With Week 3 of the 2025 college football season, it is time for many teams to start facing conference rivals this week, including a big SEC showdown between No. 6 Georgia and No. 15 Tennessee in what could be Saturday’s best game.
While some top championship contenders are still huge favorites against non-FBS schools, we’re going to focus on the conference games that should be more competitive in the ACC and SEC this weekend.
Here are 3 of our top college football picks for Week 3.
Clemson Tigers vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (+3)
Saturday, September 13, 2025 – 12:00 PM EDT
It’s a big one to kick off ACC play. No. 12 Clemson has dominated Georgia Tech in recent years under coach Dabo Swinney, but the spread is getting tighter as we approach kickoff in this one.
The Yellow Jackets are 2-0 and playing solid football while the Tigers have already lost at home to LSU in Week 1, then they fell behind 16-0 against Troy before scoring the game’s final 27 points.
Quarterback Cade Klubnik threw a pick-6 in that game, as the Heisman and NFL draft hopeful has not lived up to expectations through these first 2 games of 2025. But the last time he faced the Yellow Jackets, he threw 4 touchdowns in a 42-21 rout in 2023.
That’s often how these matchups have gone, as Clemson won 41-10 in 2022 in its last trip to Georgia Tech.
You like to lean towards Clemson covering, but we’re going to target the under 53.5 points instead. Between Georgia Tech’s run-heavy offense shortening the game and Clemson’s offensive struggles with Klubnik, that feels like the right move for this one.
Expert Pick: Clemson/Georgia Tech Under 53.5 Points (-110) at Bovada
Georgia Bulldogs vs. Tennessee Volunteers (+3.5)
Saturday, September 13, 2025 – 03:30 PM EDT
You get a top SEC showdown this week with Kirby Smart’s No. 6 Georgia Bulldogs taking on the No. 15 Tennessee Volunteers.
Georgia’s offense has been good enough with new starter Gunner Stockton. However, he’ll probably need to play his best game this week against a high-scoring Tennessee team that’s averaging 58.5 points so far.
We did see the Vols allow 26 points to Syracuse in Week 1, so the defense can be vulnerable to Georgia’s balanced attack on the ground. But the matchup of the game is that Tennessee offense against a stingy Georgia defense that has rebuilt itself in the hopes of a 3rd championship this decade.
It’ll be a tough road atmosphere for the Bulldogs, but we’re going to trust their pro-style defense to limit that gimmicky offense, just as it did last year in a 31-17 win. Two years ago, the Vols lost 38-10 to the Bulldogs, so Smart has had Josh Heupel’s number.
We’ll bank on that to continue in what should be a fun game to watch with a clash of styles.
Expert Pick: Georgia -3.5 (-105) at Bovada
Florida vs. LSU (-9.5)
Saturday, September 13, 2025 – 07:30 PM EDT
The No. 3 LSU Tigers come into this game as a 9.5-point home favorite, but Brian Kelly’s team has only scored 40 total points in wins over Clemson and Louisiana Tech.
In fact, neither game’s total had more than 30 points scored, as his defense is doing its job. Meanwhile, the offense has seen quarterback Garrett Nussmeier throw a lot of short passes to only average 5.9 yards per attempt.
LSU faces a Florida defense that has only allowed 18 points in 2 games this year.
When these teams met last November, LSU won 27-16 in a game with the same projected quarterbacks (Nussmeier and DJ Lagway). With both defenses doing well again, we’ll trust this one to finish under 49 points as well.
Expert Pick: Florida/LSU Under 49 Points (-110) at Bovada
Bet on College Football Odds in Week 3
With conference play starting in Week 3, you get rivalries with rich histories, meaning more recent matchup data to go on to inform your bets. You could also see more upsets thanks to those teams being more familiar with one another.
It’s a good time to start making the most of sign-up offers at sportsbooks and getting those bonus bets to use on our college football pick for Week 3.
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
