EZWINNERS
Utah Utes +9.5
I expect the Utes to give the Trojans all they can handle in this game. I'm not a big Lane Kiffin fan and I don't expect him to take USC back to the elite level that they were when Pete Carrol was in charge. New Utah offensive coordinator Norm Chow came over from USC and knows that team very well. You can be sure that he has a few tricks up his sleeve and the Utes quarterback Jordan Wynn is very capable of running the Utah offense. The Utes put it into crusie control after getting a big lead last week, but they will be ready to play in this game. Making their Pac-12 debut will not be overwhelming for a Utah team that is used to playing big time BCS opponents over the past few years. Take the points.
Don Wallace Sports
BALL STATE vs SOUTH FLORIDA
Take: BALL STATE
Analysis: Ball State is coming off a 4-8 season and have lost 10 in a row to ranked teams since a 24-20 win over Toledo in 2001. Saturday should be no different against 22nd ranked South Florida. However, if there was ever a team primed for a letdown its the Bulls. It took everything this team could muster emotionally to go into South Bend and beat a talented Notre Dame team. Now South Florida goes from a double digit dog to a -20 point favorite as of this writing. Keith Wenning threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, leading the Cardinals to a 27-20 win over Indiana last Saturday in coach Pete Lembo's debut. The Cardinals rushed for 210 yards, led by freshman Jahwan Edwards' 84 on 16 carries. Barrington Scott ran for 63 yards and Wenning had 61. Wenning, who completed just 54.5 percent of his passes last season, was 23 of 29 for 173 yards without throwing an interception. Ball State is 10-3 vs. line away since 2010, 18-5 last 23 away from Muncie, and 9-2 since 2006 as a visitor vs. non-MAC foes, and 9-2 ATS as a double digit dog last 4 years. After beating The Irish last week, I am betting the Bulls will be still reading their press clippings and not give the Cardinals their full attention. BALL ST. 21 SOUTH FLORIDA 31
VEGAS EXPERTS
Temple at Akron
Temple is going to have another big matchup while Akron has another terrible one. Temple opened up the season with a big win and ATS cover against Villanova, 42-7 as only 6.5 point favorites. Akron on the other hand started their season with a terrible 42-0 loss against Ohio State as 31 point road underdogs. Temple is a perfect 2-0 ATS against Akron over the last few seasons, they shut them out 30-0 as 29.5 point home favorites last year just covering that huge spread and back in 2009 Temple won 56-17 as only six point favorites. Look for another big blowout win even though Temple is away from home.
Play on: Temple
King Creole
Hawaii +6
Hawaii's been college football's BEST ATS team over the last two seasons, and they started off 2011 with an easy win and cover over Colorado last week. That win made it 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games dating back to last season... and 16-5-1 ATS in the last 2 years. And more importantly, they've gone a PERFECT 3-0 ATS against Pac 10 opponents (like Washington) in that same time span. Washington's ATS futility at home is well-documented over the last decade. The Huskies can't be trusted to cover any significant point spread. Since the 2001 season, they've gone 5-16 ATS as home favs of -6 or greater points.
The Huskies barely got by Eastern Washington last week... and I mean BARELY. Final score was 30-27. The 'outlaw' line was Washington -16. They got outyarded by a 2-TO-1 margin (507-250!). The Huskies had a hard time protecting new QB Keith Price. Now, they face a very mean Hawaii pass rush that's getting their BEST sack-man from last season back this week.
Two Hawaii starters who were suspended for the season opener after being arrested on charges of misdemeanor assault will play Saturday at Washington. Outside linebacker Aaron Brown and receiver Darius Bright are back on the team. The players were arrested Aug. 28 following a fight at a Waikiki nightclub. They both sat out Hawaii's season opener against Colorado, which Hawaii won 34-17. Brown, a senior from Puyallup, Wash., led the Warriors with five sacks and ranked third with 83 tackles last season. He also had three interceptions.
Hawaii easily covered the spread against Colorado last week. They laid sizable points in Week One. Now, they're CATCHING them in Week Two. They're active in a 'Role-Reversal' System.
7-1 ATS since 2003: GAME TWO underdogs of 13 points as a favorite of -7 < points. In the last three years, these teams have gone a perfect 5-0 ATS.
