NCAA Week 3 Early Games

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4:00 pm East Carolina at South Carolina (-3, 50) - Just one for the record, as the American Athletic tries to get one over on the SEC. The Pirates are as good a prospect as any, after taking down an ACC foe last week, beating NC State, 33-30.

The Gamecocks are rebuilding, which likely means just three or four wins at most this year. They just got past Vanderbilt, 13-10, in their opener, and lost at Mississippi State last week, 27-14. They are one of the weakest favorites of the week.

Coin Flip: East Carolina

Prediction: Pirates 25 Gamecocks 20

7:00 pm Mississippi State at LSU (-14, 45) - As strange as it may seem, both of these SEC powerhouses are 1-1, though LSU's loss was to Wisconsin, at Lambeau Field, on opening weekend.

The Bulldogs evened their record with a win over South Carolina last week after losing their opener to South Alabama, 21-20. LSU should manage the win, but they're ranked just #20 at this juncture and do not appear to be a national-caliber threat.

Coin Flip: Mississippi State

Prediction: Tigers 30 Bulldogs 18

7:00 pm Texas A&M at Auburn (-3 1/2, 52 1/2) - After losing to Clemson, 19-13 on September 3, the Tigers took out their frustrations on Arkansas State, with a dominating, 51-14 slaughter. A&M is 2-0 after winning in OT over UCLA to open their campaign and likewise slugged an undersized opponent, Prairie View, 67-0, last week. It's unlikely that Auburn will be 1-2 after the final gun here. They have too much talent and plenty of defense for the Aggies.

Coin Flip: Texas A&M

Prediction: Tigers 26 Aggies 18

7:30 pm Michigan State at Notre Dame (-7 1/2, 52) - Allaying the fears of many fans, the Irish went out and dished out some hurt on Nevada, winning, 39-10, after losing to Texas, 50-47, in double OT in their opener, so now the Irish are 1-1 and still alive for a major bowl game, looking far, far ahead.

In the meantime, their longstanding opposite from Michigan State stands ready, having taken last week off after dropping a 28-13 win on Furman on September the 2nd. These two haven't met since 2013, when the Irish spoiled a perfect season by the Spartans with a 17-13 win. Some memories are long, and the Michigan State faithful have awaited this opportunity. Should be an exciting, close contest.

Coin Flip: Notre Dame

Prediction: Fighting Irish 26 Spartans 24

7:30 pm Ohio State (-1 1/2, 63) at Oklahoma - As usual, the Sooners are overrated, having already lost to Houston in their opener and now get the chance to look dismal against one of the top two or three teams in the country.

#3 Ohio State should roll though Sooner country en route to a shot at the national championship. They're that good.

Coin Flip: Ohio State

Prediction: Buckeyes 42 Sooners 24

8:00 pm USC at Stanford (-9, 53) - After getting bombed by Alabama in their opener, can the Trojans really hope to compete at Stanford. This is looking more and more like a solid week for chalk players and Stanford's offense matches up well against USC's under-performing defense.

Coin Flip: USC

Prediction: Cardinal 35 Trojans 20

10:15 pm UCLA (-3, 49) at BYU - The Bruins lost a tough opener to Texas A&M, 31-24, in OT, but bounced back for a win over UNLV last week, 42-21.

Independent BYU won their opener against Arizona, 18-16, but lost at Utah last week, 20-19. They obviously will keep this one close and possibly have enough defense to keep the Bruins out of the end zone consistently. The chance for an upset, given that the Cougars are at home, are high.

Coin Flip: UCLA

Prediction: Cougars 26 Bruins 24