College Football Week 3 Picks, DFS Plays & Podcast: Deion and Colorado take center stage

All roads of college football this week lead to Boulder, Colorado.

I’ve been doubting Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes for two weeks now and, each time, he’s gotten the last laugh on me. (As if he’s actually paying any attention to this article at all). The fact remains he’s 2-0 and I’m 0-2 picking against them.

But that’s not all.

Coach Prime is not only winning on the field. He’s managed to grab the college football world by the antenna ears and force the media-sphere to give him — not just some — but all their attention.

Don’t believe me? Turn on your TV this Saturday for a pregame show. Big Noon Saturday, who owns the rights to most of the Colorado games, is live in Boulder for the second straight week and at Deion’s game for the third time in three weeks. College Gameday packed up their yin-yang (RIP Big & Rich’s theme song. We will always be comin’ to your citaaaay.) and joined them.

And look, it makes all the sense in the world. They’ve got a huge rivalry game this week against the 0-1 Colorado State Rams.

The slate is terrible, but obviously this choice has nothing to do with the competition itself. Deion has quickly made Colorado matter. Whether they win or lose the rest of the way (and yes I think there will be plenty of losing starting next week), they matter.

It’s appointment TV each week. This week is no different.

As I mentioned above, this slate is terrible so I’ll apologize in advance for what I’ve got below for you. It’s not pretty, but it’s the best I’ve got.

The best I had a week ago was once again pretty garbage on the picks side. A 4-6 record in week two has me at 11-16 to start the year. Long way to go and I have faith we can get back on the right side of the ledger.

The comments also had a tough week for the most part. Fun side note: None of us picked Baylor +7.5 over Utah. Not a single one of us. Loss across the board.

The comment section winner of the week was Kylefsu02 who finished the week 7-3. We’ve gotten accustomed to seeing Topnole at the top, but delivered a 3-7 week, joining me in misery. The other fun selection from the comments last week was AnalyticsNole who refused to choose between Texas A&M and Miami. A few of mentioned the meteor option but still made a choice. AnalyticsNole just took an L (or I guess a draw) on it.

Regardless, congratulations to Kylefsu02 and welcome to the Digital Stanley Cup we call the Comment Section Hall of Fame.

• Week Zero: MexiNole and Topnole (5-2)
• Week One: Yapo.SD and Topnole (7-3)
• Week Two: Kylefsu02 (7-3)

Could you be the next of the season? Leave your picks to the 10 games below in the comment section at the bottom of the page. Most correct gets you in the Hall.

On the DFS side of things, Chris Tyndall was once again on the money (literally) as the lineups we built on the podcast came through in tournaments as cashing lineups. His first-ever Lock Button of the Week, Rasheen Ali of Marshall, absolutely smashed as well. He rattled off 130 total yards, 3 TDs and 4 receptions to crush his $4800 salary on Draftkings.

new accompanyingpodcast, Sharpen the Point, with myself and Chris where we talk more in-depth about these game picks as well as what has our attention on the Daily Fantasy Sports slates on DraftKings that weekend. New to DFS? We can help you understand the process and get learned before the big conference slate starts next week.

Plus, we talk about the biggest stories in college football, sharing the biggest takeaways from the week, the injuries that could change games and the bigger picture of what could shape the College Football Playoff.

Reminder that we are just two guys with keyboards and microphones, not gambling professionals, so follow at your own risk and play responsibly.

Let’s get to the ATS and DFS picks. All lines and DFS pricing from our friends at DraftKings.

Brian’s College Football Week 2 Picks

No. 3 Florida State Seminoles (-26.5) at Boston College Eagles (Noon ET, ABC)

Brian’s Pick: Florida State -26.5

No. 7 Penn State Nittany Lions (-14.5) at Illinois Illini (Noon ET, FOX)

Illinois was a surprise in 2022 on the backs of a strong defense and Chase Brown. But this year, no Chase Brown and, so far, not much defense. They allowed 28 points to Toledo in Week 1 and then 34 points to Kansas in Week 2. On the flip side, I mentioned a few weeks back that I like Penn State this season a lot with Drew Allar at the helm. I expect them to run through the Illini in this one. Jer’Zhan Newton on that Illinois defensive line is a potential first round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, but he can’t do it alone.

Brian’s Pick: Penn State -14.5

No. 14 LSU Tigers (-9.5) at Mississippi State Bulldogs (Noon ET, ESPN)

I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times. LSU grad here so yes, I got to enjoy that FSU fourth quarter live and in person a few weeks back (actually live tweeting it from the Tomahawk Nation account). This is LSU’s next test since that game as Grambling posed no real threat a week ago. They were able to move the ball well at least on their first few positions. Can Mississippi State do the same at home in Starkville? It’s a scary spot facing a home underdog conference opponent at noon. But LSU is surprisingly getting healthier over the last two weeks. Notre Dame transfer RB Logan Diggs and DT Maason Smith are back and helping this team look more like the top five team they were preseason. I also think week one was more what FSU was able to do to LSU than any limitations LSU had.

Brian’s Pick: LSU -9.5

No. 15 Kansas State Wildcats (-4.5) at Missouri Tigers (Noon ET, SECN)

I told you this week was gross and it’s about to get really gross starting now. It’s our fourth straight home underdog at noon. Somebody’s gotta pull an upset right? I’m not sold.