TONY GEORGE
Utah +9
Leave it to Lane Kiffen to screw this up. I like Utah and their offense against a poor pass defense and a USC team that should have lost to lowly Minnesota last week. Taking the points here. I like Norm Chow as OC for Utah here against a team he knows somewhat having coached there. Word is Utah ketp it very simple on offense last week not wanting to show anything. Just not sold at all as Lane Kiffen being about to coach and close big games....Utah has players and while young, they are well coached and know how to play in a big game.
BRYAN LEONARD
Nevada at Oregon
Play: Oregon
Head coach Chris Ault for the first time in quite some time has a major rebuilding job ahead of him. Last year the Wolf Pack won 13 games, four more than any other Nevada team in over a decade. That club averaged 41.0 points which was the most since 1996. By far the two most important cogs of that offense, QB Colin Kaepernick and RB Vai Taua are gone. Both moving up in class to play in the NFC West. That's 2929 yards of rushing and 3022 yards of passing gone in one graduation class. Now after three seasons of Kaepernick at the helm the Wolf Pack bring back just five offensive starters. Needless to say this will be a huge drop-off in scoring for Nevada. While they bring back seven starters on defense the 21.4 ppg allowed last year was a full 7.1 ppg improvement over the previous season. It's been 20 years since Ault and the Wolf Pack had that type of stop unit. That will surely regress back to previous 30 ppg levels.
It's said by just about every coach out there that the biggest improvement for a team happens after the first game of the season. Well Nevada had a bye last week. Yes, they not only open up the season a week later but they do so against a team that played for the National Championship last year and were thoroughly embarrassed on National Television last weekend. Nevada hasn't fared well when stepping up in class. While we all remember their shocking OT win over Boise State last year, that was simply an aberration. The last six years Nevada has gone to a bowl, they have failed to cover 5 of those 6 games. The lone spread cover was in 2006 against Miami Florida in the MPC Computer Bowl. If you remember back then the Miami players were extremely disappointed with the bowl selection as they had to fly into Boise Idaho and face Nevada on the blue turf. The Wolf Pack playing in the WAC were very familiar with the venue and had a strong outpouring of support. Nevada lost that game 21-20 catching 3 1/2 points. So in reality the lone bowl cover came under opportune circumstances. Against ranked teams in regular season action Nevada is 3-7 ATS the past five seasons.
The final score last week showed LSU beating Oregon 40-27 but turnovers in this game were the key. The Tigers had a three turnover edge last week which basically gift-wrapped the LSU victory. Oregon went all last season without a turnover disadvantage of that magnitude. In fact the Ducks had a plus 63 turnover advantage the past 12 years going into that contest. Oregon is 25-18 ATS against non-conference opposition. As a favorite of 20+ they are 7-1 ATS the past three seasons. Off an embarrassing loss and a huge drop in the polls we expect these Ducks to be a fired up bunch. With only Missouri State on deck the Wolf Pack has the full attention of this angry favorite.
SPORTS WAGERS
Notre Dame –3 over MICHIGAN
8:00 PM EST. The Big House is the place to be tonight, as it will host its first ever night game and 100,000 strong will be rocking the joint. Michigan comes in 1-0 after they beat Western Michigan 34-10 in a game that was called after three quarters because of lightning. The Irish come in 0-1 after losing to South Florida and that doesn’t look too good on paper to a lot of people. Thing is, the South Florida Bulls are a strong team, make no mistake about that and they fluked out to a 16-0 lead and held on to win by three. Notre Dame outgained the Bulls by a count of 508 to 254 but five (to the Bulls one), count ‘em, five turnovers was just a little too much to overcome. Notre Dame dominated and they surely do not take a step up in class here. Michigan’s win over Western Michigan was the second most misleading score last week after Notre Dame’s loss. The Broncos and Wolverines both had the same number of first downs and Western Michigan won the time of possession battle. They also out-passed the Wolverines by 83 yards and that’s because Wolverines QB Denard Robinson can’t pass. He can run but his passing skills are a joke and he’s about to face not a good defense but a ferocious one. The Wolverines won last week because they broke open a few big runs but that’s not going to happen here. This one-dimensional offense of MU is not going to run over the Irish. Furthermore, the Wolverines defense is about as average or below average as it gets. So, what we have here is two teams that both played deceiving games. The Wolverines are not in the same class as the Irish but last week’s scoreboard didn’t reflect that. This week’s scoreboard will. Play: #375 Notre Dame –3 (Risking 2.2 units to win 2).
