FanDuel and DraftKings both released their look-ahead lines for Week 3 in college football on Thursday. There are lots of intriguing matchups on next week’s slate, including Florida at LSU, Clemson at Ga. Tech, Georgia at Tennessee, Vanderbilt at South Carolina and Arkansas at Ole Miss.
FanDuel has LSU installed as an 8.5-point home favorite (at a -105 price) vs. the Gators, who are +230 money-line underdogs. The total is 54.5 points.
However, DraftKings has the Tigers as seven-point home ‘chalk.’ As a road underdog during Billy Napier’s four-year tenure, UF has compiled a 6-4 against-the-spread record with a pair of outright wins. The Gators are 14-10 ATS with eight outright victories in 24 overall contests as ‘dogs (of any sort whether home/away or neutral) since Napier replaced Dan Mullen.
This is only the third time in series history that these SEC adversaries have squared off in the month of September. When they met in Gainesville last season, UF ended a five-game losing streak to the Tigers by winning a 27-19 decision as a 3.5-point home underdog.
Florida RB Jadan Baugh put the game on ice with 3:48 remaining by scoring on a 55-yard touchdown run. DJ Lagway completed 13-of-26 passes for 226 yards and one TD without an interception, while WR Elijah Badger had six catches for 131 yards and one TD.
Garrett Nussmeier connected on 27-of-47 throws for 260 yards and one TD without an interception. Aaron Anderson caught seven balls for 72 yards and one TD in the losing effort.
LSU has won six of the last seven head-to-head meetings against Florida in Baton Rouge. The lone UF win in that stretch came in 2016 when it captured a 16-10 win as a 13.5-point underdog thanks to an epic goal-line stand in the waning seconds.
During Brian Kelly’s four-year reign in Redstick, LSU owns an 11-5-1 ATS record in 17 games as a home favorite.
DraftKings and FanDuel both have Georgia as a 6.5-point road favorite at Tennessee, but FanDuel has a -115 price attached to UGA -6.5. FanDuel has the Volunteers with +195 money-line odds, and the total is 51.5 points.
The Bulldogs have dominated this rivalry since 2010, winning 13 of the last 15 head-to-head meetings, including eight in a row. UGA has won four straight games at Neyland Stadium by an average margin of 31.0 points per game.
Tennessee hasn’t beaten UGA since Josh Dobbs’s Hail Mary pass to Jauan Jennings on the game’s final play in 2016 – Kirby Smart’s first season as head coach – that lifted the Vols to a 34-31 walk-off victory. Their 38-31 win over UGA in 2015 is the last time the Vols bested the Dawgs in Knoxville.
Tennessee has posted a 2-4 record both straight up and ATS in six games as a home underdog during Josh Heupel’s five-year tenure, with both wins coming over Alabama. Meanwhile, Georgia is 20-14 ATS in 34 games as a road favorite on Smart’s watch.
When these teams met in Athens last year, 11th-ranked UGA won a 31-17 decision over sixth-ranked Tennessee as an 8.5-point home ‘chalk.’
DraftKings has Notre Dame installed as a seven-point home favorite vs. Texas A&M, while FanDuel has the Fighting Irish at -6.5 with a total of 49.5. The Aggies are +172 on the money line at FanDuel.
Marcus Freeman’s team has two weeks to prepare for the Aggies, who are hosting Utah St. in Week 2. Mike Elko’s squad failed to cover the spread in a 42-24 home win over UTSA in its opener last Saturday.
Notre Dame will be in bounce-back mode after losing 27-24 at Miami this past Sunday night as a three-point road favorite. In his first career start, redshirt freshman QB CJ Carr completed 19-of-30 passes for 221 yards and two TDs with one interception. He also had 16 rushing yards and one TD on 11 attempts, but the Irish ran for only 93 yards on 28 carries.
The Hurricanes were +2 in turnover margin and got a 47-yard go-ahead field goal from Carter Davis with 1:04 left to prevail.
These schools met in the season opener at Kyle Field last season, with seventh-ranked Notre Dame winning a 23-13 decision over the 20th-ranked Aggies as a three-point road underdog.
Texas A&M RB Le’Veon Moss scored on a one-yard TD run with 11:49 remaining to pull the Aggies into a 13-13 tie in last year’s encounter. However, Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love answered with a 21-yard TD scamper with 1:54 left. The Irish tacked on a 30-yard field goal with 30 ticks remaining to seal the deal in front of 107,315 disappointed fans in College Station.
Texas A&M went 2-2 SU and 1-3 ATS in four road assignments in Mike Elko’s first season at the helm in 2024, but it didn’t have any road favorite roles. Notre Dame is 9-8 ATS in 17 games as a home favorite on Freeman’s watch, but the Irish are on a 9-4 ATS run in its last 13 such spots.
Both books have Pitt listed as a 2.5-point road favorite for the Backyard Brawl in Morgantown. FanDuel has the Panthers as -134 money-line favorites, with West Virginia at +112 odds to win outright. The total is 58.5 points.
