Here are the storylines that stand out for me this week in college football action:
Michigan (+2) at Michigan State – The Spartans have been terrible so far this year. The Wolverines have yet to play on the road, and have gotten worse defensively as the season has progressed. This is a big rivalry game, and one team is going to wind up very disappointed.
South Florida (-6.5) at Syracuse – Was last week’s stunning upset a fluke, or is B.J. Daniels ready to do big things at South Florida. And will GregPaulus continue to take strides forward?
Alabama (-16.5) at Kentucky – We saw what the Gators did against Kentucky last week, so this is a way to get a very rough estimate of how the top two teams in the SEC measure up.
Penn State (-7) at Illinois – Both teams need to bounce back from embarrassing performances last week. Illinois really needs to find a way to pull off a win this week in an attempt to get a once promising season back on track.
UCLA(+6) at Stanford – One of these teams has a good chance of being a factor in the Pac-10 race. This game will give us a good sense of which one.
LSU (+3) at Georgia – I really don’t believe in either of these teams. A decisive win by one of them would be a sign that they achieve their rankings. For now, I think both are badly overrated.
Washington (+13.5) at Notre Dame – The Irish need a convincing win over someone to prove themselves. Washington needs to bounce back from last week and prove that their USC performance was no fluke.
Oklahoma (-7.5) at Miami – Will Sam Bradford play? How well? Can Miami bounce back from last week’s humiliation, or are they exhausted from their ridiculously tough opening string of games?
USC (-5) at Cal – Two weeks ago you could have argued convincingly that this game was for a spot in the BCS championship. Now it’s next to impossible to know what we have from either team. This could be a great game, or it could be a train wreck, but it will be interesting either way.
Houston (-16) at UTEP – I will be watching Houston closely all the way through this season. They have a couple of impressive wins already, so if they could remain undefeated they could create a real headache for the BCS. Besides that, they are just so much fun to watch.
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Injuries are always a big story in football – it’s the nature of the game. This year is no exception. Both the college and the pro games have been hit with an amazing number of key injuries that have to be seriously considered in betting decisions. Here’s a look at some of the more important ones:
I know that it is Sunday morning and this is clearly NFL time and all, but yesterday’s college football action was so bizarrely interesting that I can’t help but touch on it one more time before we move on. We’ll still have plenty of time to talk NFL – I promise.
Here are the storylines that stand out for me this week in college football action:
North Carolina (+2.5) at Georgia Tech – This is a good test to see if North Carolina is worthy of their 18th rank (I have doubts), and we’ll get to see how Georgia Tech bounces back from Miami.
Fresno State (+17) at Cincinnati – The Bearcats have been impressive this year, but this could be a letdown game for them if they aren’t prepared and focused. Fresno State isn’t great this year, but they will be up for this one.
I love how short people’s attention spans are and how fleeting their loyalty is. Coming into this season Tim Tebow was the golden child. He was headed to an almost certain national championship. the Heisman was his to lose, and he was being talked about as the best college player ever. He has a rough game against Tennessee, though, and all of a sudden articles pop up everywhere about his faults and how he has never really looked like a QB who could compete on the next level. One article I read even suggested that his NFL position could be safety. It’s all just funny – he’s the same QB now that he was before the season started, and he is stillbenefiting from the same system offense. What I do find interesting about it, though, is that the defensive coordinator who unleashed this latest wave of articles is Monte Kiffin. He’s a wily NFL veteran who coached defense in the NFL in one capacity or another non-stop from 1983 until this year. If he was able to giveTebow that much trouble with a new and reasonably depleted unit then you have to believe that NFL systems would eat him for lunch. Don’t worry, though -Tebow is just one good game away from being declared a god again.
This is a tough time for the polls. They can only change so much from what they look like in the preseason, and it is almost impossible to drop a team that has yet to lose, so the polls in the first few weeks don’t always accurately represent how teams are playing (You could argue that they never do, but that’s an entirely different debate). Given that, I thought I would take a look at the top six teams right now. There are questions with all of those teams, and it’s hard to know what any of them have to offer.