Toledo +18 over OHIO ST
12:00 PM EST. The Buckeyes are ranked 15th in the nation and after destroying another MAC team last week, the Akron Zips 42-0, OSU is expected to do the same to Toledo. We don’t think so. The Rockets are the MAC favorite and so they should be. They’re an explosive bunch that racked up close to 600 yards and 58 points a week ago. Yeah, they played an FCS foe but it was a good warm up for this tilt and it’s not like they’re in unfamiliar territory. Since 2000, the Rockets have knocked off Michigan, Penn State, Purdue, Iowa State, and a Pittsburgh team ranked No. 9 in the nation at the time. Most recently, Toledo stunned Michigan 13-10 in the Big House in 2008 and last year dominated Purdue on the road, 31-20 and this year’s squad is better than last year’s. So, while the Buckeyes are bigger, faster and better, they’re not 18 points bigger, faster and better but that’s the premium you have to pay to wager on one of the most popular schools in the land. Remember, the Buckeyes still have a first year QB in Joe Bauserman, who only threw 16 passes last week because the Buckeyes were running over the Zips. OSU also travels to Miami next week to play the Hurricanes and with all the distractions surrounding the club for weeks now, they’re likely looking forward to hitting the road. Dangerous game for the Buckeyes against a dangerous giant killer. Play: Toledo +18 (Risking 2.2 units to win 2).
Toronto +7½ over B.C. LIONS
Are the Argos this bad? Toronto is now 2-7 after losing seven of its last eight games and they were extremely fortunate to beat Saskatchewan two weeks ago. This Argo team should be on a long eight game losing streak but as we’ve seen with so many teams over the past few years, things can change in a hurry in this league. The Argos have been without a productive QB all season and in this league, no QB equals plenty of “L’s” in the right column. Toronto let go of Cleo Lemon last week and he’ll be replaced by the very capable Steven Jyles. Jyles has been watching from the rail for the first nine games because of an injured shoulder but he’s ready to go and it’ll surely give the Argos a much-needed spark. Playing for Winnipeg last year, Lyles threw for more than 2,800 yards and 19 touchdowns, against seven interceptions and he’s also a mobile QB that can move the chains with his ability to run. With a capable QB, a rock-solid RB in Cory Boyd and some talented receivers, you’re surely going to see a different Argos club here than the one under Lemon that couldn’t move five yards. Last week between Lemon and Dalton Bell, the pair combined for a lousy 99 yards, four sacks and four picks against these same Lions and yet the Argos lost by just 13 points. The Lions opened the year 0-6. They’ve won three of their past four but a close look reveals they beat a banged up Eskies squad, a QB-less Argos and a beaten down Roughriders. Now they’re being asked to spot more than a converted TD at home, where they have been almost as bad as the Argos. This is as good a spot for the Argos as there’s been all season and we’re calling the upset but will gladly accept the points. Play: Toronto +7½ +100 (Risking 2 units).
Passing MLB
Bob Balfe
Mississippi State -5.5
Last week, the Tigers looked awful and got extremely lucky to beat Utah State. We are not talking about Utah. We are talking about Utah State at home. Auburn is just not that good as they have a very young team with no experience on the offensive line or at the receiver position. Mississippi State has three really good receivers with a lot of experience and they have a good running back and quarterback. The Bulldogs have a lot of depth in their secondary and should stop anything in the air. Mississippi State has been waiting for this day. They are the better team and should win this game with ease. Take the Bulldogs.
John Ryan
Alabama vs. Penn State
Play: Alabama -10
5* graded play on Alabama as they take on Penn State set to start at 3:30 PM ET. My proprietary sports handicapping database and simulator shows a high probability that Alabama will win this game by 11 or more points. Supporting this graded play is a system that has produced a record of 64-25 for 72% winners since 1992. Play on favorites of 3.5 to 10 points after allowing nine points or less last game facing an opponent after scoring 24 points or more in the first half last game. This system has produced an 11-2 ATS mark over the past three seasons. 45% of these games played based on the criteria of the system have covered the spread by seven or more points. I see this game as 17 point or more ‘Bama win. Penn State does not have the defensive personnel to contain the Alabama offense. My simulator shows a high probability that Alabama will score 28 or more points and will gain a solid 4.5 to 5.0 yards per rushing attempt. This works heavily in favor of Alabama and heavily against Penn State in this game. Note that Alabama is 8-0 ATS (+8.0 Units) when they score 28 or more points over the last 2 seasons. Penn State is just 8-32 ATS (-27.2 Units) when they allow 28 or more points since 1992; 2-13 ATS (-12.3 Units) in home games when they allow 4.5 to 5 rushing yards per attempt since 1992. Take Alabama.
