{"id":469515,"date":"2026-09-20T00:14:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T00:14:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/469515\/"},"modified":"2026-09-20T00:14:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T00:14:30","slug":"north-dakota-state-vs-sacramento-state-prediction-college-football-picks-odds-best-bets-for-week-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/469515\/","title":{"rendered":"North Dakota State vs. Sacramento State prediction: College football picks, odds, best bets for Week 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

\tGambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our links. Read our editorial standards<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n

It should be no surprise that North Dakota State\u2019s transition from the FCS to the FBS<\/a> has been as smooth as you\u2019d like.<\/p>\n

The most successful program in FCS history has won its first three games at the FBS level, including a blowout win over Jacksonville State and a one-score victory over Air Force.<\/p>\n

The Bison will now travel to Hornet Stadium to take on Sacramento State, the only other school that jumped from FCS to FBS for this season, in a late-night contest being broadcast on ESPN.<\/p>\n

You\u2019d think that two schools making the jump in the same year would be projected to be a tight contest, but the odds suggest otherwise. North Dakota State is laying 27.5 points on the road.<\/p>\n

NDSU vs. Sacramento State odds, picks<\/p>\n

While the Bison have passed their first three tests this season with flying colors, it\u2019s been a different story for Sacramento State. <\/p>\n

The Hornets lost their first game in the MAC (yes, they\u2019re in the MAC) to Eastern Michigan by 11 points, then crushed Mississippi Valley State before getting the tables turned on them in a 49-3 defeat to Fresno State. Those results are not atypical from a team leaping from FCS to FBS, but the problem is that they\u2019re going up against a very different beast on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\"SacramentoSacramento State joined the MAC for the 2026 season. Chris Allan\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

While Sacramento State is essentially starting over and getting its bearings under first-year head coach Alonzo Carter, North Dakota State is a machine. They probably could have made the leap years ago, but the stars didn\u2019t align until this season.<\/p>\n

The Bison offense has found plenty of success out of the gate, and I have no doubt that they\u2019ll be able to have a field day against Sacramento State. <\/p>\n

Get the lowdown on the Best USA Sports Betting Sites and Apps<\/p>\n

The Hornets have allowed an average of 6.7 yards per play to start the campaign, and Fresno shredded them for 542 total yards. According to SP+, the Bulldogs boast the 121st best offense in the country, so imagine what North Dakota State (63rd) can do.<\/p>\n

North Dakota State\u2019s defensive numbers aren\u2019t eye-popping, but you can excuse the Bison for struggling a bit against Air Force\u2019s triple-option. That\u2019s an outlier performance against a unique offensive scheme. They looked much more formidable against Jacksonville State and Fordham.<\/p>\n

The Bison have sent a statement to the Group of 6 that they\u2019re a legitimate threat in these waters, and I don\u2019t suspect they\u2019ll pass up the opportunity to further that narrative on ESPN on Saturday night. <\/p>\n

The Play: North Dakota State -27.5 (-115, DraftKings<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Why Trust New York Post Betting<\/p>\n

Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[3256,1321,9360,121,123,122,127,6372,39285],"class_list":["post-469515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-betting","tag-college-football","tag-college-football-betting","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news","tag-sports","tag-sports-betting","tag-sports-picks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}