The Colts may have got a win to move to 2-0 tonight, but I’m sure not convinced by them yet. They got very lucky to win that one given that they barely had the ball on offense, and they weren’t always impressive when they did. If Miami had any ability at all to manage the clock down the stretch then both of these teams would have been 1-1. I didn’t think that the Colts were going to be elite this year before the season, and I haven’t seen anything yet to make me change my mind.
Here are the storylines that stand out for me this week in college football action:
Eastern Michigan (+24) at Michigan – Isn’t everyone always endlessly fascinated every time Michigan plays? I know I am. If this one is even close I am going to be less than thrilled.
Cal (-13.5) at Minnesota – Cal seems to be for real. The pollsters sure think so. This game won’t prove that they really are, but it’s a chance for a misstep if they aren’t focused.
Ohio State (-21) at Toledo – The Buckeyes were brutal offensively the Trojans. This will be a good chance for them to start to work out the kinks before they begin their next shot at redemption when their Big Ten season starts.
Tennessee (+29.5) at Florida – Urban Meyer is really, really, really going to try to pound the life out of Lane Kiffin and the Vols. This one won’t be even close, but it will certainly be entertaining. The Gators could win by 50.
Nebraska (+5) at Virginia Tech – Both of these teams are well regarded in the polls, but both of them could use a big win here to define their season and prove that they are legitimate. This would be one heck of a momentum win for the Pelini era.
Tulsa (+18) at Oklahoma – Is Landry Jones any good. How about Tulsa. This one probably won’t be very interesting, but there is a chance that it could be.
Michigan State (+10) at Notre Dame – Can Charlie Weis bounce back from a tough loss last week, or can this season degenerate into a total disaster?
USC (-19) at Washington – There are some prominent people out there who are predicting an upset here. I’m not sure that I see that, but I would love to see the Huskies finally make some real progress. It will also be interesting to see how the Trojans’ offense looks under the control of Aaron Corp. It can’t look much worse than it did under Matt Barkley for most of the Ohio State game.
Utah (+4.5) at Oregon – The Ducks need nothing more than a huge win here to prove that the Boise State debacle was just a blip in the road. A team like Utah can always use a win over a major conference opponent.
Cincinnati (-1.5) at Oregon State – This game fascinates me. The Bearcats have been almost flawless so far this year, but they take a step up in class. The Beavers have one of the most exciting young players in the country. Either tea could win this one, and it will be a big win for whoever does.
Rice (+33.5) at Oklahoma State – The Cowboys totally and utterly outclass Rice. They need to have a massive game here – if they don’t bounce back strong from the embarrassment of last weekend then there are serious questions to be answered.
Florida State (+8) at BYU – A second win over a legitimate major conference team would help BYU’s cause. An overwhelming win would keep alive their slim chance of making the national championship game.
Texas Tech (+18.5) at Texas – Am I the only one that is still uneasy about Texas? They have ridiculous amounts of talent, but they haven’t had to prove anything yet, and I can’t shake the feeling that they have looked a bit lethargic so far. This will be the biggest test they have had yet. A big win here would prove a lot to me.
1. Rich Rodriguez is a very good coach. And Charlie Weis is a very bad one. Alright, I’ll admit, I didn’t need to learn either thing – I was already certain of both. Notre Dame owned Michigan in the first half, but were only up by three at the break. Michigan made effective adjustments at halftime, and came out as an entirely different team in the second half. Notre Dame made no noticeable changes. The fact that Weis couldn’t win this game in the fifth year of his program with a junior QB who was at the top of his class against a team in the second year of a total rebuild with a true freshman at the helm is a clear sign of just how pathetic Weis is.
Here are the weekend’s top college football stories as I see them:
Iowa (-6) at Iowa State – The Hawkeyes started the season ranked, but they looked truly awful last weekend. Which team is the real Iowa?
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