Tom Stryker
Tulsa vs. Tulane
Play: Tulsa -12
After facing No. 1 Oklahoma in its season opener, Tulsa will find things a little easier on both sides of the ball matched up against Tulane.
This will be the first conference game for both the Golden Hurricane and Green Wave and it is an important one. Historically speaking, Tulsa has dominated Tulane in the last six meetings posting a perfect 6-0 SU and ATS record. The Golden Hurricane has won by margins of 24, 35, 24, 49, 24 and 28 points respectively. That’s an average beating of 30.7 points per game!
Fading Tulane as a home dog has been a profitable venture too. As a pup inside the Louisiana Superdome, the Green Wave owns a soft 11-52 SU and 21-41-1 ATS record including just 7-21 ATS if they’re grabbing a touchdown or more. In addition, when matched up against a CUSA opponent that scoots in off a straight up loss, Tulane sports a miserable 6-21 SU and 7-19-1 ATS mark including a shocking 0-7 ATS in this set provided the Green Wave were victorious in their last game.
With a pair of ranked teams in Oklahoma State and Boise State on deck, the Golden Hurricane know they must win this conference battle or they’ll likely start the 2011 season with an ugly 0-4 SU record! Take Tulsa!
Rocketman
Alabama @ Penn State
Play: Alabama -10
Alabama is 16-6 ATS since 1992 on the road when the total is 42 or less. Alabama is 11-0 SU and 9-1 ATS last 3 years in non-conference games. Penn State normally gets off to a slow start as they are 1-7 ATS last 3 years in September. Alabama defense is very good this year and I feel like it will be hard for Penn State to score here today. We'll recommend a small play on Alabama today!
Jeff Scott Sports
5 UNIT PLAY (SIDE OF THE WEEK)
POWER ANGLE PLAY
OREGON -26.5 over Nevada: A couple situational advantages for the Ducks in this one. First is that they are off a horrible loss last week and will be highly motivated for this one. Next is that have a game under their belt, while this is Nevada's first game and lastly is that the Ducks only have Missouri State on deck. As I stated, this is Nevada's first game, which also means that it's QB Tyler Lantrip's first start. He has played in a couple games in mop up duty, but has yet to face a defense like this one. The Duck defense did allow 40 points vs LSU, but 4 TO's set up the Tigers with some short fields and Oregon ended up allowing just 273 yards in the contest. They should have no problems holding down this Nevada offense that has just 5 starters back overall. 4 TO's stopped this Oregon offense last week that was tops in the nation last year, as they put up just 335 yards and 27 points. Now I have to feel that an offense that put up 609 ypg at home last year will bounce back in a BIG way this week. The Nevada defense was good last year, but they did allow some big point games vs good offenses last year, and the Ducks certainly have one. This is just a bad spot for Nevada as they are playing an angry Oregon team in a place where the Ducks outscored their opponents by 44 ppg last year. Ducks roll here. POWER ANGLE FOR THIS PLAY--- Play on favorites of 21.5 to 31 after allowing 4.5 yards per pass or less in their last game, if they have an experienced QB, vs a team with an inexperienced QB. This Angle is 41-15 since 1997.
4 UNIT PLAY
TEXAS -7 over BYU: Last week I had the Longhorns vs Rice and it took them a while to get going, but they did deliver for me. In that write up I stated that this team would be a mission team this year after going from a National Title game in 2009 to a losing season last year. This year they have a new attitude and are very motivated to have a great year. Last week it did take them a while to get going vs Rice, but in the end they won by 25 and outgained the Owls by a 506-224 count. BYU had a lackluster performance last week vs the Ole Miss Rebels, who are not a strong team, they trailed 13-0 in the 4thquarter before they got two late TD's to pull it out. This week they will take on a much tougher defense, as I rate the Longhorns “D”2ndin the Big 12. BYU did out FD the Rebels last week and Heaps did throw for 255 yards vs them, but as I said this is a much tougher defense. Texas also gets the situational edge as they are home for the second straight week, while BYU played last week in the heat and humidity of Mississippi and now must travel to the heat and humidity of Texas. Oh yeah they also have in-state rival Utah on deck. That's just too much for this young BYU squad to hand, especially vs a very focused Texas team. Texas wins this one by 10+.
