Big Ten College Football Odds: Week 3 Game Notes & Betting Guide

The last week of widespread non-conference scheduling plays out Saturday. Soon, Big Ten futures will sort themselves out with the start of league play. A lighter slate in Week 3 offers lots of opportunity for situational bettors. Read on for Big Ten football odds, betting notes, injuries, line movement, weather, and much more.

Bookmark this primer when handicapping Big Ten football odds this weekend!

Big Ten Football Odds: Week 3

Browse the best Week 3 Big Ten football odds for FBS vs. FBS matchups below. Prairie View A&M at Michigan State, Northern Iowa at Nebraska, and Eastern Illinois at Northwestern were omitted. Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers, and USC are on bye this week.

Click inside the odds tables to bet now. Best of luck betting Big Ten football odds this week!

No. 4 Alabama at Wisconsin, Saturday (12:00 p.m., FOX)

• Opening odds: WIS +8.5, O/U 55.5
• Teams have only met twice and split those meetings (Alabama won in 2015, Wisconsin won in 1928)
• Thanks to a 28-point 4th quarter, Alabama swept a struggle against USF under the rug. The Tide only led 14-13 heading in
• 82% of Alabama’s offensive production last week came after replacing its starting RT (moved to Elijah Pritchett)
• Alabama tackle Kadyn Proctor missed last week with a shoulder injury
• Luke Fickell is 4-1 ATS as a home underdog at Cincinnati and Wisconsin
• Kalen DeBoer is 12-2-1 ATS against non-conference opponents (only ATS losses: 2024 National Championship, last week)

Notable injuries: OT Kadyn Proctor (BAMA), RB Tawee Walker (WIS), DT James Thompson (WIS), WR Quincy Burroughs (WIS)

Central Michigan at Illinois, Saturday (12:00 p.m., Peacock)

• Opening odds: ILL -18.5, O/U 53.5
• Watch for the weather here! Remnants of Hurricane Francine are expected to linger over central Illinois Saturday, resulting in rain during this game. Check back Thursday for the full rundown of impacts from this system and updated weather forecasts
• First-ever meeting between these teams
• CMU ranks 112th in net EPA on the season (114th in pass, 107th in total defensive EPA)
• QB Bert Emanuel Jr. did not play in Week 2 and is questionable to play in Week 3
• Illinois comes off a 23-17 upset win over No. 19 Kansas at home (+5.5), plays at Nebraska next week
• Last week's total between Illinois and Kansas (55.5) went under. The Illini are 107th in rush EPA allowed, but 23rd against the pass

Notable injuries: QB Bert Emanuel Jr. (CMU), TE Cole Rusk (Illinois)

Arkansas State at No. 17 Michigan, Saturday (12:00 p.m., Big Ten Network)

• Opening odds: MICH -18.5, O/U 48.5
• First-ever meeting between these teams, first Sun Belt opponent for Michigan since 2014
• QB Jack Tuttle could be available for the first time this year – a relief to the Wolverines, who have not yet seen adequate QB play
• Michigan rushed for just 80 yards in Week 2 against Texas, its second-worst rushing output since the start of the 2022 season
• Arkansas State is 0-2 ATS this year, last week's total against Tulsa went well under (66.5)
• Michigan runs one of the slowest paces in the country (1.85 plays/minute, 128th)
• Wolverines are 94th in rushing EPA and 71st in net EPA on the season

Notable injuries: C Jacob Bayer (ARST), SAF Rod Moore (MICH)

No. 18 Notre Dame at Purdue, Saturday (3:30 p.m., CBS)

• Opening odds: PUR +11, O/U 44.5
• Watch for the weather here! Remnants of Hurricane Francine are expected to linger over central Indiana Saturday, resulting in rain during this game. Check back Thursday for the full rundown of impacts from this system and updated weather forecasts
• Notre Dame leads the all-time series, 57-26-2 (teams play for the Shillelagh Trophy)
• Purdue has only played one game so far, a 49-0 win over Indiana State (off last week)
• ND's defensive front allowed 3.1 line yards per rush in its loss to NIU last week (ND managed 2.9 on offense)
• That unit also managed just a 6.3% havoc rate (NIU: 8.2% in the front seven)

Notable injuries: OT Charles Jagusah (ND), WR C.J. Smith (PUR)

Odds to make the College Football Playoff

Nevada at Minnesota, Saturday (3:30 p.m., Big Ten Network)