This bitter rivalry resumed in 2022 after 11 years of dormancy. The home team has won all three meetings since the renewal of the series, but the Mountaineers are 2-1 ATS since they covered the number as 7.5-point road underdogs in a 38-31 loss in 2022.
Pitt won a 38-34 decision as a 1.5-point home underdog last season. The Panthers trailed WVU 34-24 until QB Eli Holstein found WR DaeDae Reynolds for a 40-yard TD pass with 3:06 remaining. Then with 32 seconds left, Pitt RB Derrick Davis scored on a one-yard plunge for the game-winning points.
In the first game in his second tour of duty as HC of his alma mater, Rich Rodriguez’s team won its opener 45-3 over Robert Morris and took the cash as a 40-point home favorite in Week 1. This will be R-Rod’s first Backyard Brawl since the most famous game in this rivalry’s history back in 2007.
Pitt was obviously unranked with an abysmal 4-7 record going into the 2007 encounter that was the 100th edition of the Backyard Brawl. WVU was #2 in the BCS standings and #1 in the Coaches’ poll when it welcomed the Panthers to Mountaineer Field as 28.5-point road underdogs.
All Pat White, Steve Slaton and Co. needed was a win to clinch a trip to the BCS Championship Game, but it wasn’t to be on that night. LeSean McCoy ran for 148 yards on 38 workmanlike carries, and the Panthers forced five fumbles to pull a shocking 13-9 upset.
(Pitt’s upset win allowed LSU to shake off an overtime loss to Arkansas in its regular-season finale – one of the all-time thrillers in SEC history when Darren McFadden led the Razorbacks to victory in Houston Nutt’s final game as HC of the Hogs in Redstick – and earn a bid to the BCS Championship Game after beating Georgia at the SEC Championship Game. Les Miles would win his only national title a month later when LSU blasted Ohio St. at the Superdome in New Orleans.)
FanDuel and DraftKings both have Clemson installed as a 7.5-point road favorite at Ga. Tech. FanDuel has a -115 price attached to the Tigers, who are -285 on the money line. The Yellow Jackets have +230 odds to win outright, and the total is 57.5 points.
This line was Clemson -8.5 at DraftKings throughout the summer months. Dabo Swinney’s team is looking to bounce back from a 17-10 season-opening loss to LSU when it hosts Troy in Week 2. After winning 27-20 at Colorado last Friday as a three-point road ‘chalk,’ Ga. Tech is hosting Gardner Webb on Saturday.
Clemson has won nine games in a row over the Yellow Jackets, going 7-1-1 ATS. These long-time adversaries didn’t play each other in 2024 for first time since 1942 due to the ACC adopting a new scheduling model. The Tigers won a 42-21 decision as 14.5-point home favorites in 2023.
Ga. Tech has been a money-making machine as an underdog since Brent Key took over as HC midway through the 2022 campaign. The Yellow Jackets are 15-6 ATS with 11 outright wins in 21 games as underdogs on Key’s watch, going 4-1 ATS with three outright victories in five games as home ‘dogs.
DraftKings has posted five additional lines for Week 3 that FanDuel doesn’t have. Those include Alabama -19.5 vs. Wisconsin, Ole Miss -12.5 vs. Arkansas, South Carolina -8.5 vs. Vanderbilt, Miami -18.5 vs. South Florida and Tulane -1.5 vs. Duke.
The Crimson Tide went to Madison last year and dealt out a 42-10 shellacking as a 15-point road favorite. They’ll need a similar effort next week to somewhat calm the fan base’s disgust with Alabama’s 31-17 season-opening loss at FSU.
Vanderbilt will be looking for revenge after taking a 28-7 beating from the Gamecocks in Nashville last year. Going into its Week 2 game at Va. Tech, Vandy is 5-0 ATS with two outright wins in its last five games as a road underdog.
Arkansas is 10-2 ATS with six outright wins in its last 12 games against the Rebels. The Razorbacks are 23-11-1 ATS in 35 games as underdogs during Sam Pittman’s tenure, and they’re 11-4 ATS in 15 games as road ‘dogs under Pittman.
Duke QB Darian Mensah will be returning to New Orleans to face his former team. The Blue Devils lured Mensah to Durham with an NIL package of $8 million over the next two years.
Mensah made good on Duke’s investment in his debut last week when he completed 27-of-34 passes for 389 yards and three TDs without an interception in the Blue Devils’ 45-17 win over Elon.
After its win over Notre Dame, Miami hosts Bethune-Cookman in Week 2. South Florida will be completing a brutal three-game stretch that started with last week’s home win over Boise St. and continues with a trip to The Swamp to face Florida on Saturday.
The Hurricanes are 6-1 in the rivalry with USF and picked up their fourth straight win over the Bulls with last year’s 50-15 triumph as 17-point road favorites.