Brian’s Pick: Kansas State -4.5

South Carolina Gamecocks (+27.5) at No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs (3:30pm ET, CBS)

I don’t want to talk about this pick. I don’t want to watch it. I just want to look up when it’s over and hope I’m right. Sometimes the gut overrides all logic and I’m going to follow it.

Brian’s Pick: South Carolina +27.5

Minnesota Golden Gophers (+7.5) at No. 20 North Carolina Tar Heels (3:30pm ET, ESPN)

Another gross one. North Carolina looked rough last week and nearly lost to Appalachian State. To me, that speaks to App State’s ability to pull those upsets (especially against an in-state rival) than it does about UNC. This Minnesota team should’ve lost to that disaster Nebraska team if not for Jeff Sims doing what Jeff Sims does. Heels by a lot.

Brian’s Pick: UNC -7.5

No. 11 Tennessee Volunteers (-6.5) at Florida Gators (7:00pm ET, ESPN)

Another home underdog and this one feels like an absolute trap. I mean 6.5 feels insanely low right? Florida’s win over McNeese State didn’t move the needle for me after whatever that opening performance was for Billy Sun Belt and the boys. Tennessee’s best opponent so far has been Virginia so not much to hang our hats on here for them either. I feel like Florida’s the pick here, but I don’t like them at all so I’m happy to be wrong if that’s the price of being a hater.

Brian’s Pick: Tennessee -6.5

Pittsburgh Panthers (-1.5) at West Virginia Mountaineers (7:30pm ET, ABC)

I have no clue. We need 10 games. I’ll predict a war of a rivalry game and I’ll take the home dog here finally.

Brian’s Pick: West Virginia +1.5

BYU Cougars (+8.5) at Arkansas Razorbacks (7:30pm ET, ESPN2)

Neither of these teams have played anybody this season. They put on a 52-35 scoring fest last season. I can’t imagine this year will be much different. Kedon Slovis gives BYU some credibility, but I’ll trust a healthy KJ Jefferson to outscore them.

Brian’s Pick: Arkansas

Colorado State Rams (+23.5) at No. 18 Colorado Buffaloes (10:00pm ET, ESPN)

We’ve arrived at the main event. The ESPN game of the night. It’s a tough slate so this will be our nod to #Pac12AfterDark. I’ll use this space to give Shadeur his flowers. The kid can ball and is well on his way to being a first round QB in April. Wonder if he and his dad may be a package deal at the next level... Atlanta, are you listening?

Brian’s Pick: Colorado -23.5

Chris’ College Football Daily Fantasy (DFS) Plays

Saturday DK Early Main Slate

QB

• Nate Johnson,Utah ($4500) — Starting us off with some value. Provided Cam Rising is not back from his ACL injury sustained in last year’s Rose Bowl, Johnson is slated to be the starter against an outmanned Weber St team. In his part time role with Bryson Barnes starting the previous two weeks, Johnson put up 10.7 and 12.5 points respectively. If we can get anything over 15 points he pays off his price tag and he has the rushing upside to smash his price tag on a point per dollar basis.
• Jayden Daniels, LSU ($8600) — Sticking with my gut on this one. I debated Milroe here as Alabama is going to play angry coming off the loss to Texas but the defense and running game could easily take away his TD upside and if he doesn’t play well it’s not out of the realm of possibility we see a QB change. Daniels however, is playing in what should be a close enough conference game to keep him engaged for its entirety and possesses the rushing upside to put up a big game on the road. A repeat of his 27-point performance from last year would suffice.

RB

• Audric Estime, Notre Dame ($7800) — In a game where Notre Dame is a 34.5 point favorite, the biggest concern here is if Hartman strikes early and often before Estime can get loose. I am choosing to bet that he can get to 100 yards and 2 touchdowns before the game gets out of hand on the 12-15 touches he will get much like he has in the first three games of the season.
• Trey Benson, Florida State ($6600) — I do not particularly love any RB outside of Estime this week from a value standpoint. Benson has a few factors in his corner this week that lead to him landing him. First, the matchup is great against a team that allowed 4.5 yards per carry and 25 TD’s last year. Second, FSU has a high team total and spread leading to a rushing game script. Lastly, what pushed me over the edge is the weather. We are seeing projected 40 mph winds for this game which means the pass game is a no go.

*Note: I have gotten Braelon Allen completely wrong two weeks in a row, so I will likely have a split between him and Estime this week.

• Jamari Thrash, Louisville ($5300) — The theme at WR this week is underpriced pass catching weapons. Thrash leads us off operating as the WR1 in a Brohm system that regularly saw Charlie Jones at Purdue listed in the upper 7k’s producing 20-plus points per week. The Georgia St transfer has produced a 10/170/4 line through 2 games to start the year on 15 targets.
• Brock Bowers, Georgia ($4700) — Slow starts and down performances are a common theme for Bowers, but so is slate winning performances. I believe we get one of those this week coming off of a 1 catch for 3 yards performance last week. Last year he started out slow as well before this same matchup where he went 5/121/2 while adding a rush for five yards and another touchdown. For my money, he is the most talented pass catcher in all of college football.