3 Best College Football Bets for Week 3 (2026)

The 2026 college football season is still in its infancy, but we’ve already seen wild finishes, upsets, and some big narratives building ahead of Week 3. Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford is the biggest headline, as No. 7 LSU faces his former program, No. 8 Ole Miss, in a prime-time SEC showdown.

My 3 Best College Football Bets for Week 2 (2026) nearly swept the board and finished a profitable 2-1. Ohio State’s 4th-quarter meltdown against Texas cost us a 3-0 outing, as the Buckeyes allowed Arch Manning and the Longhorns to jump to No. 1 in the latest AP Top 25. We cashed Michigan’s Team Total Under 17.5 and Under 48.5 between Arizona and BYU.

Other big matchups to circle in Week 3 include No. 16 SMU vs. No. 23 Louisville, Florida State vs. No. 10 Alabama, and undefeated Michigan State vs. No. 3 Notre Dame. I’ve got three best bets to tail ahead of Saturday’s Week 3 slate.

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College Football Week 3: Best Bets

(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)

SMU (16) vs. Louisville (23)

Earlier in the week, I was on Louisville’s moneyline as a small home favorite. Now, I’m shifting to SMU as a +1.5 road underdog against the Cardinals. This is primarily due to the high-caliber play we’ve seen from SMU QB Kevin Jennings in 2026.

Jennings has thrown for over 330 yards in both starts this season, posting a 76.9 percent completion rate and 8 total touchdowns to only 2 interceptions. The Mustangs’ quarterback is now in his third year under head coach Rhett Lashlee’s system. Now, Jennings faces a Louisville defense that gave up several explosive plays in the air that wound up being the difference during their loss to Ole Miss.

The Cardinals surrendered 336 passing yards and 3 touchdowns, all on explosives, to Trinidad Chambliss. Jennings has some of those same big-arm traits, plus a defense that has held its opponents to 175 passing yards or less in both wins.

Louisville QB Lincoln Kienholz has flashed talent, but the Ohio State transfer’s dual-threat ability could be tamed by the Mustangs’ defense on Saturday. I’d prefer to back the better quarterback in this top-25 ACC matchup.

Take SMU +1.5 as the first best bet in Week 3.

Pick: SMU +1.5 (-110)

LSU (7) vs. Ole Miss (8)

Aside from Kiffin’s return to Ole Miss, which promises to deliver plenty of boos from a disgruntled fanbase that he left behind before the Rebels’ playoff run, the other big question in this game is LSU QB Sam Leavitt’s health. He was listed as Doubtful on the injury report before getting upgraded to Questionable.

It’s hard to put stock in Kiffin’s injury report, especially with a history of tinkering with these updates. Leavitt’s obviously a massive piece of LSU’s offense, as the Arizona State transfer throttled Clemson during his debut in Week 1, while racking up 5 rushing touchdowns and 574 passing yards through two starts.

Ole Miss’ defense got picked apart by Louisville in the second half of their 41-38 win in Week 1. The Rebels have a talented quarterback in Trinidad Chambliss, although Kiffin’s familiarity with the coaching staff and personnel gives him another edge in this grudge match.

It feels like Leavitt is going to make the start in this game. It’s still baked into LSU’s price as -3 road favorites. Plus, LSU’s defense has been stout, allowing just 0.6 YPC and 2 total touchdowns in 2026.

I’ll play it a bit more conservatively and lay the juice on LSU’s moneyline at -155 odds.

Pick: LSU Moneyline (-155)

Michigan State vs. Notre Dame (3)

We’ve got a historically classic prime-time matchup under the lights in South Bend when No. 3 Notre Dame hosts 2-0 Michigan State. The Spartans went through a big personnel change this offseason, moving off former head coach Jonathan Smith in favor of Pat Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald previously led Northwestern’s football team to some relatively strong seasons, leaning on his trademark physicality for the style of play on both sides of the line of scrimmage. So far, it’s translated into Michigan State’s roster, as the Spartans are a top-40 scoring defense, holding two MAC opponents each under 300 total yards of offense.

It’ll be a much tougher task against Notre Dame’s offense, which has seen QB C.J. Carr post over a 71 percent completion rate for 492 yards, 6 touchdowns, and zero interceptions. However, the Fighting Irish run game is a bit stagnant to open the year, averaging just 3.6 YPC.

Michigan State’s offense also relies heavily on its rushing attack. Notre Dame has held its opponents to 2.0 YPC and 1 total touchdown, entering this matchup with a +6 turnover margin.

This all feeds into the point total under. It’s moved down from 53.5 to 51.5. Let’s grab this number before it gets any shorter.

Bet Under 51.5 for the final best bet between Michigan State and Notre Dame.

Pick: Under 51.5 (-105)