College Football Betting: Three Things To Know Heading Into Week 3 of the 2022 Season

Now that's more like it. Week 1 provided very little in the way of massive curveballs and shocking upsets, so Week 2 went scorched earth and turned the college football slate into a game of minesweeper where half the damn board was liable to blow up in your face. It was pure, unadulterated chaos and a hell of a way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

As far as college football goes, there are few things more enjoyable for the average fan than watching the blue bloods sweat it out or even crumble under pressure. It can happen, but we grow so accustomed to seeing a team like Alabama cake walk through most of the year that even a close game is shocking for us and enough to cause their predominantly diabetic fanbase to keep one hand on the first aid kit. But, while the Tide managed to survive a barnburner against a lame second-string QB, some other big names weren’t so lucky…

Rather than spoil the punchline, let’s jump into our “3 Things to Know” for Week 3!

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1. Nobody is safe

If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound? And if a big program loses to a school nobody has heard of, does it crush a season? Important questions to consider…

While Alabama survived the Texas by the skin of their teeth (FYI, teeth don’t have skin, whoever made that phase up is a dummy), #6 Texas A&M lost to Appalachian State and #8 Notre Dame lost to Marshall in their own stadiums. And that’s only the cream on top. Wisconsin lost to Washington State, Florida lost after jumping up to #12 in the country, and Nebraska, once a bastion of college football success, lost to f***ing Georgia Southern.

The takeaway here, of course, is that you can never get comfortable in college football. The board was littered with games that seemed pretty straightforward, but once that ball got in the air, it all went mad. Even the best laid plans, so they say…

MORE: College Football Week 3 Predictions

2. Embrace the inconsistency and use it to your advantage 

In line with point No. 1, inconsistency is your friend as a gambler if you know how to make the most of it. We saw teams cover spreads by double digits on a consistent basis Saturday, and you’ll find that, if you pick your spots right, you’ll be sitting poolside with a beer in your hand by the third quarter with bets already set to cash.

Is it that easy? Of course not. Take it from someone who did not have a particularly good week, gambling is a constant struggle and it will gut you like a pig as soon as you get complacent. But there are spots where a well-trained eye can pick out value and take that advantage to the bank. It might mean betting fewer games with a larger stake, but right now is the time to be picking out those options rather than scraping for a small edge on 25 lines.

MORE: Best Bets to win the 2022-23 National Championship

3. Don't trust the media

No, this is not a political comment, but sometimes you have to grab inspiration from unusual sources. One of the most obvious biases in college football is from the media and writers, who consistently skew towards programs they know and trust. Notre Dame is the poster child for that concept, but it happens all over the board as polls and predictions back teams based on history and not current form.

My advice? Take it all with a hefty dose of skepticism. The average fan and gambler is very informed about football, and the ranking number in front of a team’s name doesn't necessarily reflect just how good that team actually is. Especially early in the season, so much of the polls are pure speculation and you don’t need to trust what ESPN or other big networks tell you. Get that tin foil hat on, and become a devotee of the new gambling media and yours truly so we can eventually take over the world and become bloated and lazy like they are.