College football betting, Week 3: Picking Michigan State-Washington, plus five best bets

There is no overwhelming big game in the college football season. ESPN's College Gameday is headed to Troy-Appalachian State. Oklahoma at Nebraska is not a game that looks great on paper. Michigan State, ranked No. 11 and coming off of an 11-win season, travels to Washington. The team that is actually favored here is Washington, which has been impressive against lesser opponents.

No. 11 Michigan State plays Washington at 7:30 p.m. on ABC. The Huskies have dominated statistically, while Michigan has played a pillowy schedule. Washington is favored to win. The line opened under a field goal, but I'm taking the plunge with the Husky.

Western Kentucky is a favorite to beat Indiana at the Big Ten venue. WKU has scored 87 points over two games. The Hoosiers are still searching for their offense. The pick is Western Kentucky 34, Indiana 31. It's a game of the big plays.

Iowa State beat Iowa by three points last week. Ohio barely beat Florida Atlantic in the opener and then were blitzed 46-10 by Penn State. Iowa State is not as good as Penn, but it's not 18 points worse. The Cyclones have a visit from No. 17 Baylor next week, so they should be able to cover the 18-point spread.

No. 20 Ole Miss is playing Georgia Tech on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The Rebels are favored by 16½ points. GeorgiaTech is ranked 81st in the nation in total defense and 121st on offense. OleMiss is 7-3-1 as a favorite of more than a touchdown under Lane Kiffin.

Pitt plays Western Michigan on the road. WesternMichigan beat Ball State last week. Pitt had two big games against West Virginia and Tennessee to start the season. The Panthers have been fine when passing the ball behind Kedon Slovis. Their problem has been the running game.

No. 7 USC takes on Fresno State at 10:30 p.m. on Fox. The Trojans have been impressive in their first two games. Fresno had a better record last week but lost to Oregon State. The Bulldogs are favored by 12 points.

Last week, last week's bets were 4-2 straight up and 3-3 against the spread.

This year's college football betting is 8-4 straight up, 7-5 ATS.