The Colorado Buffaloes and Northwestern Wildcats play on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium in Evanston, Illinois, in a game on the college football Week 3 schedule.
Which team will win the college football Week 3 game?
Check out these college football Week 3 picks
and college football Week 3 predictions for the game, which can be seen at 4:30 p.m. MST on FOX or FS1 (stream with FUBO).Northwestern is a 3.5-point favorite over Colorado in college football Week 3 odds for the game, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
The Wildcats are -175 on the moneyline, while the Buffaloes are +145. The over/under (point total) for the game is set at 49.5 points.
Watch Colorado vs Northwestern on FUBO (free trial)
The Arizona Republic: Colorado 27, Northwestern 23
Jeremy Cluff
writes: "Northwestern has only played one game, a 34-18 win over South Dakota State. Julian Lewis and the Buffaloes will outscore the Wildcats in a big win for the Big 12."
Stat Salt: Bet Colorado with the points vs Northwestern
Kim Smith writes: "Northwestern deserves respect at home and has the preparation advantage, but Colorado has already won at Georgia Tech and followed that performance by scoring 52 against Weber State. The Buffaloes have more meaningful game experience and are getting through the key number of three. I expect this to be a one-possession matchup, making the points more valuable than laying them with Northwestern."
Dimers.com: Northwestern 27, Colorado 23
It writes: "After extensive simulations, our model gives Colorado a win probability of 37%, while Northwestern has a win probability of 63%."
ESPN: Colorado has a 50.2% chance to defeat Northwestern on Saturday
The site gives the Wildcats a 49.8% shot at winning the college football Week 3 game.
Sports Chat Place: Bet Northwestern to cover vs Colorado
It writes: "The Wildcats didn’t really get it going until the fourth quarter in their win over South Dakota State, but the result was nice. Northwestern notched 497 total yards (224 rushing) with 9.0 yards per play in that one but also had nine overall penalties for 61 yards. The Wildcats defense gave up 432 yards (285 passing) on the other side with 27 first downs and 34:08 in time of possession for the Jackrabbits. There are plenty of things to clean up, but Northwestern has had an open week to do it."
Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Colorado vs Northwestern picks, predictions, odds for Week 3 game
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