• Opening odds: MIN -14.5, O/U 43.5
• Nevada QB Chubba Purdy is expected to return this week after missing the first two games
• Minnesota rebounded from a Week 1 loss to UNC with a 48-0 win over FCS Rhode Island
• RB Darius Taylor played 36 snaps in his first action of the season (missed Week 1)
• Nevada lost to Georgia Southern last week, 20-17, but GASO finished with just a 8.7% postgame win expectancy, per SP+

Washington State vs. Washington, Saturday (3:30 p.m., Peacock)

• Opening odds: WAS -8.5, O/U 54.5
• This game is played at Lumen Field in Seattle
• Washington leads the all-time series, 76-33-6, including 12 of the last 14 (10-4 ATS)
• Game played at Lumen Field in Seattle, technically a “neutral site” matchup
• Washington State is 2-0 ATS this year with a 70-30 win over Portland State (-25.5) and 37-16 win over Texas Tech (-1.5)
• Washington posted the seventh-largest net EPA margin against Eastern Michigan last week (won, 30-9)
• Wazzu returns intended starting tackle Fa’lili Fa’amoe this week after he tore his ACL last season

Notable injuries: CB Jamorri Colson (WST)

No. 9 Oregon at Oregon State, Saturday (3:30 p.m., FOX)

• Opening odds: ORE -20.5, O/U 53.5
• Oregon leads the all-time series, 68-49-10 (13-3 last 16 matchups), but lost three of last four in Corvallis
• Oregon is 0-2 ATS this year, failing to cover against Idaho (-49.5, won 24-14) and Boise State (-18.5, won 37-34)
• Dan Lanning is 7-2 ATS as a road favorite
• Oregon State held San Diego State to 179 total yards last week in a 21-0 road shutout win (closed -6)
• Beavers QB Gervani McCoy is completing 76.5% of his passes, adjusted for drops, with three Big Time Throws and no turnovers, per PFF

College Football National Title odds

Troy at Iowa, Saturday (4:00 p.m., FS1)

• Opening odds: IOWA -14.5, O/U 41.5
• Iowa is the biggest mover on the week, being bet up eight points by Tuesday morning
• Iowa fell to rival Iowa State and passed for just 99 yards
• RB Kaleb Johnson rushed for 187 yards and two scores (40 snaps, 25 carries)
• Troy QB Goose Crowder is questionable to play after exiting Week 2 with a shoulder injury
• The Trojans defense ranks 115th in rush EPA allowed and 117th in dropback EPA allowed through two games (vs. Nevada, Memphis)
• Troy is 0-2 ATS, losing outright as -7.5 favorite against Nevada (opened -15.5) and failing to cover as +19 underdog to Memphis

Notable injuries: QB Goose Crowder (TROY), WR Chris Lewis (TROY), LB Caleb Bacon (IOWA), WR Seth Anderson (IOWA)

Indiana at UCLA, Saturday (7:30 p.m., NBC)

• Opening odds: IND -3, O/U 52.5
• Hoosiers travel backward three time zones and over 2,000 miles to play the Big Ten’s first cross-national conference matchup
• UCLA comes in with a rest advantage. It had a bye last week after playing at Hawaii in Week 1
• Indiana put up 703 yards of offense and scored a program-record 77 points over Western Illinois last week. Hoosiers allowed 12 total rushing yards
• W. Illinois hasn't won more than two games since 2018 and went 0-11 last year
• UCLA rushed for just 71 yards on Hawaii in Week 1, less than what FCS Delaware State managed (104)

Notable injuries: G Nick Kidwell (IND), WR Donaven McCulley (IND)

Maryland at Virginia, Saturday (8:00 p.m., ACC Network)

• Opening odds: UMD -1.5, O/U 50.5
• Watch for weather here! Early forecasts call for rain Saturday
• Maryland fell to Michigan State as -8.5 home favorites
• Terps rushed for just 86 yards against Michigan State after rushing for 278 yards the week before vs. UConn
• Virginia is 2-0 ATS this year, covering a 19.5-point spread vs. FCS Richmond in Week 1 and beating Wake Forest as a +1 underdog
• Anthony Colandrea has thrown for 653 yards in two games, the ninth-most in the FBS (among QBs with two played games). He is also seventh in completion rate (75.6%)

Notable injuries: QB M.J. Morris (UMD)

We are covering much more than Big Ten football odds this week in college football. Browse some more of our betting coverage below.