The College Football season continues to roll along, and the upsets have been plenty this season so far. Just last week, we saw #12 Arizona State fall to unranked Mississippi State. #13 Florida lost at home in The Swamp to the University of South Florida as 18.5-point underdogs, among other big upsets. Who will go down, and maybe more importantly, who will rise up in Week 3 of College Football action to help us cash our Week 3 Upset Parlay, with these College Football upset picks.
Week 13 features a variety of games from marquee matchups like Georgia and Tennessee to Texas A&M and Notre Dame. Florida will be looking for revenge at #3-ranked LSU, and some smaller schools will be looking to bring their A-game and give it their all to be the next big upset. It’s also rivalry week for some teams. So, let’s head out to Morgantown, West Virginia, for the first leg of our parlay.
College Football Week 3 Best Bets: Upset Parlay
West Virginia Mountaineers Moneyline (+225)
The “Backyard Brawl” is one of the best and most heated rivalries in College Football. It dates back to 1895 when these two schools, just 75 miles apart, met for the first time. Deep hatred can really bring the dogs out, and that’s what I love in a good underdog parlay. Their head coach, Rich Rodriguez, is no stranger to this rivalry and was 4-3 as the Mountaineers’ head coach against Pitt in his first stint at the school. His last game coaching against Pitt was the 2007 loss, which ruined the perfect season and dashed National Championship hopes. They are coming off a tough loss last week to the Ohio Bobcats and have revenge on the mind.
Rodriguez has his own motivations for this game, looking to avenge 2007. But the players do as well. They fell to the Panthers last year in Pittsburgh, 38-34. Since this series re-ignited in 2022, the home team has won each time. The Mountaineers’ defense will be key in this game; they forced three interceptions from Parker Navarro last week, which the offense just couldn’t get anything done with. If they can get pressure like that this week against Eli Holstein, it’ll give them a strong chance. I fully expect this to be the brawl it’s named after, give me the Mountaineers to get sweet revenge in Week 3.
Southern Miss Golden Eagles Moneyline (+125)
Small dogs can bite, too, and sometimes they are the perfect middle leg to bump up that parlay number. Southern Miss is a team I’ve had my eye on since the season kicked off, and they’ve looked great through two games. They held their own against an SEC opponent with a 34-17 loss to Mississippi State. A game in which they were only down by three at halftime. Then bounced back with their win over Jackson State 38-20 last week. The Golden Eagles’ head coach, quarterback, and many other players all won the Sun Belt Conference last year as a part of the Marshall Thundering Herd. Coming together in Southern Mississippi made things an easy transition, and they haven’t needed a ramp-up period.
Southern Miss is simply underrated and being judged by their 1-11 record last season. This is a completely new team, and as mentioned before, they’ve looked the part. Appalachian State struggled to get by Lindenwood last week, a team that just gained Division I status this season. They looked sloppy and unprepared with four turnovers and nine penalties. They only held the ball for 24:52, and Lindenwood killed them in time of possession. I’m all in on the Golden Eagles this year, and this week is a strong middle leg to prop up this parlay.
Purdue Boilermakers Moneyline (+1000)
Look, if you want to parlay just the first two for +631, which I’ll do myself, it’s a great idea. Small dogs for a little cash is always fun. But now it’s time to get serious and call for this week’s big upset. Purdue +21.5 is one of my favorite bets this week. However, I think they’ll do more than just cover. The Boilermakers have looked strong through their first two games, picking up convincing wins. Barry Odom has this team in tip-top shape in his first season in West Lafayette. Quarterback Ryan Browne is only the second Boilermaker to average at least 15.0 yards per completion through the first two games of the season since 1995, joining Kyle Orton.
This is another squad that’s done a 180-degree turn since their 1-11 season last year. The Boilermakers get to host this Big Ten game, and travel has been a problem for USC. They were just 1-4 on the road last year in conference play, their only win coming against UCLA. Does that even count as a road win? They lost to Michigan on the road as well as their road trips to both Minnesota and Maryland. They also have insider info: Trojan quarterback Jayden Maiava played for Barry Odom and practiced against defensive coordinator Mike Scherer at UNLV. Purdue’s offensive coordinator, Josh Henson, also coached at USC for the last three seasons and has familiarity with the Trojan team and Maiava. Put it all in a big bowl and mix it together; it’s the perfect recipe for Week 3’s big upset. Get behind the train and go, Boilermakers.
Parlay West Virginia + Southern Miss + Purdue (+7944)
Toss all three in together, and it brings our parlay up to +7944. A crisp 20-dollar bill will pay out a cool $1,608.75. It’s not a billion-dollar jackpot, but for a Saturday of watching College Football upsets. It’s a lot of fun!
