Big-time programs square off huge Week 2 matchups

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/08/2010 -

JoePa visits the Bear's house. The 'Canes blow into the Horseshoe for a rematch of the 2002 national championship game. Florida State's first big game post-Bowden takes place in Norman, Okla., a rematch of the 2000 national title game.

The second week of the college football season is so jammed pack with intriguing games that Brian Kelly's first foray into the Notre Dame-Michigan rivalry can't even crack the top three.

Hey, neither the Fighting Irish nor the Wolverines is ranked.

Joe Paterno, who broke Bear Bryant's record on the way to becoming the winningest coach in the history of major college football, brings Penn State to Tuscaloosa to face No. 1 Alabama.

The Nittany Lions and Crimson Tide routinely squared off in the 1970s and early '80s, when Bear Bryant was stalking Alabama's sideline. The Bear is gone now, but the Tide's stadium is named after him. Meanwhile, the 83-year-old Paterno has 395 victories.

Even if Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram (knee) can't play Saturday, beating Nick Saban's defending national champions would rank as one of Paterno's most surprising victories.

The last time Ohio State played Miami, it was the Buckeyes pulling off the upset.

Ohio State's 31-24 double-overtime victory in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl kept the Hurricanes from repeating as national champions and made the Buckeyes champs for the first time in more than three decades. It was also the night official Terry Porter became famous for throwing a flag for pass interference on Miami that is debated to this day.

``It's like everyone is making sure that we remember what happened,'' said current Miami quarterback Jacory Harris, who are the underdogs this time to the second-ranked Buckeyes.

Since Bob Stoops took over at Oklahoma in 1999, the Sooners have been perennial contenders. But they haven't won a national championship since Stoops' second season, when the Sooners beat Bobby Bowden's Seminoles 13-2 in the 2001 Orange Bowl.

That turned out to be Bowden's last shot at a national title. Florida State had some good teams after that, but Bowden's long run of excellence ended that night in Miami.

Stoops is still cranking out wins in Norman, but Bowden's time at Florida State is over. It's now Jimbo Fisher's job to return the 17th-ranked Seminoles to elite status and beating No. 10 Oklahoma would be a giant step in the right direction.

The picks:

Thursday

No. 21 Auburn (minus 2) at Mississippi State.

Matchup of spread offenses and promising QBs ... MISSISSIPPI STATE 31-24.

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Friday

No. 23 West Virginia (minus 13) at Marshall.

Mountaineers 9-0 in Friends of the Coal Bowl ... WEST VIRGINIA 31-14.

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Saturday

No. 18 Penn State (plus 11 1/2) at No. 1 Alabama.

Saban on one side, frosh QB playing first road game on the other ... ALABAMA 24-10.

No. 12 Miami (plus 9 1/2) at No. 2 Ohio State.

Can Jacory Harris avoid the big mistake? ... OHIO STATE 20-14.

Tennessee Tech (no line) at No. 4 TCU.

Tennessee Tech goes from Razorbacks to Horned Frogs ... TCU 50-10.

Wyoming (plus 29) at No. 5 Texas.

These Cowboys won't fare well in Texas ... TEXAS 45-14.

Idaho (plus 28 1/2) at No. 6 Nebraska.

Huskers redshirt freshman QB Taylor Martinez ran for 127 yards in debut ... NEBRASKA 42-10.

No. 7 Oregon (minus 13) at Tennessee.

After 72-point opener, Ducks get back star TB LaMichael James ... OREGON 35-20.

South Florida (plus 15 1/2) at No. 8 Florida.

Gators problems should be a snap to fix ... FLORIDA 28-10.

Iowa State (plus 13 1/2) at No. 9 Iowa.

Cyclones haven't scored TD vs. Hawkeyes in last 14 quarters ... IOWA 21-10.

No. 17 Florida State (plus 8 1/2) at No. 10 Oklahoma.

Sooners need to fix secondary quick with Christian Ponder coming to town ... OKLAHOMA 37-21.

San Jose State (plus 38) at No. 11 Wisconsin.

Badgers have won 14 straight home openers ... WISCONSIN 45-14.

James Madison (no line) at No. 13 Virginia Tech.

Hokies dealing with annual early season disappointment ... VIRGINIA TECH 35-17.

Louisiana-Monroe (plus 34) vs. No. 14 Arkansas at Little Rock, Ark.

It's officially a ULM home game ... ARKANSAS 48-21.

No. 15 Georgia Tech (minus 13 1/2) at Kansas.

It doesn't get any easier for Turner Gill at KU ... GEORGIA TECH 31-21.

