College football odds, lines, schedule for Week 3: Alabama, Ohio State big road favorites

Several big games highlight the third week of the college football season

By Tom Fornelli

Sep 8, 2019 at 8:20 pm ET • 3 min read

Week 2 of the college football season gave us some close calls from major programs, as well as some of the top teams in the country flexing their muscles in ranked games. Now, Week 3 is here and while it may not have the best featured games -- zero games between ranked teams for the first time since October 2017 -- there are still plenty of important ones with conference implications. Plus, while it's easy to look at the Week 3 schedule and dismiss it, it's often the weekends without the highest stakes that prove to be the most entertaining.

At least, that's what we're telling ourselves.

Here's a look at the Week 3 odds courtesy of Circa Sports:

Lines you need to know

No. 6 Ohio State at Indiana (+14): Ohio State has cruised through its first two games of the season against FAU and Cincinnati, but it will open Big Ten play against an Indiana team that's given it some trouble in recent years. It'll also be the first time the Buckeyes have had to leave Columbus this season.

No. 2 Alabama at South Carolina (+25): Like Ohio State, Alabama hasn't been challenged yet, and now it will be opening SEC play with its first true road game of the season. Of course, according to this 25-point spread, the oddsmakers don't expect this one to be much of a challenge, either.

No. 19 Iowa at Iowa State (-1): There are no matchups between ranked teams this weekend, but this one was the closest. If the AP Poll had 26 teams, the Cyclones would have sneaked in. So I guess we'll just have to settle for a rivalry that doesn't get much national attention but has proven to be one of the more entertaining rivalries in the country. Now that both teams are playing well, it takes on more significance.

No. 1 Clemson at Syracuse (+25.5): This game had a lot more promise before Syracuse's 63-20 loss to Maryland on Saturday, but playing in "Whatever They're Calling The Carrier Dome Now" is never easy. Clemson lost its last trip there in 2017, and will be looking to avoid a similar fate this year.

More games of note

No. 20 Washington State vs Houston (+7) on Friday: Technically it's a neutral site game since its being played at NRG Stadium, but the stadium is located in Houston, which, according to my sources, is the same city where the University of Houston is located. Either way, this is a low-key interesting game being played on Friday night.

No. 21 Maryland at Temple (+7): The Terps are a juggernaut! At least, they have been through two weeks. They're coming off a 63-20 win over Syracuse and have scored 142 points in their first two games.

No. 24 USC at BYU (+4): USC's freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis balled out in his debut against Stanford, and suddenly the narrative surrounding USC has changed. Could the Trojans be the best team in the Pac-12 after all? It's too early to tell, but a road trip to Provo to face a BYU team that just knocked off Tennessee will be another litmus test.

Arizona State at No. 18 Michigan State (-11): The Sun Devils upset the Spartans in Tempe last season, and it was viewed as Herm Edwards' first signature win. Now, Michigan State will be looking for revenge and through two games, the Spartans defense has allowed a total of -6 yards.

No. 9 Florida at Kentucky (+9): This game lost a bit of luster with the injury to Kentucky QB Terry Wilson. That injury is a big blow to the Wildcats, and the SEC East remains a two-horse race between the Gators and Georgia at this point. Of course, a strong Kentucky performance could change that.

No. 5 Oklahoma at UCLA (+21): A week after losing to Cincinnati, the Bruins returned home and lost to a San Diego State team that struggled to beat Weber State 6-0 a week before. What I'm saying is there's a decent chance UCLA isn't very good, which shouldn't be a problem at all with Oklahoma coming to town!