Big-time programs square off huge Week 2 matchups

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/08/2010 -

JoePa visits the Bear's house. The 'Canes blow into the Horseshoe for a rematch of the 2002 national championship game. Florida State's first big game post-Bowden takes place in Norman, Okla., a rematch of the 2000 national title game.

The second week of the college football season is so jammed pack with intriguing games that Brian Kelly's first foray into the Notre Dame-Michigan rivalry can't even crack the top three.

Hey, neither the Fighting Irish nor the Wolverines is ranked.

Joe Paterno, who broke Bear Bryant's record on the way to becoming the winningest coach in the history of major college football, brings Penn State to Tuscaloosa to face No. 1 Alabama.

The Nittany Lions and Crimson Tide routinely squared off in the 1970s and early '80s, when Bear Bryant was stalking Alabama's sideline. The Bear is gone now, but the Tide's stadium is named after him. Meanwhile, the 83-year-old Paterno has 395 victories.

Even if Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram (knee) can't play Saturday, beating Nick Saban's defending national champions would rank as one of Paterno's most surprising victories.

The last time Ohio State played Miami, it was the Buckeyes pulling off the upset.

Ohio State's 31-24 double-overtime victory in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl kept the Hurricanes from repeating as national champions and made the Buckeyes champs for the first time in more than three decades. It was also the night official Terry Porter became famous for throwing a flag for pass interference on Miami that is debated to this day.

``It's like everyone is making sure that we remember what happened,'' said current Miami quarterback Jacory Harris, who are the underdogs this time to the second-ranked Buckeyes.

Since Bob Stoops took over at Oklahoma in 1999, the Sooners have been perennial contenders. But they haven't won a national championship since Stoops' second season, when the Sooners beat Bobby Bowden's Seminoles 13-2 in the 2001 Orange Bowl.

That turned out to be Bowden's last shot at a national title. Florida State had some good teams after that, but Bowden's long run of excellence ended that night in Miami.

Stoops is still cranking out wins in Norman, but Bowden's time at Florida State is over. It's now Jimbo Fisher's job to return the 17th-ranked Seminoles to elite status and beating No. 10 Oklahoma would be a giant step in the right direction.

The picks:

Thursday

No. 21 Auburn (minus 2) at Mississippi State.

Matchup of spread offenses and promising QBs ... MISSISSIPPI STATE 31-24.

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Friday

No. 23 West Virginia (minus 13) at Marshall.

Mountaineers 9-0 in Friends of the Coal Bowl ... WEST VIRGINIA 31-14.

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Saturday

No. 18 Penn State (plus 11 1/2) at No. 1 Alabama.

Saban on one side, frosh QB playing first road game on the other ... ALABAMA 24-10.

No. 12 Miami (plus 9 1/2) at No. 2 Ohio State.

Can Jacory Harris avoid the big mistake? ... OHIO STATE 20-14.

Tennessee Tech (no line) at No. 4 TCU.

Tennessee Tech goes from Razorbacks to Horned Frogs ... TCU 50-10.

Wyoming (plus 29) at No. 5 Texas.

These Cowboys won't fare well in Texas ... TEXAS 45-14.

Idaho (plus 28 1/2) at No. 6 Nebraska.

Huskers redshirt freshman QB Taylor Martinez ran for 127 yards in debut ... NEBRASKA 42-10.

No. 7 Oregon (minus 13) at Tennessee.

After 72-point opener, Ducks get back star TB LaMichael James ... OREGON 35-20.

South Florida (plus 15 1/2) at No. 8 Florida.

Gators problems should be a snap to fix ... FLORIDA 28-10.

Iowa State (plus 13 1/2) at No. 9 Iowa.

Cyclones haven't scored TD vs. Hawkeyes in last 14 quarters ... IOWA 21-10.

No. 17 Florida State (plus 8 1/2) at No. 10 Oklahoma.

Sooners need to fix secondary quick with Christian Ponder coming to town ... OKLAHOMA 37-21.

San Jose State (plus 38) at No. 11 Wisconsin.

Badgers have won 14 straight home openers ... WISCONSIN 45-14.

James Madison (no line) at No. 13 Virginia Tech.

Hokies dealing with annual early season disappointment ... VIRGINIA TECH 35-17.

Louisiana-Monroe (plus 34) vs. No. 14 Arkansas at Little Rock, Ark.

It's officially a ULM home game ... ARKANSAS 48-21.

No. 15 Georgia Tech (minus 13 1/2) at Kansas.

It doesn't get any easier for Turner Gill at KU ... GEORGIA TECH 31-21.

Virginia (plus 19 1/2) at No. 16 Southern California.

Trojans are 12-6 against ACC teams ... USC 38-17.

No. 19 LSU (minus 10) at Vanderbilt.

Tigers have won six straight vs. Commodores ... LSU 28-14.

UNLV (plus 23 1/2) at No. 20 Utah.

Utes home winning streak is at 18 ... UTAH 45-16.

No. 22 Georgia (plus 2 1/2) at No. 24 South Carolina.

Bulldogs have won seven of last eight and four in a row at USC ... GEORGIA 24-21.

No. 25 Stanford (minus 6 1/2) at UCLA.

Bruins offense is a mess ... STANFORD 30-17.

Michigan (plus 3 1/2) at Notre Dame.

Wolverines coach Rich Rodriguez needs it more than Kelly ... MICHIGAN 27-21.

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Last week: 21-1 (straight); 9-5-1 (vs. points).Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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