3 UNIT PLAYS
TOTAL OF THE WEEK
Iowa/ Iowa State Under 43.5: This has been a pretty low scoring series as 8 of the last 10 meetings have all gone under the total and the last 4 in the series failed to put more than 42 points on the board. The Iowa state offense will not be very good this year, as they bring back just 5 starters and must break in a new QB. Last week vs FCS for N. Iowa, the Cyclones put up just 20 points and 328 yards and they needed a TD with 40 sec left to pull out the win. They will not top those numbers this week vs a tough Big 10 defense that the Hawkeyes have. Iowa has allowed just 5 ppg and 301 ypg to this team in the last 3 meetings, and in their first game vs FCS Tenn Tech they allowed just 7 points and 306 yards. Now last year Iowa put up 29 ppg, but they also must replace a QB and they do bring back just 5 starters overall to that side of the ball. In game 1 they did have 34 points and 394 yards, but ISU's defense is a bit better than Tennessee Tech and should be able to keep Iowa from being able to put up 30-34, and that's good because I just don't see State getting 10 or more in this one.
Toledo +17.5 over OHIO STATE: The Buckeyes will realize real quick that this is not just another MAC team they are playing. Last week they took on one of the worst MAC teams in Akron, who may end up having the worst offense and one of the worst defenses in the league. This week they will be taking the Toledo Rockets, who are loaded on both sides of the ball and I rate their offense as tops in the MAC (Maybe top 10 nationally) and their defense as #3. Clearly this team is not as week as Akron. Ohio State still doesn't have all their players back from suspensions, plus they do have a date with Miami on deck. I look for the Buckeyes to be looking ahead a bit and that will allow this underrated Rockets team keep this one close. Buckeyes by no more than 10 here.
2 UNIT PLAYS
Cincinnati +4.5 over TENNESSEE: What a drubbing the Cats put on Austin Peay last week as they rolled up 561 yards and 72 points and they did it with just 5 starters back . This week they do take on a tougher opponent, but Tennessee's defense has taken a few steps back the last couple of years and this year they will have early season troubles on that side of the ball as they have just 6 defenders back, including just 1 on the DL. The Tennessee offense will be good this year with QB Tyler Bray, who tied as school record with 2 TD's or more in 7 straight games last week. Cincinnati defense will be one of the best in the Big East with 10 starters back and should be able to contain this hot QB today. Cincinnati is 11-0 ATS after a game with a TO margin of +4 or better since 1992. Cats with an upset here.
TCU -1 over AIR FORCE: The Horned Frogs have been known for their defensive prowess, but last week this unit was obliterated by the Baylor Bears. They are 11-2 ATS after allowing 325 yards passing in their last game and I expect them to get their swagger back this week vs an Air force group that they have held to 13.6 ppg over the last 5 years. TCU's offense didn't suffer as week as they put 48 points and 466 yards. TCU is still the 2ndbest team in the MWC and they will bounce back with a solid win here.
1 UNIT PLAYS
Ball State/ South Florida Under 50: The Under is 10-1 when South Florida is off a game in which they committed 1 or less TO's in their last game. The Bulls defense is normally a stingy group but last week they allowed over 500 yards to Notre Dame. Look for this group to bounce back today. The Ball State defense played well in game 1 and should have another good showing in this one. Look for a game in the low 40's at best.
Notre Dame -3 over MICHIGAN:The Irish rolled up 500 yards of offense last week, but turnovers did them in. Kelly will get that fixed and they will bounce back vs this Michigan team that has a BAAAD defense. Irish by at least 7.
Telly
Colorado St. -21
1 of my 7 free picks today. Please check my profile for more info.
