Week 3 features yet another chapter in the Lane Kiffin saga, as LSU’s new head coach returns to the field he left behind at Ole Miss. Florida State is in a panic, and right as Alabama plays host. The underrated Mississippi State takes on South Carolina in a potential shootout.
The 2026 college football season rolls on with these big matchups and more, and Joel Klatt picked winners on the Thursday edition of “The Joel Klatt Show”.
Here are all of Klatt’s picks for these key Week 3 games.
LSU 28, Ole Miss 20
Klatt’s thoughts: “Kiffin is going back, and this is going to be bonkers and wild, the atmosphere is going to be crazy. Here’s the thing: nobody knows Ole Miss better than Lane Kiffin. I actually believe in my heart of hearts right now that LSU has a massive advantage in this. He knows Pete Golding. He knows the structures that Pete’s going to struggle with on the defensive side. He knows Chambliss better than the Ole Miss coaching staff knows Chambliss. He knows where all the skeletons are buried in the game plans. And when he has that, nobody builds better game plans to take advantage of those types of scenarios. No one does it better than Lane Kiffin.
“I think that they (LSU) can (win). Schematically, on the field (and) game plan wise, LSU has a giant advantage in this game, and no one is going to talk about it that way… You don’t think that he’s going to have something that is specifically designed for a Pete Golding defense in the first five plays?… I think the defense is exceptional for LSU.”
Klatt’s pick: “I got 28-20, Lane goes back to Ole Miss and gets a win with LSU.”
SMU 31, Louisville 27
Klatt’s thoughts: “Jeff Brohm is outstanding at home in big games. We’ve seen [Louisville] knock off big opponents. He’s even done it against big opponents… this is a monster, monster game. I think the winner of this game ultimately plays Miami for the ACC championship. Two great quarterbacks… these two guys are one and two in the country right now in total offense per game… I love this one.
“I think Louisville learned a lot about themselves in that Ole Miss game… I also think SMU is incredibly talented. The game against Florida State was way closer than it should have been. It was all turnovers. That’s the only thing that scares me about SMU… I think they’re better and more talented than Louisville… If [QB Kevin] Jennings stays clean, SMU wins the game outright.”
Klatt’s pick: “I think SMU wins the game outright, 31-27.”
Texas Tech 34, Houston 23
Klatt’s thoughts: “Ranked matchup in the Big 12, Houston goes to Texas Tech. Houston is No. 22 in the country, Texas Tech is No. 13 in the country… Joey McGuire is an excellent coach. One thing I know about Joey McGuire is he’s going to look at the first two games with this Tech team and realize they were unconvincing and they can coach them hard this week.
Joey McGuire and Texas Tech are going to have to be more convincing this week against Louisville. (Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images)
“Meanwhile, for Houston, Willie Fritz has done an excellent job. I like their quarterback, Conner Weigman. Makhi Hughes is a huge add to their run game… Amare Thomas is one of the best receivers in the Big 12. Texas Tech is a team that, on paper, is one of the most talented teams in the country.”
Klatt’s pick: “I like Tech to cover… I think they win it, 34-23.”
Alabama 38, Florida State 10
Klatt’s thoughts: “Florida State is in a panic right now. Does not look good… Their athletic department is massively in debt, they just fired their athletic director… you look at the rest of their schedule… and it’s like, I don’t see how Mike Norvell gets past the Miami game. I really don’t.
“Meanwhile, for Alabama, I feel like something clicked for Alabama last weekend against Kentucky… if you step back and actually look back at the game, what did you notice about this Bama team? Their defense is dominant, and then something else happened in that second half: Ryan Grubb stuck to the run game. Kalen DeBoer ran the football. They buried Kentucky in the second half.
“FSU struggles to throw it. They’re not going to be able to run the football against that defense.”
Klatt’s pick: “Bama wins this one 38-10, I think that one’s an easy one for me.”
Florida 20, Auburn 17
Will Auburn’s offensive line be able to stop Florida’s charge? (Photo by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Klatt’s thoughts: “Couple of new coaches. Guys who are trying to rebuild their programs… Jon Sumrall did a really nice job of keeping and retaining some of the talent that Florida had, namely running back Jadan Baugh, so clearly they’ve got some buy-in there… Meanwhile Alex Golesh on the other side is trying to have a similar rebuild with Auburn. He brought in his quarterback, Byron Brown, from South Florida. Auburn played Baylor in Week 1, that was a really good game.
“But here’s what scares me about Auburn: their offensive line in that game against Baylor did not protect very well, and Brown was sacked five times. So do we think that Florida is going to have a better front seven than Baylor? And my answer would be yes.”
Klatt’s pick: Florida wins this one 20-17, I’m going to go with Jon Sumrall and Florida.
Mississippi State 34, South Carolina 30
Klatt’s thoughts: “This is a great quarterback matchup, first of all. You’ve got LaNorris Sellers for South Carolina – he could be a star, I think, he’s got that talent. But then you’ve got the real breakout star, he’s a guy I’m so excited about, Kamario Taylor. He’s huge, he’s 230 lbs., he’s over 6’3″, he’s got a cannon for an arm. They just hammered Minnesota on the road.
“Mississippi State might be better than we all realized – in fact, they are better than we all realized – and they’re certainly better than the AP voters realize. They should be a ranked team at this point… Now South Carolina played Kent State and an FCS team, so we don’t really know what they are yet. I expect and kind of want a shootout in this game.”
Klatt’s pick: It’s tough to win on the road, back-to-back, but I’ve got Mississippi State winning outright on the road, 34-30.
