College Football Week 3 Picks, Odds & Betting Lines

Thanks to Hawaii, I technically had a bounce-back week.

When you get tired after a long Saturday of watching College Football, nothing tops off the day like a Hawaii game in the middle of the night. Last week the Rainbow Warriors scored 23 points in the second half to give me a winning week, albeit a 6-5 week. But winning is winning, as Charlie Sheen would say, and I will take it after my disastrous Week 1. Hopefully it starts to get a little easier, but it will probably get worse before it gets better if history is any guide.

But we press on. You have to go forward to go back, or something like that. Whatever Willy Wonka said.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 13

Syracuse (minus-6 ½) at Central Michigan, noon, ESPNU

Syracuse barely escaped Villanova with its life, and Central Michigan has a lot of experience back from a solid 2013 club. Giving me points at home against a sorry team? Can’t resist that.

Osborne’s pick: Chippewas with the points.

Boise State (minus-16) at Connecticut, noon, ESPN

Other than having to travel across the country, play at 10 a.m. on their body clocks and lay three scores, the Broncos have every single advantage here. It starts with the fact that this is not basketball and none of Tate George, Dan Orlovsky or Rebecca Lobo are walking through that door.

Osborne’s pick: Boise crushes the Huskies.

Georgia Southern (plus-20) at Georgia Tech, noon, ESPN3.com

Don’t sleep on the Eagles, who beat Florida last year, hung with N.C. State this year and beat the ever-loving holy hell out of Savannah State last week, 83-9. They have their offense going in a big way, and so does Georgia Tech. So …

Osborne’s pick: Over-56 ½

Louisville (minus-6 ½) at Virginia, 12:30 p.m.

What’s the catch here? Virginia almost beat UCLA, which played the worst it could possibly play. The Cardinals, meanwhile, are back on point thanks to that bastion of truth and guidance of young men, Bobby Petrino.

Osborne’s pick: Louisville laying just a touchdown? Reserve me a front-row seat at the Las Vegas Hilton bar.

Kansas (plus-15 ½) at Duke, 3:30 p.m., Fox Sports South/Midwest

This would be a terrific basketball game. Unfortunately, if you sub out Joel Embiid with Charlie Weis, things don’t look so good in the land of Jayhawks. Duke still has a potent offense and it will score points at home.

Osborne’s pick: Blue Devils go MockingJay-Hawk, Part 1 on them.

Arkansas (plus-2) at Texas Tech, 3:30 p.m., ESPNU

Exsqueeze me? Baking powder? Are you going to give me a hard-running rugged SEC team WITH POINTS against a soft Big 12 team that barely beat UTEP and Central Arkansas? I mean, if you’re not facing Tim Hardaway and Scottie Pippen, those teams aren’t much. (I am obsessed with basketball way too early.) This is my first Admiral Ackbar special of the year – IT’S A TRAP! Taking the bait, though.

Osborne’s pick: Hogs win the game outright.

Army (plus-28 ½) at Stanford, 5 p.m., Pac-12 Network

This one is purely sociological in nature. Stanford is the kind of classy program that is unlikely to rub it in against the U.S. Military Academy two days after 9/11. Plus their offense is still finding itself, but once they get on top by enough, they’ll take it easy.

Osborne’s pick: Army will be able to cover four touchdowns.

Kentucky (plus-18) at Florida, 7:30 p.m. SEC Network

The Gators aren’t done sending pre-Alabama messages. Sure, they might get trounced next week when they get to Tuscaloosa, but for now, they are going to make an example out of Kentucky, which will get no help from the Harrison twins. (Again with the basketball…)

Osborne’s pick: Gators romp at the Swamp again, get six days of happiness before running into the Tide.

Tennessee (plus-20 ½) at Oklahoma, 8 p.m., ABC

I asked a friend of mine who loves Tennessee if he thought the Vols would cover. He told me thought the Vols could not only cover, but win. Somehow I wasn’t convinced, which begs the question, why the heck did I ask in the first place if I was just going to turn around and pick Oklahoma anyway? I’ll ponder that.

Osborne’s pick: Boomer Sooner covers the three TDs.

UCLA (minus-7 ½) at Texas, 8 p.m., Fox

Last week, I believed in Texas. That was a foolish mistake. David Ash is still out for Texas, and the backups proved ineffective last week against BYU. As for the Bruins, they have phoned in the first two games and have to wake up sometime.

Osborne’s pick: Wizards of Westwood dominate in Texas.

Penn State (minus-3) at Rutgers, 8 p.m., Big Ten Network

Did you hear the one about the NCAA releasing the Lions from Sandusky Jail just in time to save the floundering B1G? I don’t know what the punchline is but I found it funny. Any conspiracy is possible these days, but that announcement will certainly galvanize Penn State’s kids who have suffered for two years with no chance to do anything relevant. Rutgers, meanwhile, is making its B1G debut. I flip-flopped here but stuck with my first instinct.

Osborne’s pick: Penn State wins a hard-fought opener on their way to the College Football Playoff. Maybe just half of that.

Arizona State (minus-15 ½) at Colorado, 10 p.m.. ESPNU

Nice weather plus much better team equals major league road rout by the Sun Devils.

Osborne’s pick: Arizona State wins behind three homers from Barry Bonds. (See, I worked in baseball, too.)

Last week: 6-5
Year to date: 10-18