Real Animal
Miss State Under 58
Last season's final produced a 17-14 Auburn win in a game that featured only 187 passing yards combined for both teams w/ Cam Newton on the field! The previous week Auburn had scored 52 points at Arkansas State while Mississippi State rolled up 49 against Memphis. Do not overreact to last week's offensive numbers. Mississippi State put up 59 against feeble Memphis with over 600 yards of offense while Auburn rallied late to avoid embarrassment in a 42-38 squeaker over lowly Utah State. Last season Miss State senior QB Chris Relf only completed 59 percent for 1789 passing gyards and 13 touchdown passes. Relf didn't go the entire game last week but completed just 13 passes. Memphis allowed a ton of big plays a week ago Thursday. You know Coach Chizik and defensive coordinator Ted Roof will make adjustments after allowing that kind of production to Utah State. The Bulldog last year scored 10 points or less in three of their four SEC road games. But defensively, Mississippi State is again very strong and comes off a season yielding just 19.8 points per game. Auburn is in a rebuilding year. They lost eight starters on offense from that explosive unit of a year ago that averaged 41 points per game. The 'UNDER' is 4-1 in this series. Good value on the 'UNDER' after misleading point production last week.
Will Cashmen
Northern Illinois -4.5 over KANSAS
Normally I'm not a fan of these road dogs. I'd much rather be getting points WITH the home team. In this case, I think the line makers are throwing out a game in which you can get a Big 12 team at home + Points, so it looks good. Reason I'm on N. Illinois is because they did play an FBS team last week (Army), and they put up 520 yards of total offense in a 49-26 win. While NIU was doing that, Kansas was playing McNeese St. and gave up over 400 yards of offense in a 42-24 win. That includes 325 Pass Yards. Not to mention, Kansas has a little situation at QB. They had 2 guys contending to start, but it's not because both are really good. In fact, Webb, who started at QB last week for KU, was 7 of 10. The KU offense only averaged 17 PPG last year, while the defense gave up 34 PPG. This could be his scoring since NIU does only return 2 defensive starters, but less than a TD vs. a team who gave up 34 PPG on defense and only scored 17...I have to take it. PLAY: N. Illinois -4.5
New Mexico St / MINNESOTA OVER 51
Minnesota almost pulled off a big upset with a nice comeback vs. USC on the road, but ultimately lost 19-17. I don't see them being super motivated this week, especially on defense, but I'm not real sure they need to be. New Mexico St gave up 44 points to Ohio last week, while playing at home. They gave up 450 yards of offense to a team who has a new offense they are trying to learn, a new QB, and a new O-Coordinator. New Mexico St gave up 40 PPG on defense last year. Minnesota are 20 pt favorites in this game, which is about 45% of the Total, and I actually think Minny wins in blowout fashion. All we need from New Mexico St is to put up 14 in this one, I am guessing. PLAY: Over 50.5
AIR FORCE +1/-1 over TCU
This should be a good game, but I think it's going to be hard for TCU to recover from the loss last week. They were trying to figure out how to stop Robert Griffin during the off season, and now they have to go on the road for the 2nd time in two weeks and face a Triple Option attack that is hard to prepare for. It's obvious that this year's TCU defense is not even CLOSE to the defense of last year. They just lost way too many guys. Let's not forget that Air Force has a much better defense than that compared to Baylor's defense. I have to roll with the big fade on TCU and take AF on 9/11 weekend. PLAY: Air Force +1/-1
Purdue at RICE Over 51
Where to start? Could start with the fact that Purdue gave up 24 at home last week, but more importantly for this play, they gave up 330 passing yards to Middle Tennesse St. Now they are facing a Rice spread attack on the road. Rice averaged 28 PPG on offense last year, but they gave up 38.5 PPG on defense, which was 114th in the country. Purdue's offense has struggled at times, but they should break out vs. a team that gave up nearly 40 PPG last year, and Rice should be able to put up points vs. a defense that gave up nearly 30 PPG last year, and allowed 330 Pass yard by a new QB from Middle Tennesse St. I just cannot see how we can’t get a 28-24 type of game here. PLAY: Over 51
BYU +7 over TEXAS (H)
To be honest, I'm just not sold that Texas is much better than last year. They opened by beating Rice, at home, 34-9. Not impressed when you consider Rice gave up 40 PPG last year. I didn't see the game, but watched highlites, and it looks like Fozzy Whitaker was kind of a one man show for Texas. BYU opened by playing on the road vs. a SEC school. They aren't afraid to play anybody. They actually pulled off the win vs. Ole Miss (14-13) but we didn't get our cover since BYU decided to turn the ball over on downs instead of kicking a FG at the end of the game. BYU was a very young team last year, so they are now one year older and wiser. I won't be shocked if BYU wins this straight up, so how can I not take it when getting 7 points? PLAY: BYU +7