[Tommy]

Iowa senior QB Tate expected back here; he missed Hawkeyes' OT win at Syracuse last week. Visitor is 14-5 vs spread in this rivalry, with Cyclones 7-1 vs spread in last eight. State upset Iowa 23-3 last year (+9) in Ames, when Tate was KO'd by concussion in first half. Cyclones won opener in OT vs Toledo, then struggled to beat UNLV last week (16-10). Iowa covered 84% of its last 32 home games. Cyclones covered nine of last 12 as underdog.

Boston College won last week when Clemson's outstanding PK missed overtime PAT; Eagles won 20-3 in Provo last year (-2.5), holding Cougars to eight yards rushing. BC is just 8-15 vs spread in last 23 non-league home games. BYU covered nine of last 13 as road dog; this is their first trip east since '91.Cougars drilled Tulsa last week, 49-24, with great balance (227 yards rushing, 240 passing).

Syracuse and Illinois both off to poor starts; Illini lost 33-0 last week at Rutgers of Big East, managing just 126 yards of total offense (7-21 passing, 0-12 on third down conversions). Syracuse had nine plays from Iowa 2-yard line or closer, just in OT, and managed only three points in home OT loss to Iowa (playing without QB Tate). Illini covered seven of last ten home games. Syracuse is 10-16 as road dog since '99; they've yet to play full game this year vs team's #1 QB (Mauk injured in opener).

Kansas State snuck past Marshall last year, 21-19, as Herd coaches were in FG range to win game in last minute, but chose to keep throwing and got picked off in red zone with 0:03 left-really tough loss. Visiting team won last two series games. Herd beat I-AA Hofstra last week, while K-State hammered Florida Atlantic, week after they were life-and-death to nip I-AA Illinois State. K-State 7-10 vs spread in last 17 tries as home favorite.

South Florida blanked Central Florida in Tampa last year (20-0) outgaining Knights 426-253 and holding UCF to 19-40/208 passing. O'Leary has Knights on move though, while USF hampered by suspensions and internal issues. Bulls trailed FIU 20-7 at half last week, allowing defensive TD and punt return for score- they also trailed I-AA McNeese State at halftime the week before. UCF got waxed in Gainesville, but they did force four Gator turnovers.

Pitt off to great start, routing Virginia, Cincinnati; they move up in class here vs Michigan State squad that had 276 yds rushing, 304 passing in rout of Eastern Michigan last week (52-20 rout was just 24-17 at half); they've covered last five as non-league road dog, but are just 5-8 vs spread overall, in last 13 tries as road dog. Both sides have senior QBs; does that make the over the play?

Florida is 9-3-1 vs spread in last 13 games vs Vols; underdog is 6-3-1 vs spread in last ten series games. Gators are 9-2-1 vs spread in their last 12 SEC openers; they turned ball over four times in easy win vs UCF last week, but also racked up 637 total yards. Vols turned Air Force back 31-30; in fairness, hard to prepare for AF on less than week, so we'll give defense pass there. Ainge is rejuvenated under Cutcliffe; Vols scored 66 pts in first two games, vs pretty good competition- they had only 210 TY vs Gators last year.

Underdog is 9-1 vs spread in last ten Michigan-Notre Dame games, but Wolverines are 0-8 vs spread in last eight road openers, and lost at least one game in last six Septembers. Last year, Michigan outgained Irish 337-244, but completed just 19-44 passes and lost at home, 28-20. Notre Dame whupped Penn State last week, , as Quinn was 25-36/287 thru air, and Irish were +3 in turnovers. Wolverines 6-2 as road dog since '99.

Oklahoma upset Oregon in bowl game last year, 17-14 (+3), sixth straight win vs Ducks, but that was with Bomar at QB; speedy Oregon used fake field goal to win at Fresno last week; they also lost 31-7 at Norman two years ago (+8). Sooners are 6-10 vs spread on road last four years. Oregon covered eight of last eleven as home favorite; Sooners 8-4 as road dog since '99. OU allowed Washington rush for 204 yards last week in 37-20 win that was tied at half- they struggled to beat UAB before that.

