College Football Parlay Bets for Week 3 (2020)

by Henry John |
Sep 18, 2020

Good news College Football bettors! The slate of games continues to grow with each and every passing week. Week 3 will feature over 20 games spanning from Friday night through Saturday. And things will only get better from here. The SEC will open its 2020 season next weekend, and the Big Ten and Pac-12 have announced plans to start in Mid-October and November respectively. As an ESPN article put it earlier this week, the 2020 College Football season is one of "spectacular chaos".

Betting College Football Through Parlays

Parlays are a fun way to incorporate several games from a massive College Football slate into your betting endeavors. I have put together a pair of parlay bets that I like for the Week 3 slate. Each parlay combines a pair of spread/totals lines with one short moneyline underdog, both of which I like to win outright, to help enhance the potential payout.

As is the case with these parlay bets every week, feel free to add, subtract, mix, and match from the picks I have outlined below to meet your desired level of risk and reward. Any and all of this week's picks make fine individual wagers as well.

Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook

Get a sign-up bonus up to $1,000 at DraftKings Sportsbook >>

Week 3 College Football Parlay #1 (+681 Odds)

In a way, this first parlay is my way of letting you sample my three best dishes on the Week 3 buffet menu. It combines my favorite ATS, total, and moneyline underdog selections into one, offering an incredible payout at +681 odds. That's right, we're going for it all this week!

UCF at Georgia Tech (+7.5)

After trailing 10-0 at halftime in their season-opener at Florida State last week, Georgia Tech clawed their way back, pulling out a rather stunning 16-13 victory. Now, the Yellow Jackets welcome in American Athletic Conference power UCF, in what is the Knights' first game of the year.

Despite having several key players opt out of the season, UCF is still plenty talented. The key for Georgia Tech figures to be controlling the time of possession battle and wearing down the Knights on defense. Conditioning has been a key issue for all teams this year due to the disruptions in offseason workouts and practices. If the Yellow Jackets can weather the potential storm in the first half, we could see fatigue set in for UCF in the third and fourth quarters. Tech getting a full touchdown and the hook at home is too good to pass up.

Boston College at Duke (Under 51.5)

No offense to the oddsmakers at DraftKings, but I'm having a lot of trouble wrapping my head around this total. Saturday marks the first game of the year for Boston College. The Eagles struggled mightily on defense in 2019, but they welcome back a wealth of experience. New head coach Jeff Hatley has to be licking his chops at the opportunity to work with linebackers John Lamot and Max Richardson. Both are excellent tacklers and might be one of the most underrated linebacking duos in the country.

Meanwhile, Duke has a game under its belt, a 27-13 loss to Notre Dame last week. The Blue Devils' defense played well against the top-10 ranked Fighting Irish. Duke was able to generate a decent pass rush throughout the game, and it will be interesting to see how the battle between the defensive front and the Eagles' talented offensive line unfolds. Regardless, I don't see many offensive fireworks coming from either side in this one. Under 51.5 is the play.

Miami (+114) at Louisville

We stay in the ACC to close out Parlay #1 with a bet on Miami to win outright in the primetime spotlight as short road underdogs at Louisville. Both teams come in with 1-0 records after both picking up victories over Conference USA opponents last week.

Miami ran all over UAB on the ground last week, amassing 337 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns. If the Hurricanes can find similar success on the ground this week, it could spell doom for Louisville's defense. Wearing the defensive front down early will only open up more passing opportunities for D'Eriq King. While Louisville QB Micale Cunningham looked terrific against Western Kentucky last week, the advantage has to go to the ultra-talented King in this matchup. This has the makings of a great game, so why not go for it with the underdog Canes in our parlay?

Week 2 College Football Parlay #2 (+757 Odds)

Just when you thought the potential payout of our first Week 3 parlay was something, we've done it one better here in Parlay #2. This bet combines a pair of ATS favorites with another road underdog on the moneyline for impressive +757 odds.

Navy at Tulane (-7)

I want to preface my support for Tulane in this game by saying I do not expect Navy to look as bad as they did two weeks ago against BYU. Ken Niumatalolo is simply too good of a coach to have back-to-back horrendous performances. The Midshipmen should be able to get their rushing attack going in this one and remain competitive throughout.

With that said, Tulane is the more talented football team here. After playing three sloppy quarters against South Alabama last week, the Green Wave seemed to get the ball rolling in the fourth. Keon Howard settled down, and he has talented enough receivers to be able to pick apart the Navy secondary. With a game now under their belt and home field advantage, I like Tulane to win by a comfortable two scores.

SMU (-14) at North Texas

Both SMU and North Texas come into this game with 1-0 records but make no mistake about it. SMU is clearly the better team in this all-Texas matchup. After looking rusty in a season-opening win at Texas State two weeks ago, Shane Buechele and the Mustangs high-powered passing attack should have no trouble against the very average North Texas secondary.

With that said, the Mean Green bring their own offensive firepower to the table. Quarterback Jason Bean looked sharp in last week's win, but it was against FCS foe Houston Baptist. Even if North Texas can score, a defense that gave up 31 points to HBU is bound to surrender more than that to SMU. There will be plenty of offense from both sides, but the Mustangs win easily.

Houston (+135) at Baylor

Perhaps no one will be cheering harder for Baylor this week than the rest of the Big 12 Conference. After the league suffered a trio of embarrassing defeats to Sun Belt Conference opponents last week, the last thing the league needs is for Baylor to also fall at home against American Athletic foe Houston. The Bears do have their fair share of turnover to navigate through this season with a new coach and several moving parts on defense. Can they come together in time to defend their home turf against a young Houston team?

Now is when we get to see whether or not Dana Holgorsen's decision to get his young players added experience last season after a rough start pans out. With ample opportunity to grow into their roles last season, the 2020 Cougars figure to be the fresher team out of the gates in this one. Baylor will have to do all it can do to slow down the Houston passing attack, and the Cougars also return 16 of the top 17 tacklers from a season ago defensively. The Cougs are as live an underdog as any and are the perfect pick to bump up our parlay payout.

View the top deposit bonuses and promo codes for each sportsbook >>

Whether you're new to sports betting or a betting pro, our How To Bet and Sports Betting Strategy and Advice pages are for you. You can get started with our Sports Betting 101 Section - including 10 Sports Betting Tips for Beginners - or head to more advanced sports betting strategy - like Key Numbers When Betting Against the Spread - to learn more.

Henry John is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Henry, check out his archive and follow him @HankTimeSports.

Navigate