BEST BETS: WEEK 3

YTD: 2-2 (50%)

ALL-TIME 53-32 (62%)

2020 29-22 (57%)

2019 22-8 (73%)

UAB vs GEORGIA UNDER (45.5) | SATURDAY 3:30 EST | ESPN2

Georgia came out of last week's rock fight against Clemson with a 10-3 victory. Both defenses dominated and the only touchdown came on a UGA pick-six. Georgia's offense did not look great without their weapons available outside, and they should again be out this week. Also, now rumors of a JT Daniels core injury puts even more question marks on the Dawgs offense.

UAB is a defensive-minded team and is one of the best defenses in the G5 level. Both offenses run more than the average team which should help the game flow as well. Georgia obviously has a heavy talent advantage and will score their fair share of points, however, it really comes down to keeping UAB under 10 ideally.

VIRGINIA (-10.5) vs ILLINOIS | SATURDAY 11:00 AM EST | ACCN

After a week 1 victory at Nebraska, the Illini hosted UTSA without starting quarterback Brandon Peters. It did not go well. Peters is a GTD this week, and the current report is that Artur Sitkowski will start for the Illini again this week. Obviously, if Peters is good enough to go, that will make things tougher for Virginia, but I still like the Cavs regardless.

Brandon Peters does not play defense for Illinois. A week after giving up 37 points to UTSA, they now travel to a sneaky explosive Virginia team led by dual-threat QB, Brennan Armstrong. Virginia does a great job at keeping their offense balanced and keeps defenses guessing with players like former Mississippi St QB, Keytaon Thompson who is primarily a wide receiver now.

Defensively, Virginia is led by a very veteran secondary along with two of the most athletic and active LBs in the ACC in Noah Taylor and Nick Jackson. Confidence in shutting down the Illini through the air while getting things done offensively should lead to the cover for the Cavs.

FLORIDA (-27.5) vs SOUTH FLORIDA | SATURDAY 1:00 EST | ABC

Last week USF was picked on in best bets as they faced NC State. NC State went on to win 45-0, covering by 25 points. Now Florida comes into Raymond James Stadium as 4 touchdown favorites. Florida's QB Emory Jones had plenty of hype coming into this season and things did not really go as planned last week, he struggled a bit and even saw backup Anthony Richardson play well against FAU. Regardless of who is at QB, the Gators should have no problems pointing up points this week, and should be a nice game to figure things out before SEC play.

Defensively, Florida is extremely talented as always and most would say have a better overall defense than NC State and the Wolfpack shutout USF just last week. Not predicting another shutout of the Bulls, but a 40+ to 10 score seems very doable.

USC (-17.5) vs STANFORD | SATURDAY 10:30 EST | FOX

Large point spreads in rivalry games are always a bit dangerous, but Stanford's lack of offense seemed to carry over from last year making this a very intriguing spread. Stanford announced this week that Tanner McKee will be the starter going forward after Jack West struggled throwing 2 picks to start the game vs Kansas State last week.

USC in the meantime was a trendy pick to be upset last week by San Jose State. The Trojans went on to dominate 30-7. Their offense was very balanced as Kedon Slovis started the year 24/36 for 256 and 2 touchdowns while Ingram and Malepeai split carries for over 150 yards on the ground. The offense will face a much tougher test this week, however, the matchup still looks very favorable for the Trojans.

BONUS PLAYS

Extra picks that are not quite Best Bets, but good enough to feature. Also do not have to agree with Finnelytics projections, unlike Best Bets.

YTD: 0-0 (-%)

---

UNDERDOG UPSET PARLAY

A section featuring some bold, more fun, underdog ML picks.

YTD Parlay Record: 0-1 (-1.00 Units) YTD Straight Up Record: 3-1 (3.43 Units)

LAST WEEK Parlay Record: 0-1 (-1.00 Units) LAST WEEK Straight Up Record: 3-1 (3.43 Units)

YTD BIGDOG Record: 0-1 (-1.00 Units) Underdogs by at least one touchdown

LAST WEEK BIGDOG: - Louisville (L)