Welcome back to the Funvee Tailgate BLOG, The THUNDERBLOG’s Weekly College Football Series. If you noticed the emphasis on BLOG, that is because this season we have the podcast tying in as well! If you haven’t checked out this week’s episode, I’ll include the Soundcloud links below. Here’s the iTunes link to go subscribe. This week’s episode was the first in the format Matty D and I are going to be using: first half College Football, second half NFL (starts around the 33-minute mark). We reference it in the podcast but be sure to follow our social media accounts this weekend as we’re hosting the first ever THUNDER CUP–a Ryder Cup-like event between teams captained by Matty D and me. We should be wrapping up play in time for tomorrow night’s big games. LET’S FIRE IT UP!

Last Week’s Record:

3-4 ATS, 8-8 in 2017. A rough weekend for me but chaos did ensue. Can’t be too upset about chaos in College Football. I was desperate for a win though:

Week 3 Slate:

Don’t let the marquee matchups of Weeks 1 & 2 fool you, Week 3 should be just as exciting. A lot of rebound games for some of last week’s losers and a lot of the Week 2 winners should be on “Trap Game Watch.” What’s even better is that it’s a GREAT weekend for wonky lines! #1 Alabama, #2 Oklahoma, #5 Penn State, #6 Washington, #7 Michigan, #8 Oklahoma, #13 Georgia, #15 Auburn, and #16 Virginia Tech are all MASSIVE favorites and should win. Let’s great right to the rest of the slate…

Friday Night:

Illinois (+17.5) at #22 South Florida at 7:00 on ESPN–Talked about this one last night. An interesting coaching matchup but the line for this game is NUTS. We both think South Florida could be a potential New Years Six crasher but I’m not too sure about the line. South Florida wins but doesn’t cover.

Saturday Action:

• #9 Oklahoma State (-12.5) at Pitt at noon on ESPN–Hugh respect line for Pitt getting only 12.5 at home. OK State comes in with their high-flying rootin’ tootin’ offense but it’ll be interesting to see how their fair against the run game of Pitt. Don’t get me wrong, the Cowboys win but the line will be close. OK State wins and (barely) covers.
• #25 UCLA (-3) at Memphis at noon on ABC–One of the wonkiest lines I’ve seen in a while. UCLA making the trip to the Central Time Zone with an over/under at 73. Memphis is ridiculously good in non-conference play but UCLA is playing at a higher level. Bruins win and cover.
• #10 Wisconsin (-16.5) at BYU at 3:30 on ABC–Vegas is begging you to take BYU. BEGGING! Wisconsin is very similar to an LSU squad that thumped BYU in Week 1 27-0 except Wisconsin is better. Better run game, better defense, better win. Badgers win and cover.
• SMU (+18.5) at #20 TCU at 3:30 on ESPNU–Surprisingly, this one’s over/under isn’t higher than UCLA/Memphis. It should be. The Stangs don’t have the stuff to upset TCU at home–flip the sights and I could potentially see it. TCU wins but doesn’t cover.
• #23 Tennessee (+4.5) at #24 Florida at 3:30 on CBS–I referenced on the pod that this could be a game between ranked opponents that is absolutely meaningless by season’s end. That said, Florida was AWFUL in their opener and while they’ve had an extra week to prepare, I don’t see them as better than the Vols. Tennessee wins.
• Oregon State (+21) at #21 Washington State at 5:30 on Pac-12 Network–Just on the cusp of being a “MASSIVE favorite” game, OSU’s offense has looked sharp and can make this one an absolute track meet. Wash St wins but doesn’t cover.
• #12 LSU (+8.5) at Mississippi State at 7:00 on ESPN–This is what we call some good ‘ole fashioned SEC football right here. I really like what Darrius Guice has been doing for the Tigers but it will be interesting to see how it goes against this Bulldog defense. LSU wins but doesn’t cover.
• #18 Kansas State (-4) at Vanderbilt at 7:30 on ESPNU–Bad line. Really bad line. It’s trying to convince you that Vandy’s 2-0 start is for real. Kansas State wins and covers.
• #3 Clemson (-3) at #14 Louisville at 8:00 on ABC–We talked about this one in-depth on the pod so I’ll keep it short. Clemson’s defense does enough to overwhelm and collapse the pocket on Lamar Jackson. Clemson wins and covers.
• Texas (+15.5) at #4 USC at 8:30 on FOX–Interesting line because we’ve seen two different USCs so far: the stumbling Week 1 squad that turned it up late on Western Michigan and the confident squad that trashed Stanford last week. Week 2 USC rolls right into Week 3: USC wins and covers.
• #19 Stanford (-9) at San Diego State at 10:30 on CBSSN–Another game BEGGING you to take the home dog. Stanford rebounds well against a dynamic SDSU: Cardinal wins and cover.

Lehigh (0-2) looks to finally win their first game of the season at home against Yale. The Bulldogs are making their season debut as most Ivy League teams wait until Week 3 to play. Last week, we saw the Mountain Hawks show the ability to move the ball (!!) but they were overwhelmed by the middle of the second half and Fordham flew by.

BONUS COVERAGE! NFL WEEK TWO COLD HARD LOCKS!

Matty D was too lazy to write the Locks so he asked me to include them at the end of here. We go into depth for each pick so listen in around the 57-minute mark for the analysis and here are the picks. We picked the same unless otherwise noted:

• Texans (+5.5) over Bengals (MPD took Cincy, quick 1up for me)
• Eagles (+5.5) at Chiefs–Both agree that KC wins but doesn’t cover
• Ravens (-8) over Browns
• Panthers (-7.5) over Bills
• Cardinals (-7) over Colts
• Jags (+1.5) over Titans (MPD took Titans outright)
• Pats (-6.5) over Saints
• Steelers (-6.5) over Vikings
• Bucs (-7) over Bears
• LA Chargers (-4) over Dolphins
• Raiders (-13.5) over Jets (Both our MORTAL LOCKS of the week)
• Broncos (+2.5) over Cowboys outright
• Rams (-2.5) over Redskins
• Seahawks (-14) over 49ers (MPD took SEA to win but not cover)
• Packers (+3) over Falcons outright
• Giants (-3) over Lions (MPD took Detroit outright)

Disagree with our picks? Anyone we missed? Let us know in the comments!

(cover photo via)