Miami has never lost to Louisville (9-0-1) but explosive Cards are 11-1 vs spread in last dozen tries as home favorite. Star RB Bush is done for year with broken leg, but 'canes are lacking in offense (2 yards rushing, 134 total yards vs Florida State); they're 5-0 vs spread as regular season underdog since 2000. Last meeting was dramatic 41-38 win in '04 for Miami team (-9) that was outplayed most of game. Tough to lay points with squad that is 0-9-1 vs their opponent.

Game is in Houston (Reliant Stadium) but Texas has 350,000 alumni in Houston area, so they'll have home crowd edge, vs spunky Rice squad that has improved under first-year coach Graham- they led Houston 30-14 before game slipped away (31-30) then at UCLA last week, Owls lost 26-16 to Bruin squad that beat them 63-21 in '04. Problem is, Rice has injury issues at QB, Texas has covered 12 of last 15 after a loss, and 13 of last 16 when laying double digit spread.

Texas Tech crushed TCU 70-35 two years ago (-5), in game they trailed by two TDs early on; talented soph QB Harrell already has 739 passing yards in two games, helping pull out tough 38-35 OT win in El Paso last week. When TCU played at Baylor, they faced this same offense, but much less advanced version of it. Tech covered nine of last 12 vs TCU. But just eight of last 24 on natural grass. Frogs covered six of last eight as home dog, with four SU wins. Inexperienced TCU DBs gets stern test here.

Arizona State coach Koetter, Colorado coach Hawkins are both former head men at Boise State, so this is reunion of sorts, but Buffs in no mood for jocularity after 0-2 start; they still haven't scored second half point this season. Colorado covered one of last ten home openers, ASU two of last eight road openers. Sun Devils are 4-9 vs spread in last 13 tries as non-league visitor. Carpenter was 19-30/348 passing in 52-21 win vs Nevada last week after shaky opener vs Northern Arizona. Buffs 7-4 as home dog since '99.

Auburn lost 20-17 at LSU last year (+6) , missing five FGs (LSU missed two) in game they outrushed LSU in 230-149, and had total yardage edge (407-339); home side won last six series games (4-1-1 vs spread). Auburn hasn't lost much lately; they're 10-3-1 vs spread in last 14 tries as home favorite. LSU is 7-2-1 as road dog since '01; they waxed Arizona last week, 45-3, running ball for 235 yards, passing for 223 and holding Wildcats to 12 first downs. LSU hasn't allowed TD in their last three games.

Clemson lost another brutal early season game last week, when reliable kicker Dean missed PAT in OT, costing Tigers 34-33 loss in Boston; Clemson is 10-6 as road dog since '01; they held Seminoles to 226 yards in last year's late season 35-17 win. Florida State trailed Troy 7-0 at half last week, before pulling out 24-17 win in last 3:00, so this will be their third tough game in 13 days. Home side is 9-1-1 vs spread in series, but Seminoles covered just 33% of last 15 tries as ACC home favorite

Nebraska is now passing team, which means they'll try to recruit California, which makes this bigger game for them; XXXXs are USC has won 27 in row at home; they've covered eight of last ten if they had last week off and 17 of 24 overall as home fave. XXXXs covered only three of last nine as road dog; they're expected to have 25-30,000 fans in Coliseum for this. Nebraska is 10-16 vs spread after win. Trojans seem to enjoy big stage; they routed Arkansas 50-14 in what many thought was trap game.

Army-Texas A&M game has military feel, especially in San Antonio, city with strong military presence. Aggies off to good start, routing UL-Lafayette, but they've covered only three of last 15 on carpet. Army survived OT vs Kent last week, after being upset in Jonesboro by Arkansas State in opener. Cadets are 5-5 as road dog under Ross. Aggies are 14-17 vs spread in last 31 games as favorite.

Stanford re-did their stadium, and Navy is in for grand opening. Capacity has been reduced from 85,000 to 50,000 to make it more intimate setting for Cardinal, who lost to San Jose State last week for first time in five years. Porous Cardinal defense allowed 77 points in two games, will get tested by Middie team that lost 41-38 to Cardinal last year. Stanford covered six of last seven as home favorite. Navy struggled to beat I-AA UMass last week; they might be little down this year.