LITTLE ROCK — The Saturday before college football's first big Saturday is filled with potential pitfalls for teams in the Top 25, and for a few intriguing teams outside the rankings to make a statement.
Teams such as Miami. Yep, the Hurricanes are now on the outside looking in at college football's elite and if they want to get back in, beating No. 5 Florida in Gainesville would go a long way toward accomplishing that goal. Staying close to the Gators would be promising for the 'Canes.
Cincinnati could win some respect back for the Big East, which had a rough opening weekend with Rutgers, Louisville and Pittsburgh losing, with a good showing at No. 4 Oklahoma.
After opening with a loss at Stanford, Oregon State heads to No. 19 Penn State trying to avoid an 0-2 start.
Washington Coach Tyrone Willingham desperately needs some victories. The Huskies will try to dodge starting 0-2 when they host No. 15 BYU.
New Mississippi Coach Houston Nutt can score his first attention-grabbing victory with the Rebels at No. 20 Wake Forest.
And in maybe the most interesting game of the weekend, East Carolina goes for consecutive victories over ranked teams when the Pirates welcome No. 8 West Virginia.
The picks: TODAY No. 24 South Carolina (minus 10) at Vanderbilt Second game, second starting QB for Gamecocks ... SOUTH CAROLINA 21-13.
SATURDAY Central Michigan (plus 23 1 /2) at No. 2 Georgia Chippewas QB Dan LeFevour is Tebow of the MAC ... GEORGIA 50-21.
Ohio (plus 34) at No. 3 Ohio State No Beanie required for Buckeyes ... OHIO STATE 47-7.
Cincinnati (plus 21 1 /2) at No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners won't be up 50-0 like last week vs. Chattanooga ... OKLAHOMA 42-17.
Miami (plus 21 1 /2) at No. 5 Florida Gators expect injured WR Percy Harvin toplay - might not need him ... FLORIDA 45-20.
SE Missouri (no line) at No. 6 Missouri Tigers WR Jeremy Maclin should get time to rest aching ankle ... MISSOURI 55-10.
No. 8 West Virginia (minus 8) at East Carolina Mountaineers have won seven consecutive against Pirates ... WEST VIRGINIA 35-21.
Southern Mississippi (plus 17 1 /2) at No. 9 Auburn Tigers hope to have kinks out of new Spread offense ... AUBURN 28-14.
No. 10 Texas (minus 26) at UTEP Last meeting was 1933 ... TEXAS 49-14.
No. 11 Wisconsin (minus 20 1 /2) vs. Marshall Badgers RB P.J. Hill goes for second consecutive 200-yard game ... WISCONSIN 38-14. No. 12 Texas Tech (minus 10 1 /2) at Nevada The Wolf Pack can put up some points, too ... TEXAS TECH 48-30.
Tulane (plus 28 1 /2) at No. 13 Alabama Green Wave evacuated to Birmingham to avoid Gustav ... ALABAMA 40-3.
Louisiana Tech (plus 20 1 /2) at No. 14 Kansas Bulldogs coming off first victory over BCSconference opponent in five years ... KANSAS 45-14.
Stanford (plus 14) at No. 15 Arizona State RB Toby Gerhart gives Cardinal offense punch ... ARIZONA STATE 31-21.
No. 15 BYU (plus 9 1 /2) at Washington Huskies couldn't stop Oregon's second- or third-string QB ... BYU 35-28.
No. 17 South Florida (minus 14) at Central Florida Knights moved into Conference USA when Bulls moved to Big East ... USF 24-7.
Utah State (plus 35 1 /2) at No. 18 Oregon Ducks expect QB Justin Roper (concussion) to be ready ... OREGON 55-10.
Oregon State (plus 16 1 /2) at No. 19 Penn State Beavers trying to avoid first 0-2 start since 2004 ... PENN STATE 27-20.
Mississippi (plus 8) at No. 20 Wake Forest Atlantic Coast Conference's image can't afford another loss to SEC ... MISSISSIPPI 27-24.
UNLV (plus 21 1 /2) at No. 22 Utah Utes back in AP rankings for first time since Urban Meyer left ... UTAH 38-13.
Eastern Illinois (no line) at No. 24 Illinois Illini QB Juice Williams coming off career passing day ... ILLINOIS 48-10.
LAST WEEK 19-3 (straight); 9-3 (vs. points).
Sports, Pages 22 on 09/04/2008