of you in Madison for Bama-Wisconsin.