We’re off to a hot start to the season. Let’s keep it going.
Here are my best bets for Week 2 of the college football season, along with my weekly Bear Bytes.
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Last Week: 5-2
Season: 5-2
Steve Sarkisian will aim to earn one of the biggest wins of his career on Saturday (Getty Images).
I’m having flashbacks to Ohio State’s final two games last year, when its offensive line — mainly the tackles — got abused by Indiana and Miami. Will that be the case here against Colin Simmons and Rasheem Biles? I think Texas is much better than the team that nearly won last year at the Shoe. I’m not sure this Ohio State team is as good — still an excellent side — and it seems like this is a game Texas has had circled for quite some time. And while Steve Sarkisian has lost more of these types of games than he’s won, it is interesting that a few years ago the Horns lost a close game to Alabama at home and then won relatively comfortably in the rematch the following year.
Fallica’s Pick: Texas ML -118
I’m a huge fan of Kamario Taylor and I think the Bulldogs could surprise a few teams this season in SEC play. Both teams routed overmatched foes last week, so we’ll get a truer indication this week as to where both teams might land in their conference pecking order. I need to see the Gophers’ offense do it against a Power 4 opponent.
Fallica’s Pick: Mississippi St. +1.5
I thought about laying the 10.5 with FIU as well, but given how the Golden Panthers turned the ball over last week vs. USF — along with a very strong defensive effort — led me to going Under here. Buffalo needed a goal line stand to hold on 21-17 against Albany last week, and I’m not sure the Bulls’ OL is going to have much success against the FIU D.
Fallica’s Pick: Under 47.5 combined points scored
Duke’s offense was totally one dimensional in the opener vs. Tulane. It was Nate Sheppard on the ground for over 200 yards. I’d expect more of the same this week against an Illinois team that Duke really should have beaten last year. It’s not like Illinois did much offensively against UAB. It had just 332 yards and about a third of that total came on two long scoring plays.
Fallica’s Pick: Under 51.5 combined points scored
The Nittany Lions just dominated Marshall in the opener and now head to Philadelphia to take on Temple. Now, I’m not thinking Temple wins this game, but I do think 24.5 is a tad too many for K.C. Keeler’s bunch.
Fallica’s Pick: Temple +24.5
I expected the USF offense to have trouble last week with FIU, and the Bulls did indeed. But what surprised me was how well the USF defense played. I’d expect the offense to improve quite a bit this week. If the D plays that well again vs. the Army run game, USF will have a great chance to win outright.
Fallica’s Pick: USF +3.5
Can Byrum Brown limit his turnovers in Week 2? (Getty Images)
We expected QB Byrum Brown to be a bit of a turnover machine, and he didn’t disappoint last week. However, USM is one of the worst teams in the country after Charles Huff’s departure and this should result in a big win for Alex Golesh in his home opener.
Fallica’s Pick: Auburn -32.5
Underdogs to Play on ML
Last Week: 1-2, -0.86
South Florida +145
Bear Bytes
No. 1 Ohio State @ No. 4 Texas
The last three regular-season top-five matchups have been won by Ohio State — Ohio State over Texas last year, and Ohio State over Indiana and Penn State in 2024. At Texas, Steve Sarkisian is 4-8 when facing a top-10 opponent as a ranked team (2-6 in top-10 matchups).
Iowa State @ No. 21 Iowa
Seventeen of the last 20 CyHawk showdowns have gone Under the total.
No. 18 Tennessee @ Georgia Tech
Josh Heupel has been a double-digit road favorite three times at Tennessee. The Vols have lost outright twice — in 2024 at Arkansas as a 14.5-point favorite and in 2022 at South Carolina as a 22.5-point favorite.
No. 12 Alabama @ Kentucky
Alabama’s four regular-season SEC road games last year were decided by 7, 7, 3 and 3 points.
No. 11 Oklahoma @ Michigan
Dating back to 2009, Michigan has been a home underdog 14 times. The Wolverines have pulled just three upsets in that span and their last seven losses have come by 18, 21, 19, 38, 29, 11 and 29 (23.4 points per game).
Southern Miss @ Auburn
Southern Miss has lost 26 straight games as a double-digit dog against Power 4 opponents, the last 11 coming by an average of 30.7 PPG.
Mississippi St. @ Minnesota
Since 2018, Minnesota has been involved in 10 home games in which the spread was within three points either way. The Gophers won only two of them.
