Week 2: Bets to Make Your Money Back

After a dismal 2-8 opening week on the books I need to make some money back... I've got the picks to get it done this week.

Georgia Tech -14 at Kansas
This is the same Kansas team who lost 6-3 to North Dakota State, right? Thought so. This is the Georgia Tech who are the defending ACC champions, right? Thought so. Tech's triple option is always hard to prepare for and its even harder for an out of conference opponent to prepare for it since the game doesn't have the conference implications that cause a team to really circle the wagons for a must-win type game.

East Carolina -13.5 vs. Memphis
East Carolina likely isn't as strong as they were under Skip Holtz but their season opening win over Tulsa showed they still know how to put up points, something Memphis proved completely inept at doing for 46 minutes against Mississippi State. The Tigers are in major rebuilding mode and just aren't there yet while ECU should still have enough left from Holtz's success to win this one at home fairly easily.

South Florida +16 at Florida
Florida looked really bad last week. I'm sure they will make adjustments and improve but USF is a much better opponent than Miami (OH). Auburn fans know well how much USF likes to get up for these big out of conference games. Florida will need to tighten up fast just to win this game, which I think they will, just not enough to cover the spread.

Florida State +7 at Oklahoma
Oklahoma also had a very shaky opener, squeaking out a 7 point win against Utah State last week. Christian Ponder will light up the Sooner secondary and Greg Reid will make a big play in special teams. This is way too tight of a game for OU to give up a full touchdown.

Miami (FL) +8.5 at Ohio State
Too much Ohio State hype going into this game. Miami looked very impressive in their opener and have the athletes capable of containing Terrell Pryor. This is another game that is sure to come down to the wire and if The U doesn't win straight up they will surely cover the 8.5 points they're getting.

LSU at Vanderbilt +10
Vanderbilt looked impressive in their heart breaking loss to Northwestern to open the season and the nerds in Nashville are surely smart enough to know not to kick to Patrick Peterson. The wheels are coming off in Baton Rouge and while they may sneak out with another win this week they will continue to show coaching ineptitude and the biggest waste of talent in the country.

Oregon -12 at Tennessee
Maybe Derek Dooley fooled a lot of people with his 50-0 win over Tennessee-Martin in week one but he won't be able to hide his deficiencies this week against the Ducks. Oregon's 72-0 drubbing of New Mexico might have built up a heap of bad karma but it won't keep them from covering the spread in Knoxville.

Arkansas -34 vs. Louisiana-Monroe
Arkansas has a game under their belt to warm up while the schedulers at UL-Monroe decided their bye week would best be put to use in week 1. Good luck shaking off the rust against Ryan Mallet and Bobby Petrino's offense. Arkansas showed last week that against putrid competition their defense is capable at least slowing them down. The Hogs should have this one covered through three quarters.

Mississippi -20.5 at Tulane
First of all, why is Ole Miss playing AT Tulane? Way to be second class Rebels. Speaking of second class, how the hell did you blow a 20 point lead against FCS Jacksonville State and embarrass yourselves and our esteemed conference?? If Ole Miss was playing even an average opponent I would say that the mess that the Reverend has created down in Oxford could call for another upset but Tulane snuck past Southeastern Louisiana in week 1 and that score was more indicative of their talent level than Mississippi's loss to Jax State. The Rebels have serious issues but they will do enough to dominate Tulane this week.

Stanford -6.5 @ UCLA
The Stanford Cardinal should be contenders for the Pac-10 championship this year and UCLA is probably still a year away, especially after the injuries they have suffered. Their opening week loss to Kansas State did nothing to show me they will be able to stay within a touchdown of a better Stanford team. I really like what Jim Harbaugh has going on in Palo Alto.