What to watch: Week 3 college football viewing guide

Be prepared for an unexpected upset.

Week 3 doesn’t look very appetizing on the surface. There are just two matchups between ranked teams all weekend and neither of them are in prime time on Saturday night. It’s a great weekend to channel surf.

It’s also possibly a great weekend for an upset no one sees coming. There’s always a week or two every year without a lot of standout games. And more often than not, a week that we all think will be straightforward turns out to produce a shocking result. Will that happen this weekend? We’re about to find out.

Here are the five biggest games of the weekend.

(All times are Eastern and all odds are from BetMGM.)

Time: 8 p.m. Friday | TV: Fox | Line: Kansas State -7.5 | Total: 58.5

The game of the week is on Friday. And it’s a non-conference game between two Big 12 teams. Seriously.

Arizona and Kansas State scheduled a home-and-home series for the 2024 and 2025 seasons before the Wildcats from Tucson joined the Big 12 along with three other Pac-12 schools. Thanks to the quick conference expansion turnaround, they kept this game on the books and each team officially begins its nine-game conference schedule after this one.

Both teams have hopes of making the Big 12 title game and have things to work on from their Week 2 wins. Kansas State escaped at Tulane after a controversial pass interference penalty late in the game. The Wildcats from Manhattan allowed nearly 12 yards per pass to the Green Wave and converted just two third downs.

Arizona trailed at halftime to FCS opponent Northern Arizona before scoring 16 in the second half for a 22-10 win. The Wildcats were flagged 10 times and were even worse than K-State on third down. Arizona went 0-for-10.

K-State’s ability to corral wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan will be key in this one. He had just two catches for 11 yards against NAU after exploding for 10 catches for 304 yards and four touchdowns against New Mexico.

Time: Noon | TV: ABC | Line: LSU -7 | Total: 50.5

This game was chosen for ESPN’s “College GameDay” after the Gamecocks embarrassed Kentucky in Week 2. Former Georgia QB Brock Vandagriff was making his first SEC start for the Wildcats and was in a blender. He was 3-of-10 passing for 30 yards and an interception before he was replaced by Gavin Wimsatt. He wasn’t any better. Wimsatt was 3-of-7 for 14 yards and also threw a pick.

South Carolina allowed just 183 total yards to Kentucky and is giving up just 3.6 yards per play for the season. However, the offense hasn’t been much better. The Gamecocks are having trouble moving the ball themselves. QB LaNorris Sellers has completed 54% of his passes for 280 yards and former Arkansas RB Raheim Sanders is averaging less than four yards a carry.

Can it get going against an LSU defense that still has things to work on? After getting picked apart by USC in Week 1, LSU struggled early in Week 2 against Nicholls before pitching a shutout over most of the second half.

The LSU offense is still really, really good. Garrett Nussmeier leads the country with eight TD passes after tossing six against Nicholls and WR Kyren Lacy has four TDs. If LSU can’t get the win in Columbia, it could be a long season in Baton Rouge.

Time: Noon | TV: Fox | Line: Alabama -16.5 | Total: 50.5

What do the Badgers have for the Crimson Tide? Wisconsin is undefeated but has been far from impressive so far this season. The Badgers beat Western Michigan 28-14 in Week 1 — Ohio State shut out the Broncos 56-0 in Week 2 — and then was in a slog with FCS opponent South Dakota for much of the game before a fourth-quarter TD run by Chez Mellusi gave Wisconsin a 27-13 win.

This still seems to be a team searching for an offensive identity under Luke Fickell and offensive coordinator Phil Longo. After a 50/50 run-pass split a season ago, Wisconsin has run the ball more than it’s thrown it through two games this season. Former Miami QB Tyler Van Dyke is completing 60% of his passes but is averaging less than seven yards a throw.

Alabama’s Week 2 win was much uglier than the final score would indicate. The Crimson Tide made repeated mistakes and led just 14-13 early in the fourth quarter before scoring 28 points over the final 11 minutes to break the game open. Alabama had 13 penalties against the Bulls and fumbled the ball three times. When it’s not turning the ball over, the Alabama offense looks very good so far in Kalen DeBoer’s tenure. The Wisconsin defense is its stiffest test yet.