Virginia (plus 19 1/2) at No. 16 Southern California.

Trojans are 12-6 against ACC teams ... USC 38-17.

No. 19 LSU (minus 10) at Vanderbilt.

Tigers have won six straight vs. Commodores ... LSU 28-14.

UNLV (plus 23 1/2) at No. 20 Utah.

Utes home winning streak is at 18 ... UTAH 45-16.

No. 22 Georgia (plus 2 1/2) at No. 24 South Carolina.

Bulldogs have won seven of last eight and four in a row at USC ... GEORGIA 24-21.

No. 25 Stanford (minus 6 1/2) at UCLA.

Bruins offense is a mess ... STANFORD 30-17.

Michigan (plus 3 1/2) at Notre Dame.

Wolverines coach Rich Rodriguez needs it more than Kelly ... MICHIGAN 27-21.

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Last week: 21-1 (straight); 9-5-1 (vs. points).Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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2007 Academy Award Betting : Oscars odds

The 79th Annual Academy Awards odds , which will air February 25th, is sparking an interest throughout the nation with the announcement of its nominees. As the public chooses their favorites, sportsbooks are creating odds for one of the biggest entertainment betting nights of the year.

Whether its at a “Oscar Party” or in an on line sportsbook, entertainment gambling on award shows represent a huge increase in betting. As the public speculation mounts, MySportsbook.com, the largest and most respected sportsbook on the web, posted odds on who is going home with a “Golden Best Friend.”

“ We see a majority of our entertainment wagers come from the Academy Awards,” said MySportsbook.com spokesperson, Tim Dalton. “This is a competition that applies to everyone. These are the people that entertain us on a daily basis and you want to see them win.”

MySportsbook.com posted the following odds for Academy Awards:

Odds to win the Achievement in Directing:

Alejandro González Iñárritu "Babel": 8/1

Martin Scorsese "The Departed": 2/17

Clint Eastwood "Letters From Iwo Jima: 4/1

Stephen Frears "The Queen": 12/1

Paul Greengrass "United 93": 15/1

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:

Leonardo DiCaprio in "Blood Diamond": 11/1

Ryan Gosling in "Half Nelson": 20/1

Peter O’Toole in "Venus": 16/5

Will Smith in "The Pursuit of Happyness": 16/1

Forest Whitaker in "The Last King of Scotland": 1/11

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role:

Penélope Cruz in "Volver": 18/1

Judi Dench in "Notes on a Scandal": 15/1

Helen Mirren in "The Queen": 1/50

Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada": 10/1

Kate Winslet in "Little Children": 20/1

Best Animated Feature Film:

"Cars": 1/3

"Happy Feet": 2/1

"Monster House": 20/1

Best Foreign-Language Film of the Year:

"Water" – Canada: 22/1

"The Lives of Others" – Germany: 7/2

"After the Wedding" - Denmark: 24/1

"Days of Glory (Indigenes)" – Algeria: 23/1

"Pan's Labyrinth" - Mexico: 1/10

Odds to win the Best Live-Action Short Film:

"Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea)": 6/5

"Eramos Pocos (One Too Many)": 7/2

"Helmer & Son": 5/2

"The Saviour": 6/1

"West Bank Story": 7/2

Odds to win the Best Original Screenplay:

"Babel": 7/4

"Letters From Iwo Jima": 3/1

"Little Miss Sunshine": 21/20

"Pan's Labyrinth": 11/4

"The Queen": 5/4

Best Motion Picture of the Year:

"Babel": 11/4

"The Departed": 1/2

"Letters from Iwo Jima": 15/2

"Little Miss Sunshine": 17/10

"The Queen": 20/1

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role:

Alan Arkin in "Little Miss Sunshine": 11/10

Jackie Earle Haley in "Little Children": 10/1

Djimon Hounsou in "Blood Diamond": 9/1

Eddie Murphy in "Dreamgirls": 2/5

Mark Wahlberg in "The Departed": 5/1

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role:

Adriana Barraza in "Babel": 14/1

Cate Blanchett in "Notes on a Scandal": 11/1

Abigail Breslin in "Little Miss Sunshine": 2/1

Jennifer Hudson in "Dreamgirls": 1/8

Rinko Kikuchi in "Babel": 11/1

Film To Win Most Oscars:

Dreamgirls: 2/3

Pans Labyrinth: 6/5

The Departed: 6/1

The Queen: 11/1

Babel: 15/1

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: 11/1

Little Miss Sunshine: 15/1


Additional sports and entertainment odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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