College football personnel guru fading Stanford in Week 3 parlay

No one knows college football personnel better than Barton Simmons.

A high-profile CBS Sports personality, Simmons has been involved in college football and recruiting since 2000, first as a player and then as a reporter and analyst. He was a two-time All-Ivy League safety at Yale before beginning a career in media at Rivals. Then he helped build 247Sports into the premier destination for recruiting coverage. It's no wonder Simmons oversees 247Sports' prospect rankings and plays a primary role in the selection of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Co-host of the Cover 3 College Football Podcast, Simmons is uncanny when it comes to beating the books: Last year he went 68-50 (58 percent) on his podcast picks, closing the season on a 21-6 heater capped by Clemson's national title game upset of Alabama.

SportsLine recruited Simmons to share his weekly best bets. We can tell you Simmons, who went 2-1 last week, loves three Saturday plays in Week 3, including UCF -8.5 over Stanford.

"I am really concerned with this Stanford team's ability to get stops on defense," Simmons wrote. "It looked uncharacteristically soft against USC last week. Now it has to travel across the country to play a UCF team looking to make a statement against a Power Five opponent. UCF may have more speed even than USC, and I think we continue to see Stanford exposed as a team with real issues."

Simmons also is targeting NC State-Virginia and Kansas State-Mississippi State. You need to see his picks before locking in any of your own.

So which plays should you make Saturday for a chance at a 6-1 payout? And what are the best bets for NC State-West Virginia and Kansas State-Mississippi State? ... Join SportsLine right now to see Barton Simmons' best bets for Saturday, all from the personnel guru who closed last season on a 21-6 college football heater!