Time: 12:45 p.m. | TV: SEC Network | Line: Missouri -17 | Total: 54

The only other game of the weekend between ranked opponents is an unexpected one. We all figured Missouri would be a contender for the College Football Playoff in 2024. But Boston College is riding high very early in the Bill O’Brien era.

The Eagles ran over, around and through Florida State in a 28-13 win in Week 1 and continued to keep the ball on the ground in an easy win over Duquesne in Week 2. Thomas Castellanos has thrown just 26 passes through two games while the Eagles have nearly 100 rushing attempts as a team. The team’s leading rusher is former Florida State and Kansas State RB Treshaun Ward. He has 20 carries for 132 yards.

Missouri’s defense has faced Murray State and Buffalo so far this season but is still only allowing 127 yards per game. Opposing offenses are averaging just 2.6 yards a rush and the Tigers have given up just 82 yards passing all season.

Offensively, the Tigers are averaging over six yards a play and have been very efficient. Star WR Luther Burden left the Buffalo game at halftime with an illness and should be ready to play in Week 3. With Burden out, Theo Wease had 13 catches for 149 yards.

Time: 3:30 p.m. | TV: Fox | Line: 16.5 | Total: 50.5

This rivalry continues even though Oregon is now a member of the Big Ten and Oregon State and Washington State are in the Pac-2 wilderness. While the Ducks meet the Beavers, Wazzu will be visiting Washington as the annual Apple Cup rivalry continues.

Oregon has dropped from No. 3 at the start of the season to No. 9 thanks to two close wins. The Ducks couldn’t put Idaho away in Week 1 and needed a late field goal in Week 2 to sneak past Boise State. Broncos RB Ashton Jeanty ran all over Oregon late Saturday night and the offensive line has shown some serious growing pains after losing two starters.

Oregon State will be looking to replicate what Jeanty did. The Beavers have run the ball on over 70% of offensive plays so far this season, and both Jam Griffin and Anthony Hankerson have rushed for over 200 yards and three TDs. The crowd in Corvallis will assuredly be salty about the realignment developments of the past 18 months and that could give the Beavers a boost.

Other games to watch

Arizona State at Texas State (7:30 p.m. Thursday, ESPN): Arizona State took down Mississippi State at home in Week 2 to move to 2-0, while the Bobcats made a statement. Texas State beat UTSA 49-10 in a game to establish Group of Five supremacy in the state of Texas. Arizona State is much improved from 2023, but don’t be surprised if Texas State gets the win.

Memphis at Florida State (Noon, ESPN): Mike Norvell’s Seminoles are 0-2 and desperately need a win. It won’t be easy against his old school. The Tigers are one of the best non-power conference teams in the country and easily beat Troy in Week 2. A Memphis win could send Florida State spiraling and go a long way to helping the Tigers’ chances of making the College Football Playoff.

Tulane at No. 15 Oklahoma (3:30 p.m., ESPN): The Sooners’ win over Houston in Week 2 was painful. OU won 16-12 and, well, OU fans are happy to move on with a 2-0 team. Tulane hung with Kansas State and had multiple chances to win. If Oklahoma is sluggish again in Week 3, Tulane is good enough to take advantage.

Texas A&M at Florida (3:30 p.m., ABC): Both of these teams desperately need to open conference play with a win. The Gators are set to play both Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway at QB after Mertz missed Week 2 with a concussion. A&M’s Week 1 loss to Notre Dame looks a lot worse after the Irish’s defeat to Northern Illinois in Week 2.

West Virginia at Pitt (3:30 p.m., ESPN2): This longtime rivalry is renewed as the Panthers are aiming to start 3-0. Pitt came back from a 27-6 third-quarter deficit to knock off Cincinnati 28-27 with a field goal in the waning seconds.

Colorado at Colorado State (7:30 p.m., CBS): Colorado State will be very ready for the Buffaloes after last year’s game in Boulder. The Rams have a chip on their shoulder given the attention that Deion Sanders’ program has received for going 5-9 since the start of the 2023 season. A Colorado State win would intensify the rivalry and raise even more questions about the Buffaloes.